The Billionaire Groom’s Secret Daughter

For several seconds, Damien could hear nothing but the crackling fire.

“Elena's first husband?”” he repeated.

Victoria pressed her fingers against her forehead.

“I shouldn't have said that.””

“You should have said it seven years ago.””

“I was protecting my family.””

“From what? The truth?””

She looked toward Lily, who had curled herself around the baby on the sofa.

“Not in front of her.””

Damien laughed once, without humor.

“You had no problem humiliating her in front of three hundred guests.””

Victoria flinched.

“Damien, please. My father is dead. Yours is dead. Whatever happened between them and Elena is over.””

“No. Elena is dead, my daughter has been sleeping in a laundry room, and you're standing here telling me that the woman I loved had a husband I never knew about.””

He held up the photograph.

“Who was he?””

Victoria's mouth tightened.

“I don't know his name.””

“Try again.””

“My father never told me.””

“Then how do you know he existed?””

She looked down.

“Because I saw the marriage certificate.””

Damien felt as though the floor had shifted beneath him.

“Where?””

“In my father's study. Years ago. It was in a file marked Elena Bennett. I thought it was some kind of legal investigation.””

“Did you read it?””

Victoria hesitated.

“Yes.””

“And?””

Her eyes lifted to his.

“The certificate listed Elena as married when she met you.””

Damien turned away, fighting the urge to put his fist through the nearest wall.

He remembered Elena's apartment, the cheap coffee she made him, the way she laughed when he complained about his tailored suits. He remembered asking her once whether she had ever been in love before.

She had kissed his cheek and said, “Not like this.””

Had that been a lie?

No. He refused to believe it.

He turned back.

“Why would she hide a husband from me?””

“I don't know.””

“Did she divorce him?””

“I never saw a divorce certificate.””

The answer landed like a stone.

Marcus appeared in the doorway.

“Sir, the pediatrician is here. He's examining Rose in the adjoining room.””

“Thank you.””

Marcus hesitated.

“There's something else. I ran a quick search on Elena Bennett's name. Her medical license was suspended seven years ago after an investigation into prescription fraud.””

Damien stared at him.

“Prescription fraud?””

“Yes. The complaint came from a private medical group owned by Sterling Holdings.””

Victoria's father.

Marcus continued carefully.

“The complaint was withdrawn two years later, but the damage was already done. She never returned to medical practice.””

Damien looked at Victoria.

“You said you knew nothing about what happened.””

“I didn't file the complaint!””

“But your family did.””

“My father did what he thought was necessary.””

“To destroy her life?””

“To protect yours!””

The words exploded through the room.

Victoria immediately covered her mouth.

Damien stepped closer.

“Protect me from what?””

She shook her head.

“I can't.””

“Then we're finished.””

Her eyes widened.

“What?””

“There will be no wedding. There will be no merger. And there will be no arrangement between our families.””

“You can't do this to me!””

“I believe you just watched me do it.””

Victoria's face twisted with anger.

“You think a child and a dead woman's letter are going to change everything? Damien, your father made sacrifices for you. He built your company. He made sure you had a future.””

“He also threatened the mother of my child.””

“He was trying to prevent a scandal!””

“And you were trying to marry me while hiding what you knew.””

Victoria stepped toward him.

“You need me. Your board needs this merger. Half your directors will turn against you if you cancel the wedding.””

Damien pulled out his phone.

“Then they can explain their concerns to my lawyers.””

He called his head of security.

“Mr. Collins, I want Victoria Sterling escorted from this property. She is no longer authorized to enter any Cross residence or office without my written permission.””

Victoria stared at him as if he had struck her.

“You're throwing me out?””

“You can leave on your own, or security can help you.””

She looked at Lily one last time.

For a moment, Damien thought she might apologize.

Instead, she bent toward the child and said, “You have no idea what your mother did to this family.””

Lily shrank against the sofa.

Damien moved between them.

“Get out.””

Victoria's eyes flashed.

“This isn't over.””

“No,” Damien replied.

“It's just beginning.””

She swept from the room, her heels striking the marble like gunshots.

When the door closed, Lily began sobbing.

Damien knelt beside her.

“Hey. Look at me.””

She shook her head.

“Did I ruin your wedding?””

His heart cracked.

“No.””

“But she said—”

“Victoria is wrong.””

“Mommy said I shouldn't make people angry.””

Damien reached for her hand, stopping when she pulled it back instinctively.

He waited.

After a moment, Lily slowly placed her small fingers in his palm.

“You didn't ruin anything,” he said.

“You came here because you needed help. That's never wrong.””

She looked at him with enormous, exhausted eyes.

“Are you really my daddy?””

Damien swallowed.

He wanted to say yes immediately. He wanted to gather her into his arms and promise her that nobody would ever hurt her again.

But she had already endured too many broken promises.

“I believe I am,” he said.

“And I'm going to make sure we find the truth.””

Lily nodded, then leaned against him.

It was the smallest gesture imaginable.

Yet Damien felt the weight of seven lost years settle over his shoulders.

A doctor entered shortly afterward and confirmed that Rose was dehydrated and underweight, but stable. She would need careful feeding and medical monitoring.

Damien arranged for both girls to be taken to his penthouse, where a nurse could care for Rose and Lily could sleep in a proper bed.

As Marcus escorted them toward the private elevator, Lily stopped and turned around.

“Mr. Cross?””

“Damien,” he corrected gently.

She hesitated.

“Damien, Mommy left something else.””

He crouched beside her.

“What is it?””

Lily reached into the bottom of her backpack and removed a tiny brass key attached to a faded red ribbon.

“She said I should give this to you if you believed her.””

Damien took it.

“Do you know what it opens?””

Lily nodded.

“Mommy said it was the key to a box at the train station. She said the box had proof that Grandpa was lying.””

“Which train station?””

“Grand Central.””

Damien looked at Marcus.

“Find out whether Elena rented a storage locker there. Check every record you can legally access.””

Marcus nodded and hurried away.

Damien turned the key over in his palm.

For the first time that evening, he felt something stronger than grief.

He felt purpose.

An hour later, he stood in the private elevator of his penthouse, watching Lily sleep against the nurse's shoulder while Rose rested in a portable bassinet.

His phone vibrated.

An unknown number.

*Stop looking for Elena's box. Your father paid a man to bury that secret, and he's still alive.*

A second message appeared.

*If you want to know who Elena married before you, ask the woman who signed the divorce papers.*

Damien stared at the screen.

He had assumed Elena's first husband was a ghost from her past.

But someone knew exactly where that ghost was.

And someone was terrified Damien would find him.

The elevator doors opened.

Marcus was waiting outside, his face pale.

“Sir, we have a problem.””