The Daughter He Never Knew

PART 3 — THE TRUTH BEHIND HIS NEW FAMILY

The following morning, Vincent arrived at our hotel at exactly ten o’clock.

He brought Lily a beautiful dollhouse, a collection of storybooks, and a small bouquet of pink flowers.

“You brought too many presents!” Lily exclaimed.

Vincent smiled.

“I have five years to make up for.”

I immediately interrupted.

“You can’t buy five years of fatherhood with expensive gifts.”

His smile disappeared.

“You’re right.”

Surprisingly, he placed the presents aside and sat on the carpet beside Lily instead.

For the next hour, the feared Mafia boss of Chicago built a crooked tower out of wooden blocks while a four-year-old girl laughed at him.

When the tower collapsed, Lily clapped.

“Daddy needs practice!”

The word slipped out naturally.

Vincent went completely still.

I watched him turn his face away, pretending to adjust one of the blocks.

But I saw the tears in his eyes.

Later, while Lily played with her new dollhouse, Vincent asked me to speak privately.

“There’s something you need to know about the woman I chose over you.”

My expression hardened.

“I don’t want to hear about her.”

“You should.”

He took a breath.

“Her name was Isabella. I believed I loved her when I left you. But after you disappeared, I discovered she had been lying to me.”

I said nothing.

“She had been working with one of my enemies. She wanted access to my business, my money, and my family’s secrets.”

I looked at him coldly.

“And that changes what happened between us?”

“No. Nothing changes what I did to you.”

His voice grew quieter.

“I found out the truth only three months after you left. By then, you were already gone.”

For the first time, I wondered whether the woman he had chosen had been part of something far more complicated.

But my pain didn’t disappear.

“You still told me you didn’t love me, Vincent.”

He lowered his head.

“I know.”

“And you watched me walk away.”

“I thought you would be happier without me.”

I laughed bitterly.

“You made that decision for me.”

Before he could respond, his phone rang.

He answered, and his expression immediately darkened.

“What do you mean she’s back?”

I watched his eyes move toward Lily.

“Keep her away from the hotel. I don’t want anyone near my daughter.”

He ended the call.

“What’s happening?” I asked.

Vincent hesitated.

“Isabella is back in Chicago.”

My blood ran cold.

“Why?”

“She knows about Lily.”

At that moment, a notification appeared on Vincent’s phone.

It was a photograph of Lily sitting beside him, taken through the hotel window just minutes earlier.

Beneath it was a message.

Congratulations, Vincent. You finally found your little family. It would be a shame if someone took it away.

Vincent’s face turned terrifyingly cold.

He immediately called his security chief.

“Double the protection around Claire and Lily. Nobody approaches them without my permission.”

I stepped forward.

“Don’t make decisions about my daughter without asking me.”

He looked at me.

“Claire, she’s dangerous.”

“Then tell me everything. No more secrets.”

For several seconds, Vincent stared at me before finally nodding.

“I promise.”

But neither of us noticed Lily standing behind the doorway.

She was holding her teddy bear tightly.

“Mommy?”

I turned toward her.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

She looked at Vincent, then at me.

“Is the lady going to take Daddy away?”

Vincent slowly crouched in front of her.

“No, princess. Nobody is taking me away from you.”

Lily’s little eyes filled with tears.

“Because I just found you.”

Vincent pulled her into his arms, closing his eyes as he held the daughter he had never known.

And I stood there, realizing that Isabella’s return was not the only danger waiting for us.

Because somewhere in Vincent’s past was a secret he still hadn’t told me.

And I had a terrible feeling that secret was the reason our family was never truly safe.