THE SECRET SHE COULDN'T REMEMBER
Aurelia Vale stood silently beside the enormous floor-to-ceiling window of her bedroom, staring at the perfectly trimmed gardens below.
Her mansion was beautiful.
Too beautiful, sometimes.
The white marble floors gleamed beneath the afternoon sunlight. Crystal chandeliers hung from the high ceilings, expensive paintings decorated the walls, and beyond the glass doors was a sparkling swimming pool surrounded by flowers.
Everything about the Vale mansion screamed wealth.
But none of it could silence the thoughts inside Aurelia's head.
She was only twenty-three.
Yet there was one memory that had haunted her for four years.
One night.
One terrible night she could barely remember.
Aurelia had been young, careless, and drunk. She remembered flashes—music, laughter, a crowded room, and then darkness.
After that, there was nothing she could piece together.
She never discovered who had been with her that night.
And she had never expected that one forgotten night would change her life forever.
Months later, she discovered she was pregnant.
At first, she had been terrified.
Then she had felt the tiny life growing inside her, and everything changed.
She decided she didn't need the mysterious man.
She would raise her baby herself.
And she did.
Her daughter became her entire world.
But sometimes, especially on quiet nights, Aurelia wondered about the man she couldn't remember.
Was he still alive?
Where was he?
Did he even know he had a daughter?
Aurelia swallowed hard.
She looked down at the photograph sitting on her bedside table.
It was a picture of four-year-old Lumi.
Her little girl was smiling brightly at the camera, her two ponytails sticking out on either side of her head.
Aurelia reached for the photograph.
“Your father…” she whispered.
Her voice trembled.
“I don't even know who he is.”
A tear rolled down her cheek.
Then another.
Aurelia quickly turned away from the window, embarrassed even though nobody was watching.
She pressed her fingers beneath her eyes.
“I should have known better,” she whispered. “If only I could remember that night…”
A tiny voice suddenly came from behind her.
“Mummy?”
Aurelia froze.
She quickly wiped her face and turned around.
Lumi stood in the doorway.
The four-year-old wore a cute little vacation dress, and her two tiny ponytails were decorated with pink ribbons. She was holding her favorite teddy bear under one arm.
Her little eyebrows came together when she noticed her mother's wet eyes.
“Mummy, why are you crying?”
Aurelia forced a smile.
“I'm not crying, sweetheart.”
Lumi stared at her.
“Yes, you are.”
Before Aurelia could answer, Lumi hurried toward her.
She dropped her teddy bear onto the soft carpet and reached up with her tiny fingers.
One by one, she gently wiped the tears from Aurelia's cheeks.
“Don't cry, Mummy,” Lumi whispered.
Aurelia's heart melted.
“Oh, my baby…”
She knelt down and pulled Lumi into her arms.
Lumi wrapped her tiny arms around her mother's neck.
“Who made you sad?”
“Nobody,” Aurelia whispered.
“Was it Daddy?”
Aurelia went completely still.
Lumi didn't know.
She had never known.
Aurelia slowly pulled back and looked into her daughter's innocent eyes.
“What makes you ask that?”
Lumi shrugged.
“Because everybody has a daddy.”
Aurelia's heart broke a little.
She gently brushed a curl away from Lumi's forehead.
“You have me.”
“I know.”
“And I'll always love you.”
“I know that too.”
Lumi smiled.
Then her expression suddenly brightened.
“Mummy…”
“Yes?”
“Can we get ice cream?”
Aurelia blinked.
After all those tears, she couldn't help laughing softly.
“Is that what you've been waiting to ask?”
Lumi nodded seriously.
“The pink one.”
“Strawberry?”
“Yes!”
“And what about your lunch?”
Lumi thought for a moment.
“I can eat lunch after ice cream.”
Aurelia laughed.
“That isn't how lunch works.”
Lumi giggled and tugged gently at her mother's dress.
“Please, Mummy. Just one.”
Aurelia kissed the tip of her nose.
“Fine. One.”
“Yay!”
Lumi jumped excitedly, grabbed her teddy bear, and ran toward the bedroom door.
Then she stopped.
“Mummy!”
“What?”
“Are we still going on vacation?”
Aurelia smiled.
“Yes. Tomorrow.”
Lumi's eyes widened.
“To the beach?”
“To the beach.”
“With the big swimming pool?”
“Yes.”
“And lots of ice cream?”
Aurelia shook her head, laughing.
“You're mostly excited about the food, aren't you?”
Lumi grinned.
“Maybe.”
Aurelia watched her daughter run down the hallway.
For the first time that afternoon, the sadness in her chest began to fade.
She didn't know what awaited them on their vacation.
She didn't know that the trip would bring a mysterious man into their lives.
And she certainly didn't know that the man they were about to meet would look at Lumi and immediately recognize something familiar.
Aurelia picked up her daughter's photograph once more.
She stared at it for a long moment.
“Who are you, Lumi's father?”
Somewhere far away, a man who had no idea he had a daughter was about to have his entire world turned upside down.
And tomorrow, their paths would finally cross.
