Ava's Point of View
The night air was dense with silence as we left Damian's father's estate. There were no words exchanged in the automobile, only the buzzing of tension between the leather seats. Damian's hands clutched the steering wheel fiercely, white knuckles against the black leather. I sat next him, my pulse racing from the revelation we had just walked away from.
He offered no objection.
His father confessed everything.
The drug. The memory erase. The deception.
And the worst part? He felt he'd done the proper thing.
Damian hadn't spoken anything since. I could almost hear his thoughts raging louder than the engine.
When we eventually arrived at the penthouse garage, he skipped the service valet. He parked, opened the door, and went into the elevator without looking back.
I followed.
The elevator doors swung open, revealing a deadly quiet apartment. Damian stood at the window, looking out at the city as if it were a battlefield.
"I would've thrown it all away for you," he added suddenly. His voice was rough. Low. "The company. The money. The name. All of it. "And he knew it."
I did not say anything. I did not need to. I just watched him as the weight of years began to bear down on his shoulders.
"He said you were a mistake," Damian explained, turning to me. "But I never even got the chance to decide that for myself, did I?"
My lips separated, my heart skipped a beat, but the words died in my throat.
His gaze fixed on mine, and I saw it, a swirl of sadness and something else. Something more deadly.
Resolve.
"He's going to pay," Damian remarked. "And I do not mean a lawsuit. I'm referring to public disgrace. "He was stripped of everything he had built."
I stepped forward. "What about us?"
He blinked. "What do you mean?"
"I mean," I explained sequentially, "we went from faking an engagement to co-parenting a child. "Where do we stand, Damian?"
He wiped a palm down his face. "I do not know. I'm not sure what is real anymore. "But I know one thing..."
"What?"
"I won't let Liam grow up with the Cross legacy. "Not the one my father created."
I nodded slowly. "Then let's build a new one."
Something in our relationship changed abruptly. Not forgiveness. Not yet. But there is an alliance. One that is stronger than previously. But fate had its own ideas for us. Because, when we were finally gaining footing in the wreckage of our history, the storm outside the window was just starting to shatter.
Rachel's Point of View
The email arrived at midnight.
Encrypted. Anonymous. But I knew who had sent it.
Lucas Cross.
The Forgotten Cross. The one everyone underestimated.
A file was attached.
Subject: Bloodline Test Results for Liam Blackwood.
I poured myself a glass of Scotch before opening it, joy sprouting in me at the sight of the new evidence.
What I saw made me grin.
Then I phoned Lucas.
"I assume you've seen it," he said.
"Oh, I've seen it," I said, sipping my drink. "And when I drop this into the press, the empire will not just fall." "It will implode."
Lucas laughed coldly. "Remember our deal. "I want Damian's seat on the board."
"And I want his world."
He paused. "Do it quickly. I'll leak it to blogger in two days.
"Oh, darling," I purred. "You will not have to. Because I intend to achieve something better than that."
"What's better than a DNA scandal?"
I grinned. "I'm going to deliver it… personally."
Damian's Point of View
The next morning, I received a call from our legal liaison.
"Sir, there is a woman here. She maintains that she has vital news about your family. "She says she's Rachel Cross."
I almost dropped my phone.
"She's in the building?"
"Yes, Sir. And she is not alone.
"What do you mean she's not alone?"
"She has a child with her."
I felt a sinking feeling.
"Is it…?"
"She says it's yours."
Damian's eyes widened as he looked at Ava. "You didn't bring Liam here today?"
Ava froze. "No. Why?"
He slowly lowered his phone. "Because Rachel did."
And then the door to the private office opened.
"And standing there, hand in hand with a little boy who looked too similar to Liam to be coincidence..."
Was Rachel. With a sinful smile.
"Hello, darling," she answered. "Meet your real so
n."