The Moon that came back
1063 Words
Liana didn’t sleep that night.
She kept replaying it, the pendant. The moon-shaped charm. Identical to hers. Impossible to forget. Adrian hadn’t seen it, or if he had, he said nothing. Ember had smiled sweetly as she drifted off, unaware that the trinket around her neck had shattered a world Liana thought she’d buried long ago.
Now, alone in the guest suite of the Wolfe estate, she stared at the ceiling, hands clenched on the sheets.
It couldn’t be. Could it?
Was there a chance… Ember wasn’t just his daughter?
Could she be their daughter?
Liana sat up, her breath shallow.
Six years ago, she’d left that hotel room without even a phone number. He’d slept soundly after they’d fallen together like a firestorm, tangled in sheets and secrets. She hadn’t meant to disappear, but when the pregnancy test turned positive weeks later… she'd panicked. Then miscarried. Or so she’d believed.
But now?
No. She couldn’t jump to conclusions.
She needed proof.
And maybe… maybe she needed to stay long enough to find it.
The next morning came quickly.
Liana pulled her curls into a neat bun, slipped into a soft blush blouse and slacks, and stepped into the sunny dining room. Ember sat at the breakfast table, swinging her legs while a housekeeper brought in waffles shaped like stars.
“Hi, Miss Liana!” Ember waved enthusiastically. “You’re gonna be here forever now!”
Liana smiled, heart aching. “That’s the plan, sunshine.”
Adrian entered moments later, crisp in another dark suit, holding a steaming cup of black coffee. He nodded at her.
“Good morning.”
“Morning,” Liana returned, too aware of the pendant Ember wore again today, glinting under the collar of her yellow jumper.
“I have meetings until four,” Adrian said, glancing at his phone. “You’ll have full access to the playroom, gardens, and pool—but keep her indoors after noon. She has allergies.”
“Got it,” Liana replied, slipping effortlessly into nanny mode. “We’ll keep things mellow.”
He nodded again, then turned to his daughter. “Be good, Ember.”
“I will! I’ll show her the treasure box!”
He left without another word.
The moment the front door closed, Liana dropped to Ember’s level. “Treasure box?”
Ember lit up. “Wanna see it? It’s in my secret corner.”
“Lead the way.”
They padded up the winding staircase, past sun-drenched halls and antique mirrors. Ember led her into her pastel-painted room, then knelt behind a tiny reading nook.
She pulled out a velvet box with a gold clasp.
“Daddy gave it to me when I was a baby,” she whispered like it was a state secret. “Nana said it was mine because Mommy didn’t want it.”
Liana’s throat went dry. “Your mommy didn’t want it?”
Ember nodded, opening the box to reveal a few trinkets: the moon pendant, a pair of baby booties, a charm bracelet with half the links broken.
“Mommy ran away with a mean man. I don’t know her name. Daddy doesn’t like talking about her.”
Liana touched the edge of the velvet. “And the necklace?”
“She was wearing it when she left,” Ember said. “But Daddy kept it and gave it to me when I turned five.”
Liana’s pendant. The one she’d lost that night in the hotel room. She hadn’t noticed until weeks later, too ashamed and confused by everything that followed.
She tried to breathe.
That meant—Adrian had found it. Kept it. And gave it to his daughter.
Which could mean only one thing.
He had known who she was all along.
***
Later that afternoon, Liana waited in the greenhouse near the west wing. Ember had just fallen asleep during her nap, and the house was quiet. She needed space. Time to think.
The truth clawed at her from the inside out.
Had Adrian lied to her? Had he known their connection all this time?
Her phone buzzed. A message from her best friend, Cassie.
> You good, babe? How’s rich dad life treating you? Tell me everything. Give me exclusives, girl.
Liana typed back quickly:
> I think he’s the guy. From six years ago. The one I always dreamt of.
Cassie’s reply came fast.
> Wait—the guy? The one-night stand?? The one I teased that he was a ghost?
> Yes. And he has a daughter. A daughter who might be mine too.
Three dots… then:
> Girl. You need a DNA test. Stat.
Liana was already planning exactly that. All she needed was a strand of Ember’s hair and something of her own. She could send it discreetly. She’d done this kind of research before, back when she thought she’d lost her baby. She still had the contact. She could be careful.
She stood, about to return to Ember’s room, when she heard voices—two of them—echoing from the corridor just outside the greenhouse.
“I told you to wait,” Adrian’s voice snapped, low and angry.
“I don’t take orders from you anymore, Adrian,” a woman hissed back.
Liana inched closer, hidden by a flowering hibiscus.
“I’m not leaving without seeing my daughter,” the woman said sharply. “You can’t hide her from me.”
“She doesn’t even remember you. You left her.”
“She’s mine too,” the woman growled. “And I’m taking her back.”
Liana’s breath caught.
The ex-wife.
She pressed closer to the glass.
“I’m not scared of your money or your lawyers,” the woman continued. “I know things, Adrian. Things that can destroy you.”
Adrian didn’t answer.
But Liana didn’t need to hear more.
Because as the woman turned into view, her face finally visible through the slatted greenhouse window, Liana’s entire body went cold.
She knew her.
It was the woman who had attacked her in that hotel hallway six years ago.
The one who’d screamed, “Stay away from my fiancé!”
The one who’d threatened her.
And now… she was Ember’s mother?
Liana bit her lower lips, scoffing. What was happening? Whatever it was, was happening too fast.
She ran a hand through her hair, trying to exhale slowly
- Writer
