CHAPTER 4 — The King Who Chose Love Over Power
The gunshot echoed through the marble hallway.
Time stopped.
Adrian lunged toward the little girl just as the bullet flew past her shoulder and shattered a crystal vase behind her.
The child screamed.
"Daddy!"
Without thinking, Adrian scooped her into his arms and threw himself behind a marble pillar.
Vivien watched in disbelief.
He really didn't know the little girl existed.
His shock wasn't an act.
His ex-wife smiled coldly.
"See? Even now, you'll risk everything for a child you met five seconds ago."
Adrian's voice shook with rage.
"Charlotte... where did she come from?"
The woman laughed.
"Our daughter."
Silence filled the hallway.
Vivien stared.
Daughter?
Charlotte had hidden an entire child from Adrian for five years.
The little girl buried her face against Adrian's chest, trembling violently.
"Mommy said you never wanted me..."
Adrian looked completely shattered.
"I've searched for you since the day you disappeared."
Charlotte's smile faded.
For the first time...
She looked uncertain.
Adrian gently kissed the little girl's forehead.
"I swear on my life...
...I never stopped looking."
Before anyone could react—
Machine-gun fire erupted outside.
One of Adrian's men rushed into the hallway, bleeding heavily.
"Boss!"
"They've breached the east wing!"
"There are over fifty attackers!"
Vincent immediately shouted orders.
"Move everyone into the underground vault!"
As guards formed a protective circle around Vivien and the child...
Adrian made a decision that stunned everyone.
"You take them."
Vincent frowned.
"What about you?"
"I'm ending this."
"No, sir!"
"If I don't stop them now...
they'll never stop hunting my family."
Family.
The word made Vivien's heart tighten.
She wasn't ready to forgive him.
But she couldn't deny what she'd just seen.
When danger came...
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He protected the children before himself.
Even one he had never known existed.
