Love & Revenge: The Heiress Returns

Finding Her

Cooper

"Have you find her?" My piercing eyes on James, my PA and best friend.

"Not yet. We can't find any important trail since the surveillance that day was malfunctioning."

"It's been close to a year. What’s your use if you can't even handle something this small?" My eyes fix on the paperwork that's taking hours to finish.

"My apologies. I have our men on the lookout," he assures.

"I want feedback, not tales, and you have 24hrs to do that or else…" I raise my eyes in a glare.

"Noted," he grumbles.

"Sit."

"I thought you would be so uptight and not say so. You need to chill, man, or is it that you have fallen for her? It's a one-night stand and you're already using your resources to find her." He moves to the chair across from my desk and lowers himself slowly.

"Shut it," I snap.

Minutes pass and my phone rings.

Ring, ring.

I pick up and, seeing the caller ID, I drop it back to the desk, irritated by the disturbance.

"If it's Mrs. Mercer, you would better pick, man, cause she would be calling me next," he shrugs.

"I don't have time to bargain with her. The workload is not going to sort itself, and if you think you have time to idle away, I suggest you pick one of the projects and be on the next flight." My jaw tightens at the continuous tune from the ringing phone.

"Of course. I have piled up emails and your next meeting in an hour, and flight been booked. If nothing else, I will get back to my work." He smirks, heading to the door.

"s**t," I cuss and pick the phone, standing up to move behind my desk, the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city, hands in my pocket, staring out at the skyline.

Silence.

"Hello?" My mom's slender voice breaks through.

Silence stretches. Ten seconds. Twenty.

"Cooper? Are you there?"

"Yes. Why the persistent call?"

"Is this how you are supposed to speak to your mom? You haven't bothered to call nor remember to come by at the house to see me," she nags.

"Is that all?" I ask with a tone of finality.

"What?? Don't hang up. I know you have work, but family is also important and I miss you. Can't you consider that?"

"Mum, go straight to the point."

"Fine. You've done well as CEO. Profits are up. The boards are happy, but there's something missing."

"Missing?" I frown. "Our last quarter was our best in five years."

"I'm not talking about business." Her voice is monotone. "I'm talking about family stability, a legacy. You have an arranged marriage…"

"That is obviously what the family wants, and I'm not denying responsibility, but…"

"Your grandfather died and we mourn him. That shouldn't be a continuous excuse," she cuts.

My hands curl as she is the one person that could possibly be capable to do that. At a young age, my father raised me with an iron fist, being his only heir, but he died, leaving behind my grandfather, who was more worse, but he did it a different way. My mother took after my father, and so when grandfather died months back, I rarely go back to the main house. And now mother is trying to fill the gaps with aim to control large members of the family, but the other issues she would ignore.

"I need to go."

"Wait… your cousin is hoping to seek for forgiveness and it would be nice to do that over dinner," she reveals.

My gaze turns stormy. I specifically mentioned that Dan drugged me months back with the aim of causing a scandal to affect my position and the company stability.

"Yes, but he has been punished. The consequences of his actions was withdrawing his share from the company. Since he's shown remorse, and if he repeats such, his name will be removed from the family book," she explains.

"Are you coming over for dinner?"

"Maybe." I hang up.

"Cooper, you need to hear this," James storms in.

I turn around, my thin almond eyes locked into his, my expression neutral.

"Better be worth my time."

"You picked her call and the usual?" He smirks.

The urge to wipe that off—yeah. "Something about how the Mercer Corporation has always been family-run. Family means stability, commitment."

"You can't blame her, you're thirty-four," he murmurs.

"I'm committed to that company!"

"But not to anything or anyone else." He shakes his head. "Two years older than I am, and you've never had a relationship. Thankfully for the arranged marriage thingy saving you."

"I don't need saving. My influence and wealth is enough. At least your old man let you do whatever you want."

He ignores my words. "At least you're getting married. That will help take the ladies' attention from you, not that you give them what they want."

"Thank you for that astute observation, James," I say, forcing a smile. "Always a pleasure to have your support."

"Sure," he chuckles. "About that, we found her, and there's something else." His face beams in enthusiasm.

"Spill."

He couldn't contain himself. "She is in labor and just given birth."

"What the… and the assurance that child is mine?" I question.

"Confirmed. The branch hospital is currently surrounded," he responds.

"Let's go… what hospital again?" He saunters to pick my overall, helping me wear it.

"A side-owned of the Mercer hospital. The headquarters is twenty minutes from here, so the branch is about twenty-five minutes," he calculates.

"Make it twenty minutes." I loosen my tie slightly as the paperwork lay cold, abandoned, as we move to my top-floor office private elevator that leads directly to the last floor. The ride feels like drowning in slow motion.

"So what's the plan?" James inquires.

I gaze at my reflection in the polished steel doors, sneaking a finger in my tousled hair, feeling relaxed that she's been found.

"What do you think?"

The air in the elevator feels heavy, charged with tension.

"That look… and if my guess is right, you are thrilled with thoughts of seeing her."

Navigating through the lobby buzzing with employees, everyone lowers their head, focusing on their work, and James' stance switches as he controls the car, and after I get in, we head out in controlled but precise speed, leaving behind no trail.

He pulls at the hospital entrance and I check my diamond-studded watch to calculate the time to be twenty minutes, dot used.

"Mr. Cooper." My bodyguards nod, seeing me.

"James, what's the situation inside?"

He moves closer to open the door. "Her ward is just ahead, and we made sure no movements."

"Get me the doctor," I say firmly at the door of that ward before going in.

Inside, the scent of anesthesia is dominant. The bed at the center, and hazel eyes clash with my curious gaze. Her petite body comes to view.

She sits up on the bed, her back relaxed, holding a tiny frame presumed to be the baby.

I stand rooted without taking a step forward. My eyes dilate when the baby cries. Her dark hair in a ponytail as she cuddles the baby to calm her down.

My eyes take everything in. Silence stretches, but then she speaks.

"Hello. Since you're here, come closer."

My mouth opens then shuts back. She knows who I am already?

"Come look at the baby. It's a girl." My brow wrinkles. Then a knock sounds as the doctor comes in.

James walks in behind him, his eyes going from mine to the woman on the bed.

"What's up?" he whispers.

I close in on the bed and sit beside her. Her eyes radiate seeing me up close.

Though I couldn't see the woman clearly that night, her hair was short, or probably my head was messy due to the drug.

"This is the DNA results." The doctor hands it over to me. Checking through it, the match is transparent.

Hmm. My eyes go back to her as she gestures to me to carry the child. Holding her feels incredible. She is my daughter, and I… have become her father.

But my father never trained me with tenderness. He said emotions was weakness and to do away with. My mother is no different, though my grandfather was slightly different but stricter. All my life, duty to my family comes first—in my marital affairs, in business-wise, the schools I attended, and my medical conditions—never to be found lacking. It's not that I can't love my child, but I don't know how to.

"What do you want? I will take responsibility for you and my child." My voice sounds hoarse.

Except… my heart is non-negotiable, watching her in thoughts.

"Thank you, doctor. Hope she can be discharged now? The home care will be appreciated." I dismiss as he confirms.

"Have you found out what I want?" James updates me on her life and family background.

"The Herrindale sounds familiar," I murmur.

"Because that's the family of your betrothed," James affirms.

"I want to marry you," her soft voice follows that of James.