Chapter 1 - THE WORD THAT STOPPED HIS HEART
The hockey stick came down before Grace could move.
It slammed into her shoulder with a hard crack that sent her crashing onto the kitchen floor.
“Mommy!”
Four-year-old Lily screamed.
Grace twisted as she fell, wrapping both arms around her daughter and using her own body as a shield.
Pain shot from her shoulder to her fingertips.
She could barely breathe.
But Lily was untouched.
That was all that mattered.
“Please,” Grace gasped.
She looked up at the woman standing over them.
“Whatever you want, take it out on me.”
Victoria Ashford tightened both hands around the wooden stick.
Her white designer dress was spotless.
Her blond hair was perfectly pinned.
Her face was terrifyingly calm.
“You should have stayed gone.”
Grace pulled Lily closer.
“You already took five years from us.”
Victoria’s lips curved into a cold smile.
“And I’ll take the rest if I have to.”
She lifted the stick again.
Lily buried her face against Grace’s chest.
“Mommy, I’m scared.”
Grace closed her eyes.
Then the front door opened.
“Nathan?”
Victoria froze.
The stick slipped from her hands.
It hit the marble tile with a loud clatter.
Nathan Cole stood in the kitchen doorway, still wearing the dark suit he had worn to his afternoon board meeting.
He stared at Victoria.
Then at Grace.
Then at the crying little girl beneath her.
“What the hell happened?”
Victoria stepped forward immediately.
“Nathan, thank God.”
Grace laughed bitterly.
Victoria shot her a warning look.
“She attacked me,” Victoria said.
Nathan stared at the hockey stick.
“With what?”
“She’s unstable.”
Grace slowly pushed herself upright.
“My shoulder may be broken.”
Victoria snapped, “Stop lying.”
Nathan’s expression darkened.
“Enough.”
The single word silenced the room.
Then Lily lifted her tear-streaked face.
Her large brown eyes found Nathan.
She stared at him as if she already knew him.
Nathan frowned.
Lily’s little mouth trembled.
“Daddy.”
Nathan stopped breathing.
Grace shut her eyes.
Victoria went pale.
“What did she say?”
Nathan whispered.
Lily reached toward him.
“Daddy.”
Nathan looked at Grace.
Grace’s voice barely came out.
“She’s yours.”
Nathan staggered back.
“No.”
“She’s your daughter, Nathan.”
“No.”
“I was pregnant when I disappeared.”
Nathan’s face turned white.
“You told me nothing.”
“I wasn’t allowed to.”
“Who stopped you?”
Grace stared directly at Victoria.
Then she said the name Nathan least expected.
“Your father.”
Nathan went completely still.
Grace reached into her pocket and pulled out a worn photograph.
It was an ultrasound image.
On the back was a date from five years earlier.
Nathan’s hands began shaking.
“My father told me you took money and left.”
Grace’s eyes filled with tears.
“He paid me to disappear.”
Nathan stared at her.
“And when I refused, he threatened to take my baby.”
Victoria suddenly grabbed her purse.
“We are not doing this.”
Nathan turned.
“You’re not going anywhere.”
Victoria froze.
Nathan pointed at the kitchen floor.
“Sit down.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“You don’t order me around.”
“I just walked in on you standing over an injured woman and a terrified child with a hockey stick.”
Nathan’s voice dropped.
“So tonight, Victoria, I absolutely do.”
Victoria stared at him.
Then her gaze shifted to Lily.
Something dark passed across her face.
Grace saw it.
So did Nathan.
And for the first time, Nathan realized Victoria wasn’t shocked that Lily existed.
She was terrified that Nathan finally knew.
Nathan turned toward her slowly.
“You already knew about her.”
Victoria didn’t answer.
“Victoria.”
Silence.
Nathan’s stomach dropped.
“You knew I had a daughter.”
Victoria whispered, “Nathan, you need to understand something.”
“What?”
She looked at Lily.
“That child can destroy everything.”
And that was when Nathan realized this was never about jealousy.
It was about his family.
May you like
His money.
And something buried inside the Cole empire that people were willing to kill to protect.
