MY EX'S SECRET TWINS

CHAPTER 1:THE CONTRACT Elena Rossi never expected her one-night mistake to turn into a lifetime secret. Three years ago, she was a broke and desperate waitress working double shifts at a downtown diner. One night, the city’s most eligible billionaire walked in — Damon Blackwood. Cold, arrogant, devastatingly handsome. He had just been betrayed by his fiancée and needed to forget. She needed money for her mother’s hospital bill. One night. One contract that was never supposed to mean anything. He left $10,000 on the table and disappeared. She never told him she was pregnant. Now, three years later, Elena pushed open the glass doors of Blackwood Tower with two strollers, a diaper bag that weighed more than her, and a resume that was mostly lies. She was here for a job interview. Not for him. Never for him. “Mama, hungry,” Leo mumbled, pulling at her skirt. His dark hair was a perfect copy of his father’s, his eyes the same stormy grey she saw in her nightmares. “I know, baby. Just five more minutes, okay? Mama has to get this job,” she whispered, kneeling down. Her daughter, Lily, was already asleep in the other stroller, her tiny fist curled around a worn teddy bear. Lily had Elena’s chestnut hair, but Damon’s stubborn chin. Elena was different now. Her waitress uniform was gone, replaced by a cheap but clean blazer from a thrift store. Her hair was pulled back. Her eyes were tired but hard. Motherhood had not made her soft. It had made her diligent. It had made her strong. She had worked as a cleaner, a cashier, a delivery driver, all while raising twins alone in a one-bedroom apartment where the heater never worked. She had seen innocence in her children’s eyes, and it had taught her diligence. She had to get this job. The nanny position for the Blackwood family paid $8,000 a month. It would change their lives. “Elena Rossi?” The receptionist called. Elena stood up, straightened her blazer, and followed her to the elevator. The twins’ strollers rattled against the marble floor. Every head in the lobby turned. The elevator went to the 50th floor. The doors opened directly into an office that looked more like a palace. Floor-to-ceiling windows, black marble, and behind the desk — him. Damon Blackwood had not changed. If anything, he was more dangerous. His suit was perfect, his jaw sharp, his eyes colder than she remembered. He was looking at a file — her file — with a frown. He looked up. And froze. For three seconds, the world stopped. His grey eyes locked on hers, then dropped to the two strollers beside her. His face went pale, then dark with something she couldn’t read — shock, anger, disbelief. “You,” he said. His voice was low, rough. Elena’s throat went dry. “Mr. Blackwood. I’m here for the nanny interview.” He stood up slowly, his tall frame dominating the room. He walked around the desk, his eyes never leaving the twins. Leo stared back at him, wide-eyed. Lily woke up and yawned. “They’re...” Damon’s voice cracked. He cleared his throat. “How old?” “Three,” Elena said quickly. Too quickly. “They’re not —” “Three years and two months?” he interrupted, his eyes calculating. His gaze snapped to hers, piercing. “We met three years and eleven months ago, Elena.” Her blood turned to ice. He remembered. He remembered the exact date. “That night —” he took another step closer, and she could smell his cologne, the same one from that night. “Are they mine?” The question was a bullet. Elena wanted to lie. She had rehearsed this lie for three years. _No, they’re not yours. They’re someone else’s. My boyfriend’s._ But looking at Leo’s face, which was a miniature version of the man in front of her, the lie died in her throat. She lifted her chin. The old innocent Elena would have cried. The new Elena, the diligent, strong mother, did not. “Yes,” she said, her voice steady despite her shaking hands. “They are yours. But you don’t need to worry. I’m not here to ask for anything. I raised them alone. I can continue to do so. I just need a job.” Damon stared at her, his hands clenched into fists. A thousand emotions crossed his face — betrayal that she hid them, rage, and something else, something possessive and raw that made her shiver. “You hid my children from me,” he whispered, his voice dangerously quiet. “My own flesh and blood, and you hid them for three years while I —” He stopped, running a hand through his hair. He looked at Lily, sleeping peacefully, and his expression softened for a fraction of a second. “I didn’t think you would care,” Elena spat, years of resentment bubbling up. “You left money on the nightstand like I was — like I was a transaction! You think I wanted your children to grow up knowing their father paid their mother and left?” “I thought you were on the pill,” he said harshly. “You said —” “I lied! I was desperate! My mother was dying!” Tears burned her eyes but she refused to let them fall. “I needed that money. I didn’t plan to get pregnant.” Silence filled the office. The only sound was Leo humming softly. Damon walked to the window, his back to her. When he turned around, his face was a mask of cold control. The billionaire was back. “Here’s what’s going to happen,” he said, his voice like ice. “You will move into the Blackwood estate. Tonight. With my children. You will be their mother, and I will be their father. The world will know them as Blackwoods.” Elena laughed, a sharp, disbelieving laugh. “You’re crazy. I’m not moving in with you. I came for a job, not —” “It wasn’t a request,” he cut her off. He pulled a document from his desk drawer and slid it across the polished surface toward her. “It’s a contract. A one-year marriage contract. You marry me, you live as my wife, you raise our children in luxury, and in return, I will give you ten million dollars, clear your debts, and ensure our children have everything they could ever want. After a year, you can divorce me and keep the money.” Elena stared at the thick stack of paper. A marriage contract. Just like that night, another contract. “Why?” she whispered. “Why would you want to marry me?” Damon’s eyes darkened as they landed on Leo and Lily. “Because my grandfather is dying. His last wish is to see me married with an heir. And I just found out I have two. And because,” he leaned forward, his voice dropping to a whisper that sent chills down her spine, “no child of mine will grow up in a slum, calling another man father. They are Blackwoods. And you — you are now mine.” Leo chose that moment to stand up from his stroller and toddle straight to Damon, wrapping his small arms around Damon’s expensive trouser leg. “Dada?” Leo said, looking up. Damon froze completely. Slowly, almost reverently, he knelt down and picked up the little boy. Leo giggled, touching Damon’s face with chubby hands. Elena watched, her heart breaking and healing at the same time. Lily woke up and reached for her too. She looked at the contract. Ten million dollars. A home for her babies. A chance to stop struggling, to stop being so diligent and exhausted every single day. And a chance to make the man who abandoned her pay, by being his wife, by being the queen of his empire. She picked up the pen. Her hand shook. “One year?” she asked. “One year,” Damon promised, his grey eyes burning into hers as he held his son. Elena signed.