Secret Dating With My Father's Enemy

Reporters

Everything came crashing down faster than Elara could have ever imagined.

Just a week ago she had walked into Vaughn Enterprises with her head high, convinced she was ready to take over when the time came, her father already grooming her as his successor, her future mapped out in clear lines of power and legacy.

But it all shattered in one breathless moment.

“Elara…” her mother’s trembling voice wavered from the living room, but Elara was already rooted to the spot, eyes wide, hands cold, as the television blared the news.

There was her father Victor Vaughn—being pulled out of the Vaughn Enterprises building in handcuffs.

The crowd was a frenzy, reporters shouting questions, camera flashes bursting like lightning, officers gripping her father’s arms as though he were some common criminal.

His face was hard, locked in that familiar mask of pride, but his clenched jaw betrayed him as they dragged him through the chaos toward the waiting black government car.

“Breaking news,” the announcer’s voice rang out over the storm, “Victor Vaughn, CEO of Vaughn Enterprises, has been taken into custody after a recent deal was discovered to be tied to underground mafia activity.

Authorities suspect Vaughn Enterprises may have been used to funnel illegal funds—”

Elara’s stomach dropped, her lips parting as she whispered, “No… no, this isn’t real…” Her chest rose and fell sharply, her breath coming too fast, her pulse hammering in her ears.

Just this morning he had been seated beside her, his voice calm and commanding as they talked strategy, as if nothing in the world could ever touch him.

And now he was in cuffs, his empire collapsing in front of the entire country.

Her hand gripped the edge of the wall, nails biting into the plaster, her body trembling as the weight of it sank in.

And just as she was still trying to pull herself together, the sound of her mother’s broken sobs sliced through the air.

She turned quickly and saw her mother on the floor, clutching her chest, tears streaming down her cheeks as she rocked back and forth.

“No… no, no, no,” her mother cried out, her voice cracking with despair, “this can’t be happening, this can’t be happening…”

“Mom!” Elara’s heart dropped as panic surged through her veins.

She rushed to her side, kneeling on the cold floor, her hands trembling as she grabbed her mother’s shoulders.

“Mom, please, calm down—everything is going to be fine, I promise

. Just breathe, please… look at me, Mom, take a deep breath…”

But her mother’s breaths only came faster, shallow and ragged, her chest heaving as if she was fighting for air.

“No, no, no, Mom, don’t do this to me,” Elara whispered, her own tears blurring her vision.

She tried to steady her mother’s shaking hands, but she could already feel the weight of dread pressing down on her...

The way her mother’s face twisted in pain told her it wasn’t just panic—it was something worse.

“Mom, please no, no, you can’t have another episode, not now,” Elara cried, her voice cracking as fear overtook her.

She pressed her forehead against her mother’s, begging silently for strength, but her mother was slipping too far, her body jerking as her breaths turned into desperate gasps.

Elara’s mind spun into frenzy, and she knew that at any moment, her mother could collapse into a full cardiac arrest.

So she immediately scrambled to her feet, stumbling toward the table where the car keys lay.

Her fingers fumbled, almost dropping them, and in her rush she nearly tripped, slamming into the doorframe before bursting outside.

With the help of two of the maids, she half-carried, half-dragged her mother into the backseat of the car.

Her own sobs mingled with the night air as she jumped into the driver’s seat, hands shaking so badly she could barely fit the key into the ignition.

“Stay with me, Mom, please stay with me…” she choked out, glancing back at her mother, who now lay frighteningly still, her lips pale, her chest rising too faintly.

The drive to the hospital blurred into chaos.

Every second felt like an eternity as Elara gripped the wheel, her tears spilling, her voice breaking as she kept begging her mother to answer her.

But there was only silence, terrifying silence, filling the car.

By the time she screeched into the hospital’s emergency entrance, nurses were already rushing out with a stretcher.

Elara jumped out, barely able to breathe, her chest burning from panic as they lifted her mother out of the car.

she stumbled after them, crying openly now, completely undone.

And just as she was about to step through the hospital doors when a sudden rush of voices made her freeze.

Before she could make sense of it, a wave of reporters swarmed around her, microphones thrust in her face, cameras flashing so hard her eyes burned.

“Ms. Elara, is it true your father has ties to the mafia?” one asked sharply.

“Is your family connected to the recent arrests?” another shouted over him.

“Are you yourself involved in the fraud?” someone else pressed, their voice dripping with suspicion.

The questions came from every direction, rapid, cutting, suffocating.

Elara stumbled back, raising her hands to shield her face from the blinding lights.

Her heart thudded in her chest, panic clawing at her throat.

She had never in her life been ambushed like this, never felt so exposed, so hunted.

“My father is not—he’s not like that,” she stammered, shaking her head, trying to breathe, trying to defend him, but the words kept being drowned out by another question, another flash, another stranger’s hand shoving a recorder closer to her lips.

She blinked against the dizzying storm of lights, her voice trembling. “You don’t understand”

“Ms. Elara, are you lying to protect him?”

“Did you benefit from his dealings?”

Her pulse spiked, her throat tight.

The chaos closed in until she thought she might scream just to break through the noise.

And then, all at once, a firm hand gripped hers.

Startled, she turned, only to be yanked through the crowd, her body moving before her mind caught up.

Reporters shouted after her, flashes chasing her like lightning, but within seconds she was shoved into the backseat of a car, the door slamming shut as the vehicle sped away.

Elara’s breath came in ragged bursts, her heart racing as she turned, ready to snap at whoever thought they could just drag her like that—only for her stomach to twist with fresh irritation when her eyes landed on Damien's Brother, sitting there as if rescuing her gave him every right to be smug.