Chapter 5 - THE SECRET HIDDEN IN MY DAUGHTER'S BLOOD
For five seconds...
Nobody moved.
Not me.
Not Stellan.
Not even the world outside the window.
Fern was my daughter.
I knew that.
I had known it from the moment I first held her tiny body against my chest.
But Stellan saying it...
Seeing the proof in his hands...
It changed something.
Because for eleven months, I had been fighting alone.
And now the man I had spent two years trying to forget was standing in front of me, holding the truth I never knew existed.
I looked at the paper.
Then at him.
"Say something."
My voice sounded smaller than I wanted.
Stellan didn't answer.
He was staring at Fern.
Like he was seeing every missed day.
Every first step.
Every fever.
Every nightmare.
Every moment he wasn't there.
"You knew."
The words came out cold.
His eyes lifted.
"What?"
"You knew there was a possibility."
His silence told me everything.
My chest tightened.
"You knew."
"Selene—"
"No."
I stepped back.
"You knew, and you still stayed away."
His face hardened.
"I stayed away because I was trying to keep her alive."
"You don't get to decide that alone."
My voice rose.
"You don't get to disappear and come back when it's convenient."
A flash of anger crossed his face.
But it disappeared quickly.
Because he knew I was right.
"I thought if I stayed away, they would stop looking for you."
"Who?"
He didn't answer.
Again.
That was becoming his favorite way of hurting me.
I laughed bitterly.
"You keep saying danger is coming, but you never tell me what it is."
Stellan looked at the DNA report.
Then at the note.
"Because I don't know who sent this."
I frowned.
"You don't know?"
"No."
The honesty surprised me.
"Someone inside my organization knew about Fern."
A cold feeling moved through me.
"Your organization?"
His eyes darkened.
"The people who work for me."
I stared.
"Someone close to you tried to take my daughter?"
"Yes."
The answer was immediate.
No hesitation.
And somehow that made it worse.
"Why?"
Stellan walked toward the window.
"Because my enemies believe blood is the easiest way to control me."
I looked at Fern.
"They want her."
His silence was enough.
My stomach twisted.
"No."
I moved toward the crib.
"No one is taking her."
Stellan watched me.
"That's why you're staying here."
I turned sharply.
"Excuse me?"
"The mansion is protected."
"I don't need your protection."
"Yes, you do."
The confidence in his voice made my anger explode.
"You think because you have money and guns you can control everything?"
"No."
His eyes locked on mine.
"I think because I failed you once, I won't fail her."
That sentence hurt more than it should have.
I looked away.
Because for a second...
I remembered Adrian.
Not Stellan Cross.
The man who held me in the rain.
The man who whispered that he wished he could give me a normal life.
The man who disappeared.
I hated that part of me still missed him.
A knock interrupted us.
One of Stellan's guards entered.
"Boss."
"What?"
"We found something."
Stellan's expression changed.
"What?"
The guard handed him a small evidence bag.
Inside was a photograph.
My blood ran cold.
Because it wasn't a random photo.
It was a picture of me.
Holding newborn Fern.
Taken outside the hospital.
I had never seen it before.
Stellan looked at the date.
Then his face changed.
"When was this taken?"
The guard swallowed.
"Two hours after she was born."
I looked at Stellan.
"What?"
He turned the photo around.
On the back was a message.
A handwritten message.
My hands started shaking.
Because I recognized the handwriting.
I had seen it once before.
On the note Adrian left the morning he disappeared.
Stellan read the words aloud.
"The daughter lives because the mother doesn't know the truth."
My heart stopped.
"What truth?"
Stellan looked at me.
And for the first time...
he looked afraid.
"Selene..."
A pause.
"The man who attacked you tonight wasn't trying to kill you."
I felt a chill.
"Then what was he trying to do?"
Stellan's eyes moved to Fern.
"He was trying to warn us."
"Warn us about what?"
He looked back at me.
"About the person who has been protecting you all this time."
I frowned.
"What?"
His voice dropped.
"The person you trusted most."
I froze.
Because there was only one person who had helped me after Adrian disappeared.
One person who knew everything.
One person who knew where I lived.
Where Fern slept.
Where I worked.
My face went pale.
"No..."
Stellan watched me.
"Who is it?"
My lips trembled.
Because I already knew.
"The only person who knew my entire life."
I whispered the name.
May you like
And Stellan's expression turned dark.
"Mrs. Thornbury."
