Chapter 4 - The Daughter He Never Knew
The photograph slipped from Adrian Voss’s hand.
That was the first time I saw him look powerless.
Not dangerous.
Not untouchable.
Powerless.
The picture landed on the marble floor between us.
I didn't want to look.
I already knew what it showed.
A newborn baby.
A hospital bracelet.
A date.
Four years ago.
The same year Lily was born.
Adrian slowly bent down and picked it up.
His eyes never left the bracelet.
"Explain."
One word.
But it carried years of anger.
Years of confusion.
Years of pain.
I looked at Lily.
She was sitting on the sofa, swinging her small legs, completely unaware that the world around her had just changed.
She was still my little girl.
The only person who had ever needed me.
The only person I had ever protected.
"Adrian..."
My voice broke.
He looked at me.
"Don't call me that like you don't know what this is."
The room became silent.
The guards standing near the door looked away.
They knew.
Everyone knew.
But nobody wanted to say it first.
Adrian lifted the photograph.
"Four years ago, someone erased a record from my private medical files."
My heart sank.
"Someone deleted every trace of a child being born at Saint Catherine Hospital."
I couldn't breathe.
"Your daughter."
His eyes moved toward Lily.
"My daughter."
The words hit harder than I expected.
Not because they weren't true.
Because I had spent four years pretending they would never be spoken.
I had imagined this moment many times.
But never like this.
Never with Adrian Voss standing in front of me.
Never with his entire world watching.
"She doesn't know," I whispered.
Adrian's expression changed.
"What?"
"She doesn't know who you are."
He stared at me.
"Why?"
The question was simple.
But the answer was not.
Because how could I explain the fear?
How could I explain the night I left?
How could I explain holding a newborn baby while powerful men fought around me?
How could I explain that Adrian Voss was not the man I remembered?
Four years ago, he was different.
He wasn't just a feared businessman.
He was a man who had promised me he would protect us.
Until the day he disappeared.
Until the day someone told me Adrian Voss was dead.
And then I found out the truth.
He wasn't dead.
He had simply chosen his empire over us.
At least, that's what I believed.
"I thought you didn't want her."
The words left my mouth.
Adrian froze.
"What?"
"I found out I was pregnant after you disappeared."
His face changed.
"I didn't disappear."
"Yes, you did."
My voice became stronger.
"You stopped answering. Your people told me to stay away. Someone threatened me."
Adrian's expression turned dark.
"Who?"
I shook my head.
"I don't know."
But I did know one thing.
Someone had wanted me gone.
Someone had wanted Lily hidden.
And they had succeeded.
Until tonight.
Adrian looked toward his guards.
"Everyone leaves."
Nobody moved.
"Now."
The room emptied instantly.
Only the three of us remained.
Adrian looked at Lily again.
This time, there was something in his eyes I had never seen before.
Fear.
Not fear of an enemy.
Fear of losing something.
"She has my eyes."
I looked at Lily.
I hated that I noticed it too.
The same dark eyes.
The same serious expression when she was thinking.
The same way she tilted her head when she was trying to understand something.
Adrian walked closer.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Like he was approaching something fragile.
Lily looked up.
"Are you okay?"
Adrian stopped.
A strange emotion crossed his face.
Because nobody asked Adrian Voss if he was okay.
Not ever.
"I'm fine."
She frowned.
"You don't look fine."
A quiet laugh escaped him.
Almost impossible to hear.
The most feared man in New York had just been judged by a four-year-old.
And somehow, he didn't seem offended.
He seemed grateful.
"What is your favorite color?" Adrian asked.
Lily thought for a moment.
"Yellow."
"Why?"
"Because my mama says yellow means people can find you."
Adrian looked at me.
I looked away.
Because that sentence carried a memory.
A memory I never wanted to explain.
When Lily was born, she was tiny.
Too tiny.
The doctors told me to prepare for anything.
I spent three days sitting beside her hospital bed, afraid to close my eyes.
One night, I whispered to her that if she ever felt lost, she should always look for something bright.
Something yellow.
Because I would always find her.
Adrian didn't know that.
But somehow, he looked like he understood.
Then his phone rang.
He answered immediately.
"Speak."
The voice on the other end was urgent.
Adrian's expression changed.
"What do you mean missing?"
I watched him listen.
Then his eyes moved toward the security screen.
"No."
A pause.
"Check again."
Another pause.
Then:
"Nobody enters that room."
My stomach tightened.
"What happened?"
Adrian ended the call.
"The person who tried to kill me wasn't working alone."
The room suddenly felt colder.
"What does that mean?"
He looked at the security monitor.
"Someone accessed the mansion archives."
I felt a chill.
"What archives?"
Adrian didn't answer immediately.
That scared me more.
Finally, he said:
"The records of everyone who has ever worked here."
My heart started beating faster.
Because I understood.
Someone wasn't trying to hide the attack.
They were trying to erase the truth.
"Did they find anything?" I asked.
Adrian looked at me.
"They found your employee file."
I froze.
"My file?"
He nodded.
"And everything about you before you became my maid."
I couldn't move.
Because there was nothing dangerous in my current life.
But my past was different.
My past was the reason I ran.
The reason I changed my name.
The reason Lily had never known about her father.
"What did they find?"
Adrian didn't answer.
Instead, he walked toward the security monitor.
A new file had appeared.
No sender.
No timestamp.
Only one title.
ELENA MARLOW — ORIGINAL IDENTITY.
My hands became cold.
Adrian opened it.
The first page appeared.
A photograph.
Not of me.
Of someone else.
Someone from my past.
Someone who should have been impossible to find.
Adrian looked at the screen.
Then at me.
"Elena..."
His voice changed.
"What did you do before you came here?"
I couldn't answer.
Because the file revealed the one thing I had spent four years hiding.
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Before I was Adrian Voss's maid...
I had been the daughter of the man who tried to destroy his empire.
