Chapter 7 - The Years We Still Had
Mia stepped directly in front of Adrian Kane and announced:
“You should be my daddy.”
The billionaire crouched beside her as I nearly dropped the black presentation portfolio in my hands.
His eyes fell on the tiny silver bracelet around Mia’s wrist.
Three letters were engraved inside it.
A.K.M.
Adrian stopped smiling.
This was no longer an embarrassing interruption.
My name is Claire Morgan, and at that exact moment, I was certain my professional life was over.
Six years of careful decisions had collapsed in less than ten seconds.
“Mia.”
My voice came out sharper than I intended.
My daughter turned toward me, completely unaware that half the executive floor of Kane Global had gone silent.
“What?” she asked.
She looked adorable in the red dress she had insisted on wearing that morning. A matching ribbon held back part of her long brown hair.
Adrian Kane remained crouched in front of her.
Anyone who worked in Manhattan finance knew Adrian.
Thirty-five.
Founder and CEO of Kane Global.
Brilliant.
Controlled.
Almost impossible to read.
Business magazines called him ruthless. Employees simply learned not to waste his time.
But he wasn't looking at Mia with irritation.
He was studying her.
That frightened me more.
Behind him, four executives stood near the glass conference room. One woman had actually raised her hand to her mouth.
I hurried forward.
“I’m so sorry, Mr. Kane. My childcare arrangements fell apart this morning. Mia knows she’s supposed to stay beside me.”
Mia frowned.
“But I was being nice.”
“I know.”
I reached for her hand.
Adrian spoke before I could take it.
“Wait.”
One word.
Quiet.
Absolute.
I froze.
His attention returned to Mia.
“Why do you think I should be your daddy?”
Mia smiled as though the answer were obvious.
“Because Mommy says people who look lonely need somebody.”
Heat rushed into my face.
“I did not say—”
“And you’re too handsome to be alone,” Mia continued.
Someone behind Adrian coughed.
I wanted the marble floor to open beneath me.
Adrian's mouth moved almost imperceptibly.
For one impossible second, I thought he might laugh.
Then he noticed the bracelet again.
It was old silver, slightly scratched, far too large when Mia had first worn it. I had shortened the chain myself.
Adrian touched neither Mia nor the bracelet.
He simply looked.
“Where did you get that?”
Mia lifted her wrist proudly.
“My mommy.”
His gaze shifted to me.
I couldn't breathe.
The bracelet had belonged to Adrian's mother.
He had given it to me seven years earlier.
Before everything changed.
Before I disappeared.
“Mia,” I said, “we need to go.”
“But Mommy, your meeting—”
“It can wait.”
That got another reaction from the executives.
A presentation to Adrian Kane did not wait.
Adrian stood.
At full height, he seemed to change the dimensions of the hallway.
“Ms. Morgan.”
The sound of my last name from his mouth sent something cold through me.
He knew exactly who I was.
Of course he did.
I had been hired through Kane Global's strategy division four months earlier. The company employed thousands of people. Adrian hadn't personally interviewed me.
I had convinced myself I could remain invisible.
It had been foolish.
His eyes moved across my face.
“Have we met before?”
“No.”
The lie came too quickly.
His expression changed.
Not anger.
Recognition.
“Mommy,” Mia said, “you said lying makes your stomach hurt.”
I closed my eyes.
“Mia.”
“What?”
Adrian looked at her.
Then at me.
The hallway had become unbearably quiet.
I forced myself to straighten.
“Mr. Kane, I have a presentation scheduled for nine-thirty. I would prefer to keep our interaction professional.”
“Professional.”
“Yes.”
His eyes remained on mine.
“Of course.”
He stepped aside.
For one second, relief washed through me.
Then he said, “Bring your daughter.”
“What?”
“To the presentation.”
“That really isn't necessary.”
“I wasn't asking.”
There was the Adrian Kane I remembered.
I hated how quickly my pulse responded to that voice.
Seven years vanished.
A rooftop restaurant.
His hand around mine.
A laugh I'd never heard him use with anyone else.
A promise.
Then a hospital corridor.
A phone call.
A betrayal.
