The Billionaire’s Rejected Mate

Chapter 5: He Found Us

The clinic smelled like disinfectant and fear.

I was holding Hope to my chest when Auntie Bose’s son showed me the phone.

"Aunty, look."

The picture was blurry.

Me. In the hospital corridor. Holding a small bundle.

My face was turned away but my hair... my hair was the same.

And the caption under it:

`BREAKING: Vex CEO’s missing mate spotted in Ilorin. Gave birth to a baby girl.`

Comments:

`That’s her. 100%`

`50 million naira oh. Anybody seen her?`

`Damian Vex must be going crazy.`

My hands started shaking.

Hope made a small sound in her sleep. Like she could feel me panicking.

"They don’t know it’s you yet," Auntie Bose said quickly. "The picture is not clear. But Sade... you have to leave. Today."

I nodded. I couldn’t speak.

By noon we were packing.

One bag. Diapers. Clothes. The jar with 43,000 naira left.

Hope in a wrapper on my back.

"Where will you go?" Auntie Bose asked.

"I don’t know," I whispered. "Anywhere he’s not."

She pressed 10,000 naira into my hand. "For transport. And food for my girl."

I cried and hugged her.

"Thank you," I sobbed. "For everything."

We left Ilorin at 3pm.

Bus to Ogbomoso. Then another bus to a small village I couldn’t even pronounce.

No hotels. No trace.

Just a room above a shop. 15k for 2 months.

For 2 weeks, nothing happened.

I breathed.

I fed Hope.

I learned the sound of her cry. Hungry cry. Wet cry. Scared cry.

I cut my hair short. Dyed it black.

I stopped being Sade. I became "Mama Hope."

And then the black SUV came.

---

Lagos. Vex Corp Tower.

Damian threw his phone across the room.

It hit the wall and shattered.

"How did she get to Ilorin?" he roared.

Kade didn’t answer. Nobody answered when he was like this.

6 weeks.

6 weeks since the gala.

6 weeks since he said "I reject you" and watched her run.

6 weeks of no sleep. No food. No board meetings.

The picture on the screen was all he had.

Blurry. But it was her.

The way she held the baby. Like the world could end and she’d still protect it.

"Is it mine?" he asked. His voice was quiet now. Dangerous.

The doctor had already run the facial recognition.

"95% match on the baby’s eyes, Alpha. The eyes are yours. Grey. Like glass."

His daughter.

He had a daughter.

And he wasn’t there.

"Get the jet ready," he said. "Now."

"Sir, the board—"

"I don’t give a damn about the board!"

He was already walking out.

Suit jacket on. Keys in hand.

For the first time in 3 years, Damian Vex wasn’t thinking about money.

He was thinking about a little girl with his eyes.

And the woman he broke.

---

The village was quiet at night.

Too quiet.

I was boiling water for Hope’s bath when I heard it.

Engines.

Not danfo. Not okada.

Big engines.

My blood went cold.

I grabbed Hope.

Ran to the window.

3 black SUVs.

Parked at the entrance of the street.

Men in suits getting out.

No. No no.

I didn’t think.

I ran.

Back door. Through the market. Through the bush path behind the shop.

Hope was crying against my chest.

"Shhh baby. Shhh. Mummy is here."

I ran until my lungs burned.

Until we reached an old church. Locked.

I hid behind it. In the mud.

My phone buzzed.

Unknown number.

I almost threw it.

But I answered.

"Selene."

His voice.

Damian.

Not through a PA system. Not through a reporter.

Right here. In my ear.

"How—"

"GPS on the last phone you used to call Auntie Bose," he said. "I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I tracked you."

He didn’t sound cold.

He sounded broken.

"Where are you?" I whispered.

"200 meters from you," he said. "I can see the church. Don’t run. Please don’t run."

I looked up.

And there he was.

Damian Vex.

Standing under the moonlight.

No suit. Just black shirt and jeans.

Hair messy. Beard grown.

He looked like hell.

And he was looking at me.

At us.

Hope stopped crying.

Like she knew.

"Give me my daughter," he said. Softly.

I clutched her tighter. "You gave up that right 6 months ago."

He flinched. Like I’d slapped him.

"I know," he said. "I know what I did. And I’ve hated myself for every second of it."

He took a step forward.

His men stayed back.

"I’m not here to take her from you," he said. "I swear to God, Sel. I’m here to beg you to let me be in her life. In your life."

I laughed. It came out bitter.

"Bullshit. You rejected me. On TV."

"I did it to protect you!" he yelled. Then lowered his voice. "The board said if I claimed you, they’d cut funding. The company would crash. 10,000 people would lose their jobs. Your brother’s job. Your auntie’s pension."

"So you chose them," I said.

"I chose wrong," he whispered. "Every day since then I’ve chosen wrong."

Hope started crying again.

Damian’s eyes went to her.

Really looked at her.

His face broke.

"She has my eyes," he said. Voice shaking. "Can I... can I hold her? Just once?"

I should have said no.

I should have run.

But he looked so tired.

So human.

Not the Alpha. Not the billionaire.

Just a man who missed his family.

I took one step forward. Then another.

I was 2 feet from him now.

Close enough to smell him. Cedar. Smoke.

Close enough to remember.

"Her name is Hope," I said.

Damian’s eyes filled.

"Hope," he repeated. Like it was a prayer.

I shifted the baby into his arms.

He held her like she was glass.

Like she was the world.

His big hands. So careful.

Hope opened her eyes.

Grey.

His eyes.

"Hi," he whispered to her. "Hi, Hope. I’m your daddy. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there."

A tear fell on Hope’s cheek.

He wiped it with his thumb.

I watched him.

And for a second, I let myself remember the good.

The rainstorm. The suya. The "I love you" in the dark.

Then I remembered the gala.

The cameras.

The word: `Rejected.`

I pulled Hope back.

"You can’t have her," I said. "And you can’t have me."

Damian looked up at me.

And I saw it.

Pain. Real pain.

"I’m not asking to have you," he said. "I’m asking to earn you back. Please, Sel. Give me a chance."

Behind him, Kade coughed. "Alpha, we should go. People are coming."

Damian didn’t move.

He was still looking at me. At Hope.

"Where are you staying?" he asked.

"I’m not telling you."

"I’ll find you anyway," he said. Not as a threat. As a fact. "But I won’t take her. I promise. On my life."

He pulled out a card. Plain. No logo.

Just a number.

"If you need anything. Food. Doctor. Anything. Call me. Anytime."

He put it on the ground.

And walked away.

Back to the SUVs.

Back to Lagos.

Back to his empire.

I stood there with Hope in my arms until the engines were gone.

Then I picked up the card.

Crumpled it.

Threw it in the mud.

But I didn’t throw it far.

That night in the room, Hope wouldn’t sleep.

She kept looking at the door.

Like she was waiting.

I lay on the mattress and stared at the ceiling.

He found us.

He didn’t take her.

He cried.

What did that mean?

My phone lit up.

New message. From the number on the card.

`DAMIAN: I booked a doctor for Hope. Tomorrow 10am. Private clinic in Ogbomoso. No cost. No strings. Just for her. If you don’t come, I’ll understand.`

I didn’t reply.

But at 9am the next morning...

I was on a bus to Ogbomoso.

With Hope.

And the crumpled card in my pocket.

Because maybe...

Just maybe...

The billionaire who rejected me

Was the only one who could keep my daughter safe now.