Chapter Two: The Unwanted Daughter
706 Words
Nineteen years earlier, Richard Carter walked through the front door carrying a little girl in his arms.
His wife looked up from the living room.
“Richard?”
He didn’t answer immediately.
Her eyes moved to the child.
“Who is that?”
Richard gently placed the little girl on the floor.
“This is Yvonne.”
His wife’s expression changed.
“Yvonne?”
Richard nodded.
“She is my daughter.”
Silence.
His wife stared at him in disbelief.
“Your daughter?”
Richard lowered his eyes.
“She is the daughter of the woman I told you about.”
His wife’s face hardened.
“Your mistress.”
Richard said nothing.
The little girl stood between them, clutching the small bag in her hands.
Her mother had died.
There was nowhere else for her to go.
His wife looked at the child again.
“And you brought her here?”
“I have no choice.”
“You always have a choice, Richard.”
“She has no one.”
His wife laughed bitterly.
“And that’s supposed to become my problem?”
Richard stepped closer.
“She is five years old.”
“I know how old she is.”
“She needs a home.”
His wife looked away.
“She needs her father.”
“I am her father.”
“Then act like one.”
Richard’s voice softened.
“Please.”
She looked at him sharply.
“You’re asking me to raise the child of the woman you betrayed me with?”
Richard had no answer.
Yvonne stood quietly, not understanding why the adults were arguing.
His wife finally looked at her.
The little girl lowered her head.
For a long moment, nobody spoke.
Then Richard said quietly, “I won’t abandon her.”
His wife closed her eyes.
She was angry.
Hurt.
Humiliated.
But when she opened her eyes again, she looked at the little girl rather than Richard.
“She can stay.”
Richard looked at her.
“Thank you.”
“But don’t expect me to forget where she came from.”
Yvonne didn’t understand what that meant.
She only understood one thing.
She had a home.
Or at least, she thought she did.
That night, Richard showed her the room she would sleep in.
It was small and plain.
Yvonne sat on the bed, holding her mother’s photograph.
Richard crouched beside her.
“You’ll be safe here.”
Yvonne looked at him.
“Will you stay?”
Richard smiled sadly.
“Yes.”
She nodded.
Then he kissed her forehead.
“Goodnight, sweetheart.”
“Goodnight, Daddy.”
Richard left the room.
Yvonne looked at the photograph in her hands.
She missed her mother.
She didn’t know that growing up in the Carter mansion would teach her to miss something else too.
Belonging.
Nineteen years later…
Yvonne was now twenty-four.
The Carter mansion was unusually busy that morning.
Servants moved quickly through the halls, preparing the house for an important guest.
Edward Sterling was coming.
Richard had spent weeks negotiating with him, and today, the final agreement was supposed to be signed.
The Sterling family had agreed to provide the money Carter Construction desperately needed.
Without it, the company could collapse.
But there was a condition.
A Carter daughter would have to marry into the Sterling family.
Yvonne stood in front of her mirror, adjusting her dress.
She had no idea how much that condition was about to change her life.
Downstairs, Charlotte was already preparing for the meeting.
Richard entered the room holding the final documents.
“Everything must be perfect before Edward arrives.”
His wife nodded.
Charlotte smiled.
“We’ll be ready.”
Richard looked toward the staircase.
“Where’s Yvonne?”
His wife answered casually.
“Probably in the kitchen.”
Richard frowned.
“Tell her to get dressed properly. She’s a Carter daughter, and she will be present when Edward arrives.”
Charlotte exchanged a quick glance with her mother.
Yvonne was going to be part of the meeting.
Neither of them knew that by the end of the day, one of the Carter daughters would be promised to the Sterling family.
And neither knew which daughter Edward Sterling’s family truly wanted.
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