Chapter4—His Daughter
1634 Words
Adrian couldn’t move.
The little girl clung to Selena’s neck while smiling sleepily against her shoulder, completely unaware that the world around them had just stopped.
His world certainly had.
Those eyes.
Gray.
Exactly like his.
His pulse turned erratic.
The child looked no older than four or five.
Five years.
Five f*****g years.
His throat tightened painfully.
Selena looked up slowly and immediately saw the exact moment realization hit him.
Shock.
Hope.
Fear.
All colliding violently across his face.
For the first time tonight, her composure cracked slightly.
Not because she regretted bringing Aria here.
But because she had imagined this moment so many times over the years.
She just never imagined it would still hurt.
“Mommy?” Aria whispered softly, noticing the tension.
Selena smoothed a hand over her daughter’s curls instantly. “It’s okay, baby.”
Adrian stared at the child like he physically couldn’t look away.
“How old is she?”
The question came out rough.
Barely controlled.
Selena’s expression cooled again immediately.
“Goodnight, Mr. Vale.”
Then she turned.
And walked away.
Panic surged through Adrian instantly.
“Selena wait.”
She ignored him.
Dominic stepped slightly between them as they approached the entrance doors.
“Now’s not the time,” Dominic said calmly.
Adrian’s jaw clenched. “This doesn’t concern you.”
Dominic’s expression remained dangerously polite. “Actually, it concerns Selena. Which means it concerns me.”
The possessiveness in his tone ignited something ugly inside Adrian.
Before he could respond, Selena spoke quietly without turning around.
“Dominic.”
That single word stopped the tension instantly.
Dominic stepped back.
Not because Adrian intimidated him.
Because Selena asked him to.
Adrian noticed that immediately.
And hated it even more.
Selena finally turned to face him again.
Cold.
Controlled.
Untouchable.
Everything she never used to be around him.
“What do you want, Adrian?”
The sound of his name from her lips nearly destroyed his composure.
For five years he imagined hearing it again.
Not like this though.
Never like this.
“That child”
“Is tired,” Selena interrupted smoothly.
“Don’t do that.”
Something flashed briefly across her eyes.
Pain maybe.
Gone too quickly to confirm.
“Do what?”
“Act like she isn’t mine.”
The silence that followed felt explosive.
Dominic’s gaze sharpened instantly.
Even Aria looked curiously between them now.
Selena adjusted the little girl more securely against her shoulder before answering calmly.
“You’re making assumptions.”
Adrian almost laughed.
Assumptions?
The child had his eyes.
His exact eyes.
“She’s five,” he said slowly.
Selena didn’t answer.
“She’s five,” he repeated harder this time.
Her silence told him everything.
Adrian felt the air leave his lungs.
Oh God.
The realization slammed into him fully now.
Selena had been pregnant when she disappeared.
Pregnant the night he left her standing at the altar.
His stomach twisted violently.
“You were carrying my child.”
Not a question anymore.
A fact.
Selena looked away first.
That hurt more than if she’d screamed at him.
“Adrian” Dominic started.
“No.” Adrian’s voice sharpened instantly. “No, you don’t get to speak right now.”
His eyes stayed locked on Selena.
“You kept my daughter from me for five years?”
That finally triggered emotion.
Selena’s gaze snapped back to his.
A dangerous calm settled over her face.
“Your daughter?”
The words came out soft.
Deadly soft.
Adrian immediately realized he’d said the wrong thing.
But it was too late.
“You lost the right to call her yours the second you abandoned us.”
The accusation hit like a physical blow.
“I didn’t know she existed.”
“You didn’t stay long enough to find out.”
Pain flickered across his face instantly.
Real pain.
Because she was right.
Selena shifted Aria gently in her arms before handing her to a waiting nanny near the doors.
“Take her to the car.”
The older woman nodded quickly before leaving with Aria.
Adrian watched his daughter disappear from sight and something primal twisted inside his chest.
His daughter.
Five years old.
Five years of birthdays.
First words.
First steps.
Nightmares.
Laughter.
Gone.
Stolen from him.
And somehow that pain eclipsed everything else.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked quietly.
Selena stared at him for a long moment.
“You really want the answer to that?”
“Yes.”
A humorless smile touched her lips.
“Because I saw you choose another woman over me in front of the entire world.”
Adrian stepped closer immediately. “That’s not what happened.”
“It’s exactly what happened.”
“I was trying to protect”
He stopped abruptly.
Selena noticed instantly.
Protect who?
Protect what?
The unfinished sentence lingered heavily between them.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Because that sounded nothing like the excuse of a guilty man.
