Chapter 2

That two-bedroom apartment was in a deep alley of the old city.

It was where Ethan and I lived before he returned to the Blake family, before he became CEO of Blake Group.

Very small. The wallpaper peeled. The heating wasn't warm enough in winter. Cooking meant squeezing into a palm-sized kitchen.

But back then, he'd hold me after work and talk for a long time. He'd cook longevity noodles himself on my birthday. He'd rub my legs when I was pregnant and accompany me to prenatal checkups.

We didn't have much money then, but the days were warm.

Later he reclaimed his ancestry. We moved to a spacious villa. He said he was an illegitimate son, that returning to the Blake family wasn't easy, that running such a large group was even harder, that he couldn't leave a single handle for gossip.

He had to avoid suspicion, consider the big picture, endure until the day we could stand openly.

I believed him.

But just now, watching him smile softly and indulgently at Sophia and her son, I suddenly understood.

He'd already developed other feelings inside his lofty avoidance of suspicion.

He gave the tenderness meant for us to someone else.

Since everything started from that old house.

Let it end there.

The next day, while checking out, coworkers' murmurs came from behind me.

"Did you see? The CEO came out of Sophia's room this morning."

"Come on, something's been off between them for a while. Sophia's a widow with a kid, her ex-husband was abusive, and she's beautiful. Who wouldn't feel for her?"

"Besides, when young Ethan first returned to the Blake family, his illegitimate status was beneath notice. No one wanted to follow him. Sophia volunteered to transfer from his older brother's side. That kind of loyalty—what man wouldn't remember it?"

I gripped the room card hard. The edges dug into my palm.

Before I could turn, Lily's crying came from nearby.

I rushed over. She'd fallen on the carpet, pouting and crying.

"Mommy... he said his daddy is my daddy..."

Seven-year-old Noah stood across from her, hands on his hips, arrogant.

"Uncle Ethan is my daddy! Your mom can't even afford this and brought you to Disney to mooch. Look at yourself. You want to steal my daddy?"

"My mom said you're a bastard no one wants! You're just jealous because Uncle Ethan is good to me!"

Lily trembled with anger and lunged, pushing him to the ground.

"You're lying! He IS my daddy!"

Just then Ethan and Sophia walked over quickly.

Sophia immediately crouched to help her son. "Noah! Where did you fall? Does it hurt?"

Ethan also strode to Noah, bending to check his arms and knees, brow furrowed.

The whole time, he didn't look at Lily on the ground.

Lily pushed herself up, eyes red, reaching to hug his leg, whispering "Daddy."

Ethan dodged sharply and looked at me coldly.

"Diane, is this how you teach your child? Pushing people, and calling random men daddy?"

Sophia said anxiously, "Diane, Noah's birthday was yesterday. The CEO just let him call him daddy because he's young."

"How can you let a three-year-old compete for affection too?"

"I know at the company, as single moms, you feel the CEO is better to me than to you, and you're unbalanced. But you don't need to have your child hit and push people."

My throat tightened. "CEO, Sophia's child pushed Lily to the ground first!"

Ethan chuckled. "But I only saw Lily push Noah. How do you explain that?"

I wanted so badly to say in front of everyone that Lily was Ethan's biological daughter, that calling him daddy was natural.

Before I could speak, Lily rushed forward and bit Ethan's wrist hard.

"You're a bad man! You bully Mommy! Mommy and I don't want you anymore!"

She ran out the door. I chased immediately.

Ethan didn't follow.

He only picked up Noah and headed to the medical room, saying, "It's okay. Daddy's here..."