Chapter 1 - THE CHILD WHO CALLED HIM DADDYNathan Cole could not breathe.
For five seconds, perhaps ten, the entire world seemed to stop.
The kitchen was silent except for the faint humming of the refrigerator and the frightened sobs of a four-year-old child.
Victoria stood frozen beside the kitchen island.
The hockey stick lay on the floor between them.
And Grace—
The maid Nathan had barely noticed during the three months she had worked in his mansion—
was on her knees, one arm wrapped protectively around the little girl.
Blood trickled from a cut near Grace's temple.
Her black-and-white uniform was torn at the shoulder.
The child was trembling beneath her.
Nathan stared at the girl's face.
Those eyes.
Those dark brown eyes were the same eyes he saw every morning when he looked into the mirror.
The little girl slowly lifted her head.
She stared at him with tears running down her cheeks.
Then she whispered again.
“Daddy…”
Nathan's knees almost buckled.
Victoria reacted first.
“She doesn't know what she's saying.”
Her voice was too fast.
Too desperate.
Nathan slowly turned toward her.
“What did you just say?”
Victoria swallowed.
“I said she's confused.”
Grace looked at Nathan.
For the first time since he had hired her, she wasn't looking at the floor.
She was looking directly into his eyes.
And Nathan saw something that frightened him more than the blood.
Recognition.
Pain.
And guilt.
“She knows exactly what she's saying,” Grace whispered.
Nathan's voice became barely audible.
“Grace…”
Grace tightened her arms around Lily.
“She is your daughter.”
The words hit him harder than any physical blow.
“My daughter?”
Victoria shook her head violently.
“No.”
Nathan looked at her.
Victoria's face had become completely white.
“That's impossible.”
“Why?” Nathan asked.
She opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Nathan stepped toward Grace.
“How old is she?”
Grace hesitated.
“Four.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
Four years.
Four years ago, his father had told him that Grace had disappeared.
Four years ago, Nathan had spent months searching for a woman he had loved.
Four years ago, he had been told she had abandoned him.
And four years ago, Victoria had appeared in his life.
His father had called her the perfect woman for the Cole family.
Nathan looked at Grace.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Grace laughed bitterly.
Not because anything was funny.
Because she was exhausted.
“You think I didn't try?”
Nathan froze.
“What?”
Grace's eyes filled with tears.
“I tried to contact you.”
“When?”
“After Lily was born.”
Nathan stared.
“I never received anything.”
“I sent letters.”
“Where?”
“To your office. Your apartment. Your father's house.”
Nathan's expression changed.
“My father?”
Grace nodded.
“He received every one.”
Silence.
Nathan looked toward Victoria.
Victoria's hands were shaking.
“That's a lie.”
Grace stared at her.
“Is it?”
Victoria stepped backward.
Nathan noticed something.
A tiny silver bracelet around Lily's wrist.
He had seen that bracelet before.
His mother had given it to Grace.
Five years earlier.
On the night Nathan had planned to propose.
Nathan's heart began pounding.
“Where did you get that?”
Grace touched the bracelet.
“You gave it to me.”
Nathan remembered.
A rainy evening.
A small restaurant.
Grace laughing across the table.
His hand sliding a silver bracelet around her wrist.
Inside it was engraved:
N.C. + G.
Nathan looked at the child.
His daughter.
His own daughter.
And suddenly another memory surfaced.
His father's voice.
She's not good enough for you.
She'll destroy your future.
If you marry her, you'll lose everything.
Nathan had believed him.
He had believed the man who raised him.
And that trust had cost him four years with his child.
Nathan crouched slowly.
Lily stared at him.
He didn't touch her.
He was afraid.
Afraid that if he reached for her, she might pull away.
“Lily,” he whispered.
The little girl sniffled.
“Are you really my daddy?”
Nathan's eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.”
Victoria suddenly screamed.
“She isn't your daughter!”
Nathan stood.
“Enough.”
Victoria froze.
His voice had changed.
It wasn't the voice of the man she knew.
It was cold.
Controlled.
Dangerously calm.
Nathan looked at the hockey stick.
Then at Victoria.
“Why were you trying to hurt her?”
Victoria's lips trembled.
“I—I thought she was stealing from us.”
“A four-year-old?”
“I didn't know!”
“You knew exactly who she was.”
Victoria said nothing.
Nathan's phone began ringing.
He answered.
His attorney's voice came through.
“Nathan, you need to come to my office immediately.”
“Why?”
“There is a police report.”
Nathan frowned.
“About what?”
A pause.
“Grace.”
Nathan's stomach dropped.
“What about her?”
“She has been accused of kidnapping a child.”
Nathan looked at Lily.
His daughter.
His attorney continued.
“And Nathan…”
“Yes?”
“The police have photographs, witness statements, and travel records.”
Nathan's eyes narrowed.
“All fabricated?”
“I don't know.”
Another pause.
“But someone has already signed a warrant for Grace's arrest.”
Nathan looked at Victoria.
She was staring at him.
And for one terrifying second, Nathan saw something behind her tears.
Satisfaction.
His blood ran cold.
May you like
Because Victoria wasn't surprised.
She had been waiting for this.