Her heart betrayed her with one painful thud.
No.
Absolutely not.
She had spent five years rebuilding herself from the ruins Adrian left behind. She refused to let uncertainty weaken her now.
“Whatever explanation you have doesn’t matter anymore,” she said calmly.
“It matters to me.”
The honesty in his voice almost shook her.
Almost.
Selena crossed her arms slowly. “You should go back inside, Adrian. Your shareholders are probably nervous.”
His eyes narrowed slightly.
“You came back for Vale Industries.”
Finally.
Something sharp and satisfied curled inside her.
He was starting to understand.
“Yes,” she admitted smoothly.
Adrian studied her carefully now.
Not the woman he remembered.
This Selena moved differently.
Spoke differently.
Looked at him differently.
And somehow that terrified him more than her hatred.
“You’re Laurent Luxe.”
“Very good.”
His jaw tightened.
“You’ve been targeting my company.”
“Your company is vulnerable.”
“So this is revenge?”
That question lingered between them.
Selena tilted her head slightly.
“What do you think?”
Adrian suddenly remembered every acquisition.
Every hostile takeover.
Every deal lost at the last second.
It was her.
All of it.
For five years Selena had quietly built an empire powerful enough to challenge his.
The realization should’ve angered him.
Instead…
part of him felt strangely proud.
Which was insane.
“You disappeared,” he said again quietly. “Then came back just to destroy me.”
Her expression finally cracked slightly.
Not anger.
Hurt.
“You already destroyed me first.”
The words landed harder than anything else tonight.
Because Adrian believed her.
God help him, he believed her completely.
For one terrible moment neither of them spoke.
The city lights reflected around them through the towering glass entrance while distant gala music echoed faintly behind them.
And suddenly Adrian noticed something unsettling.
Selena still looked at him too long sometimes.
Like she hated herself for it afterward.
Like part of her still remembered loving him.
That realization sparked dangerous hope inside him.
“Selena”
“Don’t.”
Her voice softened unexpectedly.
Tired now.
Emotionally exhausted.
“You don’t get to look at me like that after what you did.”
Adrian frowned slightly. “Like what?”
“Like you miss me.”
Silence.
Heavy silence.
Because he did.
Every single day.
She saw the answer in his face instantly.
And it shook her far more than she wanted.
Dominic reappeared near the doors then, his expression unreadable as he approached them.
“The car’s waiting.”
Adrian’s entire body stiffened when Selena naturally moved closer to Dominic.
Not romantic exactly.
But familiar.
Comfortable.
That somehow felt worse.
Dominic looked toward Adrian calmly. “You should let the past stay buried.”
Adrian’s gaze turned icy.
“The past just called me Daddy.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened subtly.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Selena immediately stepped between them before tension escalated further.
“This isn’t a competition.”
“It is for him,” Adrian said coldly.
Selena exhaled slowly.
“Goodnight, Adrian.”
This time she really left.
Dominic opened the car door for her while Adrian stood frozen beneath the entrance lights watching everything unravel around him.
The moment the black SUV disappeared into traffic, Adrian finally moved.
Straight back into the gala.
Marcus nearly choked on his drink seeing his face.
“You look insane.”
Adrian grabbed him instantly. “I need every piece of footage from my wedding day.”
Marcus blinked. “What?”
“Airport security. Church cameras. Private terminals. Everything.”
“Adrian”
“Now.”
Something about his expression made Marcus stop arguing immediately.
Hours later Adrian sat alone inside his penthouse office staring at his laptop screen.
The city skyline glowed behind him.
Unread messages flooded his phone.
Board members demanded answers.
Investors panicked.
He ignored all of it.
Because Selena had a daughter.
His daughter.
A knock sounded before Marcus entered holding a flash drive.
“You were right,” he said quietly.
Adrian looked up sharply.
“What is it?”
Marcus handed over the drive slowly.
“One of our old security contacts found deleted footage from the private airport.”
A strange feeling settled heavily in Adrian’s chest.
Fear.
He inserted the drive immediately.
The video began playing.
Grainy footage filled the screen.
Adrian watched himself stumble through the private terminal five years ago.
His brows furrowed instantly.
Because he barely recognized himself.
He looked disoriented.
Unsteady.
Almost unconscious.
Then the footage zoomed closer.
And Adrian saw something that made his blood run cold.
Two security guards were practically dragging him onto the jet while Cassandra argued with someone off camera.
Adrian stared at the screen in horror.
Because he had absolutely no memory of any of it.
- Writer
