CHAPTER 7 — THE FATHER SHE THOUGHT HAD ABANDONED HER
The entire ballroom froze.
No one spoke.
No one even dared to breathe.
My mother stared at Sarah as if she'd seen a ghost.
Prudence's mascara-streaked face twisted with disbelief.
"...Father?" Sarah whispered again, barely audible.
The silver-haired man stood motionless.
For several long seconds, neither of them moved.
Then tears welled in his eyes.
"I've searched for you for twenty-four years."
Sarah's knees buckled.
I caught her before she hit the floor.
She looked at the stranger with confusion, hope, and fear tangled together.
"My father died."
The man slowly shook his head.
"No."
"You were told he died."
"My name is William Ashford."
A murmur rippled through the crowd.
Every businessman in the room recognized the name.
William Ashford.
Founder of one of the largest real estate development companies on the East Coast.
A billionaire.
The mayor's face turned pale.
"You... you're William Ashford?"
William barely acknowledged him.
His eyes never left Sarah.
"When you were four years old, your mother disappeared with you."
"I searched every state."
"I hired private investigators."
"I even searched overseas."
His voice cracked.
"I never stopped looking."
Sarah stared in disbelief.
"My mother said..."
"...you abandoned us."
William slowly closed his eyes.
"Your mother suffered from severe paranoia after a kidnapping attempt against our family."
"She believed everyone wanted to steal you."
"So one night..."
"...she ran away."
He swallowed hard.
"She died in a car accident six months later."
"I found the car."
"But not you."
Sarah covered her mouth.
"My foster parents..."
"They told me nobody wanted me."
William stepped forward carefully, as though approaching someone wounded.
"They lied."
"I've loved you every single day."
He opened his wallet.
Inside was an old, faded photograph.
A smiling little girl with curly hair sat on a man's shoulders.
Sarah gasped.
It was her.
She burst into uncontrollable tears.
William wrapped his daughter in his arms for the first time in twenty-four years.
Even the police officers quietly looked away.
There wasn't a dry eye left in the ballroom.
Except...
my mother.
She wasn't crying.
She was calculating.
May you like
Because she had just realized the woman she had spent five years starving...
...was the only heir to a billion-dollar fortune.
