HER SECRET BILLIONAIRE

CHAPTER FIVE

MAYA'S POV

Day three without Luca, and Aria had stopped asking when he was coming back. That scared me more than the constant questions had.

She sat at the kitchen table pushing cereal around, the butterfly necklace hanging around her neck. She hadn't taken it off since the park.

"Baby, you need to eat something."

"I'm not hungry." Her voice was small, defeated.

Sofia was right. I should have protected her better.

My phone rang. Luca, right on schedule for the morning call. He called twice a day now, talking to Aria for ten minutes each time. It was the only time she seemed happy.

"It's Daddy," I said, handing her the phone.

Her whole face lit up. "Daddy! Guess what? I drew you a picture at school!"

I stepped back, watching her chatter excitedly. The transformation was instant and heartbreaking.

After ten minutes, Aria handed the phone back. "He says he wants to talk to you."

"Hey."

"She sounds better today. How is she really?"

"She's struggling. She doesn't understand why you can't just come back."

"I know. I'm working on it." He paused. "I have a plan, Maya. It's risky, but it might work."

"What kind of plan?"

"I can't explain over the phone. But I need to know something first. If I could fix this, if I could actually be part of Aria's life without putting you both in danger, would you let me?"

I looked at Aria. "I don't know. Trust isn't something you just get back."

"I'm not asking for trust. I'm asking if there's any chance at all."

Before I could answer, someone knocked on my door. Hard, official knocking.

"Someone's here. I have to go."

"Maya, wait. If it's anyone asking about me, don't tell them anything."

I hung up and checked the peephole. A woman in an expensive suit stood there with a man who looked like security. My stomach dropped.

I opened the door with the chain on. "Can I help you?"

"Maya Chen?" The woman's accent was Italian, her smile cold. "My name is Isabella Santoro. I believe you know my brother."

I kept my face neutral. "I'm sorry, I don't know anyone by that name."

"Really? Because Luca said he met you for coffee. Mentioned you have a daughter." Her eyes flicked past me. "Is she home?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. Please leave."

Isabella's smile widened. "You're protective. I respect that. But Ms. Chen, you should know that my brother is engaged to be married. To a woman named Giulia Moretti. The announcement will be made next week."

The words hit like ice water. Engaged.

"I don't care about your brother's personal life. We had coffee once, that's all."

"Then you won't mind if I ask a few questions about your daughter. What's her name?"

"This conversation is over."

I slammed the door and locked it, my heart racing. Behind me, Aria stood in the hallway, watching.

"Who was that lady, Mommy?"

"No one, baby. Just someone selling something." I pulled out my phone and texted Luca. "Your sister is at my door. She knows about Aria. She said you're engaged. What the hell is going on?"

LUCA'S POV

I was in a meeting with Vittorio when Maya's text came through.

I stood up abruptly. "Excuse me. Emergency."

"We're not finished," Vittorio said sharply.

"It can't wait."

I found Isabella in her office, looking satisfied. "You went to see her."

"She's very pretty. And that daughter of hers has your eyes."

"You had no right."

"The engagement to Giulia is happening, Luca. Father's already made the announcement. You'll propose publicly at the charity gala this Saturday."

"I never agreed to marry Giulia."

"Your agreement isn't required. This merger needs to happen." Her expression hardened. "You can have your American teacher as a mistress if you want. But you will marry Giulia."

"I have a daughter with Maya. I'm not abandoning her to marry someone I don't love."

"Then bring the child here. Raise her as a Santoro. Maya Chen can be compensated."

"Aria isn't a business transaction."

"Everything is a business transaction in this family." Isabella moved to the window. "I haven't told Father about the child yet. But if you refuse this marriage, I will. And then he'll handle the situation his way."

"What does that mean?"

"It means Maya Chen will discover that fighting the Santoro family is very expensive. Legal fees, custody battles, maybe even losing her job." Isabella looked at me. "Father destroys anyone who threatens family interests."

"You're threatening a single mother and a three-year-old child."

"I'm protecting my family."

"What if I refuse everything? Marriage, business, all of it?"

"Then Father cuts you off completely. No money, no protection, no family." She turned to face me. "And without our protection, Maya and Aria become targets. Every enemy we have will see them as leverage against you."

She had me trapped. If I stayed, I had to marry Giulia. If I left, I'd put Maya and Aria in danger.

"There has to be another way."

"There isn't. This is the life you were born into, Luca. Accept it." She walked to the door. "You have until Saturday to propose to Giulia."

