The Billionaire’s Secret Daughter

Chapter 2

As Malorie pulled up to the mansion in her Tesla she swallowed down a familiar bundle of nerves. She had been visiting this house for almost two years now, but she still felt uneasy every time. She plastered a friendly smile on her face as she knocked on the door.

“Good evening Miss Malorie,” one of the maids greeted her politely as she opened the door.

“Hello Sarah,” Malorie returned her greeting as she went to the large sitting room that was off the equally large foyer. The entire mansion was huge with nearly a dozen bedrooms and just as many bathrooms.

“Malorie, it’s good to see you,” Sofia Miller welcomed her. “How have you been the last few weeks?”

“I’ve been good,” Malorie replied politely as she sat down on one of the room’s elegant sofas. “How about yourself?”

“I’ve been doing well. I’ve been busy arranging the company’s upcoming charity gala so I haven’t had time to do much else,” Sofia told her as she sat across from her step daughter on another sofa. “Charles is on a business call upstairs and the boys should be here soon. You know them. Always running late.”

“Whose always running late?” Charles Miller asked as he descended the stairs.

“Your sons,” Sofia answered.

“Hello Malorie,” Charles greeted his daughter with a smile.

“Hi Charlie,” Malorie returned his greeting. Besides her mother Clara, Malorie was the only one who called Charles by his nickname, but he didn’t mind. He was just grateful to have her as part of his life. As his wife prepared drinks for them, Charles remembered when he first met his daughter. He had been visiting one of his hotels and reading the newspaper when he came across an obituary for Clara Henderson. He stared at the obituary in shock, as the words lost her battle with cancer and survived by one daughter swam before his eyes. Charles had done his best to move on from his affair and fix his marriage, but he had still thought of Clara from time to time. He had hoped she had been doing well and was saddened to see that she had died so young. When he saw that her funeral was the next day, he decided to attend and pay his respects.

When he arrived at the funeral, he saw that it was a small gathering. Clara’s parents had passed away in an accident when she was 19 and she didn’t have any other close family, so the funeral was mostly Clara’s friends and coworkers. Charles noticed the young woman receiving condolences at the front of the room in the funeral home and assumed she was Clara’s daughter. She looked to be in her early 20s and she was trying her best to put on a brave face for all those greeting her. Charles wasn’t sure if he should talk to her, but she looked so sad, he had to say something.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Charles told her once the crowd around her had finally dissipated. “Your mother was a good woman.”

“Thank you,” Malorie replied automatically before taking a good look at the man before her. He was tall with salt and pepper hair and bright green eyes that looked vaguely familiar, although she was certain she had never met him before. “How did you know my mother?”

“We were,” Charles paused before finishing his sentence hesitantly, “old friends. We hadn’t spoken for some time but I was sorry to hear about her passing. I’m Charles.”

“Malorie,” she responded with her own name as she tried to place the name. Suddenly her face paled even more than it already was as something occurred to her. “Wait, Charles as in Charlie?”

“Well no one besides your mother calls me that, but yes,” Charles replied, puzzled by Malorie’s reaction to his name. “Your mother mentioned me?”

“Oh yes she definitely mentioned you.”

Clara had always been honest with her daughter and told her all about her father when she asked. Clara had explained to Malorie that her father had lied to her about his marriage and that she had kept her a secret from him because she didn’t want to cause any more drama or damage to his family. Malorie had never intended to seek out her father, but now that he was standing before her, she wasn’t sure what to do. From the way he was talking to her, he didn’t appear to know who she was. Should she tell him the truth or keep her mother’s secret?

Charles watched the girl as she silently panicked, wondering what exactly Clara had said about him.

“Well it was nice to meet you, but I need to go,” Malorie rushed out, deciding to respect her mother’s wishes and not say anything. She hurried away to compose herself in the bathroom. Her quick exit caught the attention of two women who were standing near Charles.

“Poor thing,” one woman commented to the other. “No father, and now she’s lost her mother. And so young too. She can’t be much more than 20.”

“She’s almost 23,” the woman’s companion supplied helpfully. “Same as my Isabella.”

Charles stood rooted to the spot as he processed what the women said. Malorie never knew her father and her age meant that she would have been born within a year of his and Clara’s breakup. Could she be his daughter? Surely Clara would have told him if she was pregnant. But then he remembered the look on her face when she confronted him about the truth. She had looked completely betrayed and devastated. He could understand why she wouldn’t want him in her or her child’s life.

Charles sat through the service, debating with himself the whole time, trying to decide whether or not he should confront Malorie during her time of grief. He continued his internal debate all the way to the graveyard where Clara was put to rest. As he watched Malorie stand next to her mothers grave as she held back tears, he finally decided he has to know the truth.

“Malorie,” Charles approached her cautiously as he tried to come up with the right words to broach the subject. “I know this is a difficult time for you and I hate to intrude, but I need to ask you something.”

“What’s that?” She asked as she took in his worried expression.

“What exactly did your mother tell you about me?”

“She told me everything. My mom and I didn’t keep secrets.”

“Did she tell you, I mean to say am I your,” Charles stumbled over his words, still at a loss how to ask such an important question.

“Are you my father?” Malorie retorted. She could tell that he had put it together and although she had decided not to tell him herself, she couldn’t lie to him when asked directly. “Yeah I think you are Charlie.”

And with those words Charles knew that his life and the lives of his family would be changed forever.