His Son, My Secret

Chapter 3: The Devil’s Deal

The elevator doors slid shut , sealing Aria in with the devil himself.

Damian Wolfe didn’t speak. He just stared. His gray eyes – Leo’s eyes- Dragged from her cheap sneakers to the dinosaur book she clutched like a shield.

“You’re her,” he said finally. His voice was rougher than she remembered.“ Seven years ago.The Metropole . Room 2401.”

It wasn’t a question.

Aria’s throat closed. “ you remember.”

“ I remember everything.” He stepped closer. Too close. His cologne —rain and sin–made her dizzy . “ Including the fact you left before I woke up.”

“ I had to—“

“ And now you’re here.”His gaze dropped to the book. “About the son.”

The office was bigger than her entire apartment. Glass walls. City skyline. And a wall of photos—charity galas,hospitals , children. All except one.

“Leo,”Aria forced out. “He’s five. He has leukemia . He needs a bone marrow transplant and you’re —"

“ The best match.” Damian finished for her. He turned away, jaw ticking. “ Why should I believe you ?”

“Because he has your eyes.” She shoved her phone at him. Lock Screen: Leo , grinning, missing a front tooth. Gray eyes bright .

Damian went still. For a full ten seconds, the billionaire CEO of Wolfe Enterprises looked like he’d been shot.

Then his mask slammed back down. Cold . Calculating.

“ My legal team will contact you ,” he said. “ We’ll do a paternity test. If the child is mine —"

“— then we discuss terms.”

“Terms?” Aria laughed, sharp and broken. “ He’s dying, Damian. There are no terms.”

“There’s always terms, Ms. Blake .” He pressed a button on his desk. “ My assistant will show you out. Don’t speak to press. Don’t post online. Don’t even breathe my name until I say so.”

The door opened. A security guard waited.

Aria didn’t move. “ Will you test for Leo?Tonight?”

Damian’s eyes met hers . For a second, she saw the man from that hotel room. Haunted. Human.

“Yes.”

The guard’s hand closed on her arm.

“But Aria?” Damian voice stopped her at the door. “ If you’re lying to me…I’ll make sure you regret the day you’re born.”

The elevator ride down took a lifetime.

Three hours later, her phone rang. Unknown number,

“Ms. Blake .” It was Damian. “. The test is 99.9% positive.”

The floor disappeared.

“ He’s mine,”Damian said, and his voice broke.“My son.”

Aria sank to the hallway floor outside Leo’s hospital room, sobbing.

“I’m sending a car,” Damian continued." Pack a bag .Your moving into the penthouse tonight.”

“What? No—"

“Non-negotiable. My son will 24/7 care. The best doctors. And his mother …" A pause.” His mother will be where I can protect her .”

“Protect me from what?”

“From me, Aria . And everyone else who’ll want a piece of him once this gets out.”

The line went dead.

A nurse touched her shoulder. “Ms. Blake? A Mr. Wolfe just bought the entire pediatric wing.And he…he says you’re to be discharged as his guest.”

Aria looked up at the ceiling.

The devil wasn’t making a deal.

He was making a claim.

She is moving in with him.