CHAPTER 1 — THE GIRL WHO CALLED HIM DADDY
CHAPTER 1 — THE GIRL WHO CALLED HIM DADDY
The hockey stick struck Grace before she could turn completely around.
Pain exploded across her shoulder.
She cried out and collapsed onto the cold kitchen tiles, but she didn't let go of Lily.
Her arms wrapped around the little girl instinctively.
Protective.
Desperate.
Almost animal-like.
“Mommy!”
Lily screamed beneath her.
Grace curled her body over her daughter.
“It's okay,” she whispered through clenched teeth. “Mommy's here.”
But she knew it wasn't okay.
Nothing about this was okay.
Victoria stood three feet away, breathing heavily.
The spotless white dress she had chosen that morning for a private lunch with Nathan was still perfect.
Not a wrinkle.
Not a stain.
Only her expression had changed.
The elegant smile she wore for cameras was gone.
In its place was something colder.
Something frightening.
“You should have left when I told you to.”
Grace slowly lifted her head.
Her shoulder throbbed.
“You're hurting a child.”
“I haven't touched her.”
“You were about to.”
Victoria tightened her grip around the hockey stick.
“She doesn't belong here.”
Grace stared at her.
“She lives here.”
“No.”
Victoria's voice dropped.
“She works here because you work here.”
Grace's face went pale.
“Lily isn't your servant.”
Victoria smiled.
“Neither are you.”
Lily began crying.
Grace pulled her closer.
“Don't listen to her.”
Victoria took one step forward.
“You've been lying to Nathan for years.”
Grace's heart stopped.
She looked at Victoria.
“What did you say?”
“You heard me.”
Victoria leaned down.
“I know who Lily's father is.”
Grace felt the blood drain from her face.
Victoria smiled.
“And soon Nathan will know too.”
Grace struggled to stand.
“Please.”
Victoria laughed softly.
“Please what?”
“Leave my daughter alone.”
“Your daughter?”
Victoria tilted her head.
“That is exactly the problem.”
She raised the hockey stick again.
Grace instinctively turned her back toward Victoria.
If another blow came, she would take it.
Every single one.
She would rather die than let Victoria touch Lily.
Then—
The front door opened.
A man's footsteps echoed through the hallway.
Victoria froze.
Grace froze.
Lily stopped crying.
A familiar male voice came from the entrance.
“Victoria?”
Nathan.
Grace's eyes widened.
Victoria lowered the hockey stick.
Nathan appeared in the kitchen doorway.
He was still wearing the dark suit he had worn to a board meeting.
His tie was slightly loosened.
His phone was in one hand.
He had expected to find an empty house.
Instead, he found his fiancée standing over Grace.
The hockey stick fell from Victoria's hand.
It struck the floor with a loud crack.
Nathan stared at it.
Then at Grace.
Then at the child hiding beneath her.
His expression changed.
“What happened?”
Victoria opened her mouth.
“It's not what it looks like.”
Nathan didn't answer.
He stepped forward.
“Grace.”
She struggled to sit upright.
Her face was pale.
“Mr. Cole…”
“Are you hurt?”
Grace said nothing.
Nathan looked at her shoulder.
A dark mark was already forming beneath the fabric of her uniform.
His jaw tightened.
He turned toward Victoria.
“What happened?”
Victoria's voice trembled.
“She attacked me.”
Nathan stared.
“Grace attacked you?”
“She came at me.”
“With a hockey stick?”
“I grabbed it to defend myself.”
Nathan looked at the floor.
Then back at Victoria.
“You expect me to believe that?”
Victoria's expression hardened.
“Why are you taking her side?”
“I'm asking what happened.”
“She was trying to steal something.”
“What?”
Victoria hesitated.
Then she pointed toward Lily.
“That child.”
Nathan frowned.
“You think Grace was stealing a child?”
“No.”
Victoria swallowed.
“She was trying to take her and run.”
Grace's eyes widened.
“That is a lie.”
Victoria immediately turned toward Nathan.
“See?”
“She has been planning this.”
“Planning what?”
“To disappear.”
Nathan looked at Grace.
“Why would she disappear?”
Victoria stared at him.
Because she knew.
She knew exactly why.
Grace knew too.
And neither woman spoke.
Then Lily slowly crawled out from beneath Grace's arms.
Her little face was wet with tears.
She looked at Nathan.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Nathan felt something strange in his chest.
He had seen the child before.
Several times.
She was the little girl who lived with Grace.
The maid's daughter.
He had noticed her occasionally in the mansion.
Always quiet.
Always polite.
Never causing trouble.
But there was something different now.
Something he couldn't explain.
Lily stared directly at him.
Her lower lip trembled.
Then she whispered:
“Daddy.”
Nathan stopped breathing.
The room disappeared.
The kitchen.
Victoria.
Grace.
The marble floors.
Everything.
There was only that one word.
Daddy.
Nathan slowly looked at Grace.
She had closed her eyes.
Tears were running down her face.
“Grace…”
She opened them.
“I’m sorry.”
Nathan took one step toward Lily.
She didn't move away.
He crouched.
“Who told you to call me that?”
Lily looked toward Grace.
“Mommy.”
Nathan's heart pounded.
“Grace…”
“I didn't want this.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I wanted to protect her.”
“Protect her from what?”
Grace looked at Victoria.
Victoria's face had gone completely white.
Then Grace looked back at Nathan.
“From your family.”
Nathan stared at her.
“What?”
Grace swallowed.
