His Secret Baby

Part 3 – The Grandmother’s Demand

The hospital room door opened less than twenty minutes later.

Eleanor Moretti walked inside wearing a cream designer suit, a diamond necklace, and the same expression of superiority I remembered from our marriage.

Two assistants followed her.

“Vincent!”

She ignored me completely and hurried toward her son.

“I heard the news. Why didn’t you tell me?”

Vincent stood beside Lily’s bassinet.

“Because I just found out myself.”

Eleanor’s eyes moved toward the baby.

For a moment, she looked surprised.

Then she smiled.

“Oh, she’s beautiful.”

She leaned toward the bassinet.

“Let Grandma see you.”

I immediately sat up.

“Please don’t pick her up. She’s just been born.”

Eleanor turned slowly.

“Claire.”

Her smile disappeared.

“I didn’t realize you were still here.”

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I stared at her.

“Where exactly would you expect me to go? I just gave birth.”

“There’s no need to be dramatic.”

Vincent stepped between us.

“Mother, stop.”

Eleanor looked at him in disbelief.

“Vincent, she’s your daughter. You need to bring her home. The Moretti estate has everything a child could possibly need.”

I shook my head.

“Lily is coming home with me.”

Eleanor laughed softly.

“Your apartment? Claire, don’t be ridiculous. This child belongs to the Moretti family.”

Vincent’s expression hardened.

“She’s not a possession, Mother.”

“Don’t speak to me like that. I’m thinking about your daughter’s future.”

“So am I.”

Eleanor crossed her arms.

“Then you should marry Claire again.”

The room went silent.

I looked at Vincent.

He didn’t answer immediately.

Eleanor continued.

“There’s no reason for my granddaughter to grow up with divorced parents. Whatever problems you two had can be fixed.”

I let out a bitter laugh.

“How convenient. Six months ago, you told me I was an embarrassment to your family. Now suddenly I’m good enough to be your son’s wife?”

Eleanor’s face tightened.

“That was a different situation.”

“No. It was the same situation. I was simply no longer useful to you.”

Vincent turned toward his mother.

“Apologize.”

She stared at him.

“What?”

“You heard me.”

“Vincent, I’m your mother!”

“And Claire is the mother of my child.”

His voice was quiet but dangerous.

“Don’t ever disrespect her in front of Lily again.”

For the first time, Eleanor seemed genuinely shocked.

She picked up her handbag.

“This isn’t over.”

Then she walked out.

I released a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.

Vincent turned toward me.

“Claire, I want to make something clear.”

I didn’t look at him.

“If you’re about to talk about marriage, don’t.”

“I’m not asking you to marry me.”

That made me look up.

He pulled a chair beside my bed.

“I’m asking for a chance to be her father. I know I have no right to demand anything from you, but I don’t want Lily growing up thinking I abandoned her.”

I studied his face.

“Why now, Vincent?”

He looked down at his hands.

“Because I saw her.”

“That’s not an answer.”

He was silent for a moment.

Then he finally spoke.

“After our divorce, I kept expecting you to call. Every time my phone rang, I thought it might be you. But my pride wouldn’t let me make the first move.”

I felt tears gathering in my eyes.

“And you thought I wasn’t hurting?”

“No. I know I hurt you.”

“Then why didn’t you come after me?”

His eyes filled with regret.

“Because I was an idiot who thought you would always be there.”

I turned toward the window.

Those words were exactly what I had once wanted to hear.

But they had come too late.

A few minutes later, Vincent’s phone rang again.

He answered quietly.

“Marco?”

I watched his expression change.

“What do you mean?”

He stood up.

“Send me the documents. Now.”

After ending the call, he looked at me.

“Claire, there’s something you need to know.”

“What?”

He hesitated.

“My mother has been hiding something from me.”

My heart began beating faster.

“What does that have to do with us?”

Vincent pulled out his phone and showed me a photograph of a bank transfer.

It was dated four months earlier.

The recipient was my name.

The amount was fifty thousand dollars.

I stared at the screen.

“I never received this.”

“I know.”

He swiped to another document.

It was a letter addressed to me, supposedly written by Vincent shortly after our divorce.

My hands began trembling as I read the first sentence.

Claire, I don’t want anything to do with you anymore. Don’t contact me again, and don’t expect me to support you financially.

I looked up at him.

“Did you write this?”

Vincent shook his head.

“Absolutely not.”

He placed another document beside it.

It was an email from Eleanor’s personal assistant, instructing someone to intercept all correspondence between Vincent and me.

My throat tightened.

“Why would she do that?”

Vincent’s expression turned cold.

“Because she wanted us separated.”

I stared at the documents, struggling to understand.

Then he showed me one final message.

It had been sent to his assistant six months earlier.

Make sure Claire understands that Vincent has moved on. She must never know he still wants to save their marriage.

I couldn’t breathe.

Vincent sat beside me.

“Claire, I swear I never stopped loving you.”

Tears rolled down my cheeks.

For six months, I had believed I was the only one who had wanted our marriage to survive.

But now, as I looked at the evidence, I realized someone might have deliberately destroyed everything we had.

Vincent gently reached for my hand.

“I’m going to find out everything my mother did.”

I looked at him, then at our sleeping daughter.

“Don’t do it for me, Vincent.”

He frowned.

“Then for whom?”

I looked down at Lily.

“For her. If you’re going to be her father, prove it through your actions.”

He nodded slowly.

“I will.”

Then he leaned toward the bassinet and kissed Lily’s forehead.

“I promise, princess. Daddy isn’t going anywhere.”

For the first time, I didn’t tell him to leave.

But I wasn’t ready to forgive him either.

Because the biggest secret hadn’t been revealed yet.

And Eleanor Moretti was about to discover that the little girl she wanted to claim as a Moretti heir might not be the only thing Claire Bennett had kept hidden.

End of Part 3.