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THE CEO THOUGHT HE DESTROYED HER A DECADE AGO—UNTIL FOUR MATCHING EYES ON A RAINY STREET REVEALED A BILLION-DOLLAR SECRET THAT WOULD SHATTER HIS EMPIRE! / Chapter 3 / 8

Chapter 3 - The Secret Sanctuary

The stench of mildew and damp concrete filled the abandoned meatpacking warehouse in Queens. Rain rattled violently against the rusted iron roof as Michael stepped through the shattered doorway, flanked by Evan and three trusted security guards.

In the far corner, illuminated by a single flickering candle placed inside a soup can, were the four girls. They were curled together on a mattress lifted off the floor by wooden pallets, sharing a single wet blanket.

"Stay back!" Chloe, the eldest, leaped to her feet, wielding a broken wooden broomhandle like a spear. Her three sisters—Clara, Cleo, and Cami—cowered behind her, their eyes wide with sheer terror. "We don't have any money! Leave us alone!"

Michael immediately held up his hands and dropped to his knees in the dirt, ignoring the water soaking through his trousers.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Michael said gently, tears blurring his vision. "I swear on my life, I will never let anyone hurt you again."

"Liars!" Cleo sobbed from behind her sister. "Mom told us rich men are monsters! She said a rich man with cold blue eyes destroyed our family!"

Michael pulled the rusted silver locket from his pocket and held it out in his palm.

"Your mother gave this to me... a long time ago," Michael said, his voice breaking. "My name is Michael. And those cold blue eyes... they belong to a man who made the biggest mistake of his life."

Chloe stared at the locket, then looked up at Michael's face. The light from the candle caught his blue eyes—eyes that matched her own sisters' gazes in shape, but were brimming with raw, unvarnished grief.

"Are you... our father?" Clara asked in a small, breathless whisper.

Michael couldn't hold back the sob that tore from his throat. "Yes, sweethearts. I am your father. And I am so, so sorry it took me nine years to find you."

Before he could reach out to them, Cami—the youngest—pulled a small, crumpled piece of paper from her pocket. "Mom left us a note before the bad men took her. She said if we ever found you... to tell you about 'Project Genesis'. She said it was hidden in your father's old vault."

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I stepped past the door frame, my leather shoes clicking softly against the linoleum floor.

I stepped past the door frame, my leather shoes clicking softly against...

The screech of the chopper’s rotor blades vibrated directly through the freezing slate beneath my spine. The blinding white vortex of snow kicked up by the downdraft burned my eyes, but I forced my lids open, locking my gaze onto the amber visor of the rescue specialist dropping out of the sky.

The screech of the chopper’s rotor blades vibrated directly through the...

Daniel stepped toward the bed, his polished leather shoes squeaking against the pristine hospital linoleum. He reached for the tray table, his fingers brushing the edge of the papers. His voice was low, coated in a practiced, corporate calm that made my stomach churn worse than the spiked blood pressure.

Daniel stepped toward the bed, his polished leather shoes squeaking agai...

Michael froze. Project Genesis? That was the classified code name for the corporate merger that ruined Elena ten years ago!

Suddenly, the warehouse doors burst open with a deafening crash!

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