“She is your daughter.”
Silence.
Victoria immediately spoke.
“She is lying.”
Nathan didn't look at her.
“Grace.”
“She is your daughter, Nathan.”
His voice became almost inaudible.
“How?”
Grace laughed bitterly through her tears.
“How?”
She shook her head.
“You really don't remember?”
Nathan searched her face.
Five years disappeared.
A hotel room.
A rainy night.
Grace laughing.
Her hand in his.
Promises.
A future.
Then his father's furious voice.
A sudden separation.
Grace disappearing.
And Nathan being told she had left him.
He had believed it.
For five years.
He had believed Grace had chosen to walk away.
He had believed she never loved him enough to stay.
But now—
a four-year-old girl was looking at him with his own eyes.
Nathan slowly turned toward Lily.
Her dark hair.
Her expression.
The tiny crease between her eyebrows.
His.
He reached out.
Lily hesitated.
Then she placed her tiny hand in his.
Nathan felt something break inside him.
“What's your name?”
She smiled faintly.
“Lily.”
“Lily what?”
“Lily Grace.”
Nathan looked at Grace.
“You gave her your last name.”
Grace nodded.
“I didn't know if you'd ever want her.”
Nathan's eyes filled with tears.
“You thought I wouldn't?”
“You disappeared from my life.”
“I thought you left!”
Grace stared at him.
“I was forced to.”
“By whom?”
Grace couldn't answer.
Nathan stood.
His voice became harder.
“Who forced you?”
Grace looked toward Victoria.
Nathan followed her gaze.
Victoria shook her head.
“Don't do this.”
Nathan's eyes narrowed.
“Do what?”
“Destroy everything because of something a desperate woman is telling you.”
Grace whispered:
“I tried to tell you.”
Victoria's face changed.
Nathan turned.
“What did she say?”
Grace's tears fell.
“I tried to contact you.”
“When?”
“After Lily was born.”
“Why didn't I receive anything?”
“Because your father made sure you didn't.”
Nathan froze.
“My father?”
Grace nodded.
“He came to my hospital room.”
Nathan's expression changed.
“What did he do?”
“He told me that if I ever contacted you again, he'd take Lily away.”
Nathan couldn't speak.
Grace continued.
“He said you would never believe me.”
She wiped her tears.
“He said your family would destroy me.”
Nathan's hands curled into fists.
“My father is dead.”
“I know.”
“So I can't ask him.”
“No.”
“Then who can I ask?”
Grace looked at Victoria.
Nathan slowly turned.
Victoria took a step backward.
“Don't.”
Nathan stared at her.
“What do you know?”
“Nothing.”
“You knew about Lily.”
“No.”
“You knew Grace was here.”
“I knew she worked for us.”
“You knew she was the mother of my child.”
Victoria said nothing.
Nathan's face hardened.
“That means yes.”
Victoria's eyes filled with tears.
“Nathan, please.”
He stepped closer.
“How long?”
She didn't answer.
“How long have you known?”
“A few months.”
Grace shook her head.
“She's lying.”
Nathan looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because she knew before she became your fiancée.”
Victoria's expression collapsed.
Nathan stared at her.
“You knew before we got engaged?”
Victoria whispered:
“Yes.”
The word echoed through the kitchen.
Nathan felt physically sick.
“Why?”
Victoria looked at Lily.
“Because I knew what she meant.”
“What?”
“She changes everything.”
Nathan looked confused.
Victoria laughed bitterly.
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
“She isn't just your daughter.”
Victoria's voice trembled.
“She is the heir.”
Nathan's blood ran cold.
“What are you talking about?”
“Your father changed the inheritance agreement.”
Grace looked at Nathan.
“What inheritance agreement?”
Victoria stared at him.
“The one your father never told you about.”
Nathan took another step.
“What does Lily inherit?”
Victoria's lips parted.
“Everything.”
Silence.
Then Lily tugged gently on Nathan's sleeve.
He looked down.
She was holding a small stuffed rabbit.
“Daddy?”
Nathan crouched again.
“Yes?”
“Are you angry?”
His heart shattered.
“No.”
“Are you going away?”
Nathan swallowed.
“No.”
“Promise?”
He looked at Grace.
Then at Victoria.
Then back at Lily.
He had spent five years believing he had lost Grace.
He had spent years building a life around that lie.
Now he was staring at the daughter he had never known.
He reached out and gently touched Lily's hair.
“I promise.”
Lily smiled.
Then she hugged him.
Nathan froze.
Slowly, painfully, he wrapped his arms around her.
His daughter.
His little girl.
His blood.
A child he had never held.
Never protected.
Never watched grow.
Never heard say her first word.
And suddenly, every missed moment became a wound.
He whispered:
“I'm sorry.”
Lily didn't understand.
She simply held him tighter.
Behind them, Grace watched.
For the first time in five years, she saw Nathan holding their daughter.
But she also saw Victoria.
Standing silently.
Watching.
And Grace knew that the danger hadn't ended.
It had only changed.
Because Victoria had just realized something.
Nathan had chosen Lily.
And that meant the engagement was over.
But Victoria had one final weapon.
She reached into her purse.
Pulled out her phone.
And quietly sent a message.
He knows. Begin the second plan.
A few seconds later, her phone vibrated.
One sentence appeared on the screen.
Grace will be arrested before sunrise.
Victoria looked at Nathan.
Then at Lily.
And smiled.
May you like
Because she had lost the first battle.
But she had no intention of losing the war.