And the decision that had changed all three of our lives.
I pushed the memories down.
“Fine.”
Mia took my hand.
As we entered the boardroom, she whispered, “I think he likes us.”
“He doesn't know us.”
She looked back at Adrian.
“Yes, he does.”
I almost stumbled.
The presentation should have been the most important forty minutes of my career.
Instead, I barely remembered giving it.
I stood before twelve executives explaining an acquisition strategy while Adrian sat at the head of the table.
Mia colored quietly in a chair near the wall.
Every few minutes, I felt Adrian looking at her.
Then at me.
I finished without missing a number.
Silence followed.
Adrian closed the report.
“The strategy is strong.”
I blinked.
“Thank you.”
“Implementation projections?”
“Appendix C.”
He found them.
Another executive nodded approvingly.
The meeting moved forward.
For fifteen minutes, I almost convinced myself the hallway incident was over.
Then Mia walked toward Adrian carrying a drawing.
“Mia,” I whispered.
She ignored me.
Adrian accepted the paper.
It showed three stick figures.
One wore a red dress.
One had long brown hair.
The third was absurdly tall and dressed in black.
Above them, Mia had drawn a house.
Adrian stared at it.
“That’s you,” she explained.
“I gathered.”
“And that's Mommy.”
“I gathered that too.”
“And that's me.”
Adrian's expression softened.
Then Mia pointed to a fourth shape.
A star.
“What’s that?”
“Grandma Evelyn.”
My blood turned cold.
Adrian's head lifted.
His mother had been Evelyn Kane.
She had died six years ago.
Three months before Mia was born.
“Who told you that name?” he asked.
Mia looked confused.
“Mommy.”
Every eye in the room moved toward me.
I stood perfectly still.
Adrian rose.
“Meeting adjourned.”
Nobody argued.
Chairs moved immediately.
Folders closed.
Executives left.
Within seconds, only Adrian, Mia, and I remained.
I grabbed my portfolio.
“We're leaving.”
Adrian walked toward the door.
Then locked it.
“Unlock that.”
“When did you know my mother?”
“I didn't.”
“Mia just said—”
“She misunderstood.”
“A six-year-old misunderstood the name Evelyn?”
“Children hear things.”
“And the bracelet?”
I said nothing.
His composure finally cracked.
“Claire.”
Hearing my first name from him nearly broke me.
He remembered.
I saw it happen.
Seven years earlier, I had used my middle name, Claire, while working at a charity foundation his mother supported.
Back then my legal surname had been Bennett.
Claire Bennett.
The woman Adrian Kane had once asked to marry him.
His face lost color.
“Bennett.”
I couldn't answer.
Mia looked between us.
“You do know Mommy.”
Adrian took one step toward me.
“You're Claire Bennett.”
I held Mia's hand.
“My name is Claire Morgan now.”
“You disappeared.”
“I left.”
“Without a word.”
“There were reasons.”
“For seven years?”
“Yes.”
His eyes dropped to Mia.
He did the arithmetic.
I watched him do it.
Mia was six.
We had separated nearly seven years ago.
His jaw tightened.
“How old is she?”
I stepped between them.
“Don't.”
“Claire.”
“Don't ask questions you aren't prepared to have answered.”
He stared at me.
Then, very softly, he asked anyway.
“When is Mia's birthday?”
My heart hammered.
Mia answered.
“November eighteenth.”
Adrian went completely still.
That date meant something to him.
Seven years ago, on February eighteenth, we had spent our final night together.
Exactly nine months before Mia's birthday.
“Mia,” I said quickly, “get your backpack.”
She skipped toward the chair.
Adrian moved closer.
“Is she mine?”
I couldn't answer.
He searched my face.
“Claire.”
The anger in his voice was gone.
That was worse.
“Is Mia my daughter?”
Before I could speak, someone knocked hard against the boardroom door.
Once.
Twice.
Then my phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
I looked down.
There was only one sentence.
DON'T TELL ADRIAN THE TRUTH ABOUT THAT NIGHT.
My breath stopped.
May you like
A second message appeared.
HE STILL DOESN'T KNOW WHAT HIS FATHER DID.
