*Chapter 2: The Man At The Door
1174 Words
*Daddy?" - High Drama*
*
The air in the company daycare turned to ice.
My mouth was still open.
My heart was beating so loud I was sure the entire Sterling Corp building could hear it.
Because the three words I swore I’d take to my grave just slipped out.
`'Her daughter just...is Damian Sterling.'`
And the worst part?
The man himself was standing at the door.
Damian Sterling.
CEO of Sterling Corp. Billionaire. Ruthless. The man whose name was on every building in this city.
And the father of my daughter.
He wasn’t supposed to be here.
He never came to the daycare. That was for “employees and their children” only. Not for men who owned the whole damn company.
But there he was.
Six foot three. Black tailored suit. Hair slightly messy like he’d been running his hands through it. Eyes the exact same shade of storm-gray as my daughter’s.
And he was staring right at me.
“Miss Williams?” The daycare attendant’s voice shook. “Mr. Sterling… he came for a surprise inspection.”
Surprise inspection. Right.
Because billionaires just randomly check if the crayons are sharpened.
I forced myself to stand. My legs felt like jelly. Maya was still coloring at the small table, completely unaware that her entire world was about to implode.
“Mr. Sterling,” I said. My voice came out hoarse. “Hello.”
His eyes didn’t leave me. Not for one second.
“Ms. Williams,” he said. His voice was low, deep, and furious. “My office. Now.”
---
I followed him down the hall like I was walking to my execution.
The Sterling Corp headquarters was glass and steel and cold. Just like him. Four years ago I was a 21-year-old temp, drowning in student debt, desperate for overtime. He was 29, newly promoted to VP, and the coldest man in the building.
Until that company gala.
Until the whiskey.
Until one night that ruined both our lives.
I hadn’t seen him since I quit the next morning and left the city.
Now here we were.
His office door slammed shut behind us.
“Sit,” he ordered.
I didn’t.
“I don’t have time for this. I have to get back to Maya.”
“To Maya,” he repeated. He tested the name on his tongue like it burned. “Is that her name?”
My stomach dropped. “Yes.”
He walked to his desk, but didn’t sit. He leaned against it, arms crossed. The same position he’d had that night. The night I told myself it meant nothing.
“Four years ago,” he started. “You disappeared after the December gala. No two weeks notice. No exit interview. Just… gone.”
“I had personal reasons.”
“Personal.” He laughed, but there was no humor in it. “You were the best temp analyst we had. And you ran.”
“I had to.”
“Why?” He pushed off the desk and took a step toward me. “Because of what happened between us?”
I flinched. “That was a mistake.”
“A mistake.” His jaw ticked. “A mistake that produced a four-year-old girl with my eyes?”
My breath caught. “You don’t know that.”
“Don’t I?” He pulled out his phone and swiped. A photo. It was Maya. Taken today, from the daycare camera. Her hair in two puffs, tongue sticking out as she colored. And those eyes. My God, those eyes.
“They’re mine,” he said quietly. Dangerously quiet. “Mine, Lily.”
Hearing my name from him after four years felt like a punch.
“She’s not—”
“Don’t lie to me.” He cut me off. “I’ve made a career out of reading people. And you, Lily Williams, are the worst liar I’ve ever met.”
Tears pricked my eyes. I blinked them away. I was not going to cry in front of Damian Sterling.
“She’s mine,” I whispered. “Just mine.”
He stared at me for a long time. Then he turned and looked out the floor-to-ceiling window at the city below.
“Do you have any idea what you did?” he asked. “You left. You took my child. And you let me think for four years that it was just one night.”
“It was just one night!” The words burst out of me. “You were drunk. I was scared. You were my boss’s son! What was I supposed to do? Show up with a pregnancy test and ruin your engagement?”
He turned back to me so fast I stepped back.
“What engagement?”
“The one in the gossip magazines,” I said bitterly. “To Victoria Hayes. Three months after the gala.”
Damian’s expression darkened. “That was a business arrangement. It ended a year later.”
“Well congratulations,” I snapped. “You’re free. I’m not. I have a daughter to raise.”
Silence.
Then: “You’re coming to dinner. Tonight.”
“What?”
“Dinner. At my house. With Maya. So we can talk like adults about what happens next.”
“I’m not bringing my daughter to—”
“You don’t have a choice, Lily.” His voice dropped. “I’m her father. And I’m not going to let you keep her from me.”
The threat was clear. Lawyers. Custody. Money. Everything I couldn’t fight.
My hands were shaking. “Fine. Dinner.”
“7 PM. My driver will pick you up.”
---
The rest of the day was a blur.
I couldn’t focus on work. Every time I closed my eyes I saw his face. The way he looked at Maya through the glass. Like he was seeing a ghost.
At 6:45 PM, a black SUV pulled up to my tiny apartment.
The driver didn’t speak. He just opened the door for me and Maya.
Maya was excited. “Mommy, is this a princess car?”
I forced a smile. “Something like that, baby.”
The Sterling mansion was everything I remembered. White. Cold. Perfect.
And Damian was waiting at the door.
But he wasn’t in a suit. He was in dark jeans and a black button-down, sleeves rolled up. He looked… younger. Tired.
“Come in,” he said.
Dinner was awkward. Maya chattered about her drawings. Damian barely touched his food. He just watched her.
Finally, after Maya was set up in the playroom with a nanny, it was just us.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked. No anger now. Just exhaustion.
“Because you made it clear that night that it meant nothing,” I said. “You said ‘this can’t happen again’ and walked away.”
“I was engaged,” he said. “To a woman I didn’t love. To save the company. And then you left and I thought
- Writer