My phone buzzed with another message from Maya. "Your sister said some very interesting things. We need to talk. Now."

I called her immediately.

"Is it true? Are you engaged?"

"My father announced it to the Moretti family. I didn't agree to it."

"But you're going to go through with it anyway." Her voice was flat. "You're going to marry someone else while calling my daughter and pretending you want to be her father."

"I do want to be her father. This engagement doesn't change that."

"It changes everything! You can't be her father from Italy while married to another woman."

"I'm trying to find a way out of this."

"Try harder. Because I'm not letting you break her heart when you choose your rich wife over us." She took a shaky breath. "Actually, don't bother. We're done. Don't call here again."

"Maya, please…."

"I mean it, Luca. You made your choice four years ago. You're making it again now. Aria deserves better than a part-time father who's ashamed of her."

"I'm not ashamed of her!"

"Then prove it. Come back here. Stay. Be her actual father." Her voice broke. "But you won't, will you? Because your family owns you."

She was right.

"I love her, Maya. I know I barely know her, but I love her."

"Love isn't enough. She needs a father who shows up. Who stays. Who puts her first." A long pause. "Goodbye, Luca."

She hung up.

I tried calling back three times. She didn't answer.

I texted: "Please don't shut me out. Give me until Saturday. I'll fix this."

No response.

I went to Vittorio's office without knocking.

"I'm not marrying Giulia."

"Yes, you are."

"I have a daughter in America. Her name is Aria, she's three years old, and I'm going to be part of her life. That's not negotiable."

"Isabella told me about your indiscretion."

"It wasn't an indiscretion. I love Maya. I want to be with her and raise our daughter."

"That's impossible. You'll marry Giulia, secure the Moretti alliance, and if you want to maintain contact with your American child, we can arrange discreet visits."

"No."

"No?" Vittorio stood slowly. "You're refusing a direct order?"

"I'm telling you I won't marry Giulia. I won't abandon my daughter. And if that means I'm out of the family, then I'm out."

Something dangerous flashed in Vittorio's eyes. "If you leave this family, I'll make sure Maya Chen loses everything. Her job, her home, custody of the child. And then I'll offer to take Aria off her hands, raise her properly as a Santoro. Without you or her mother."

He'd destroy Maya and take Aria just to punish me.

"You wouldn't."

"I've done worse for less important reasons." He walked around his desk. "You have two choices, Luca. Stay, marry Giulia, and I'll leave Maya Chen alone. She can raise the child in peace, and you can visit occasionally. Or leave, and I'll crush her so thoroughly that she'll beg me to take the child just to survive."

"She's your granddaughter."

"She's leverage. Just like everything else in this world." Vittorio returned to his desk. "You have until Saturday to decide."

I left his office knowing I'd lost. There was no way out that didn't destroy Maya or Aria.

I tried calling Maya four more times that night. She never answered.

Finally, I sent one last text: "You're right. I can't give you what you need. I'm sorry. Please tell Aria that I love her and that none of this is her fault. Tell her that her daddy wanted to stay but couldn't."

Maya's response came an hour later: "I'll tell her you had to go away. Just like before. She'll cry for a while, then she'll forget you. Kids are resilient like that. Goodbye, Luca."

I stared at those words. "She'll forget you."

The thought of my daughter forgetting me, of growing up thinking her father hadn't wanted her, was unbearable.

I made a decision then. A reckless, desperate decision.

I called Marco. "I need your help with something. Something that will make me a traitor to my family."

"I'm listening."

"I need documentation. Proof of everything illegal my father and the family have done. Every dirty deal, every threat, every crime." I took a breath. "I'm going to burn it all down. And then I'm going to America to be with my daughter."

"Sir, if you do this, there's no coming back. Your family will hunt you for the rest of your life."

"I know. But at least I'll be the father Aria deserves instead of the coward I am now."

"When do we start?"

"Tonight. We have four days until the gala. That's all the time we have to gather everything and disappear."

I looked at the family photos on my desk. Vittorio, Isabella, generations of Santoros who'd built their empire on fear.

I was about to destroy it all.

And for the first time in four years, I felt free.

My phone buzzed. A message from an unknown number: "If you do this, I'll kill her myself. -Isabella"

She knew what I was planning.

I typed back: "Try it and I'll make sure every secret this family has ends up with the authorities."

Her response was immediate: "You don't have the spine. You'll fold like you always do."

"Watch me."