Chapter 4 - The First Time Lily Called Him Daddy
Damian had never driven so fast in his life.
Enzo's men secured the lakefront property while Damian and Isabelle were rushed into separate vehicles.
He wanted Isabelle beside him.
She refused.
“I am not getting into a car with you.”
“Someone is watching our daughter.”
“That is exactly why I won't follow you blindly.”
He stopped arguing.
For once, he understood that protection could not mean control.
“Then choose the car. Choose the route. Tell me where you feel safe.”
Isabelle studied him.
Something in his answer softened her expression.
They returned to Greystone through a private entrance.
Elena was waiting in the study.
Lily sat on the carpet, arranging wooden animals into a crooked line.
The moment Isabelle entered, the little girl looked up.
“Mommy!”
She ran into her mother's arms.
Isabelle dropped to her knees and held her tightly.
“My baby.”
Lily kissed her cheek.
“You came home.”
“I did, sweetheart.”
Damian stood several feet away.
He had imagined this moment for four years.
In his imagination, Isabelle ran into his arms.
In reality, she was holding their daughter and looking at him as if he were still a stranger.
He deserved that.
Lily noticed him.
“Mister Damian, look!”
She held up a wooden horse.
“Mommy says horses can run very fast.”
“They can.”
“Can they run faster than your cars?”
“Some probably can.”
Lily laughed.
Then she looked at Isabelle.
“Mommy, is Mister Damian sad?”
Isabelle glanced at him.
“Yes, sweetheart. I think he is.”
Lily walked toward him.
She held out the wooden horse.
“You can borrow him.”
Damian crouched.
“Thank you.”
“Don't lose him. He's my favorite.”
“I'll take good care of him.”
Lily leaned forward and whispered, “You can call me Lilybug.”
His eyes burned.
“Lilybug.”
She smiled.
That afternoon, a private DNA test was arranged through a trusted physician.
Damian wanted immediate confirmation, but Isabelle insisted on a properly documented procedure.
“You don't get to turn our daughter into another investigation,” she told him.
He agreed.
The samples were collected.
The results would take several hours.
Meanwhile, Enzo discovered that the attack on the lakefront property had been coordinated through two former Vescari guards.
Both men had disappeared.
One had left behind a phone containing photographs of Greystone.
Damian examined them.
There were images of the kitchen, the upstairs hallway, Lily's bedroom, and the garden.
The photographs had been taken over several weeks.
Someone had been watching the family from inside the house.
“Check every employee,” Damian ordered.
Elena looked uncomfortable.
“Damian, there is something I should tell you.”
He turned.
“When Isabelle disappeared, I wasn't the only person who helped her.”
“Who else?”
“Your father's driver. A man named Samuel Cross.”
Damian remembered him.
Samuel had worked for his father for thirty years.
“He helped Isabelle escape?”
“Yes. He arranged a safe apartment and gave her money. But when Victor found out, Samuel was accused of stealing from the family.”
“Where is he now?”
“I don't know. Isabelle never heard from him again.”
Isabelle joined them.
“He was the last person who knew where I was going.”
Damian looked at Enzo.
“Find him.”
A few hours later, the doctor arrived with the DNA results.
Damian opened the envelope.
The probability of paternity was 99.99 percent.
He read the number.
Then read it again.
Lily was his daughter.
His little girl.
The child who had drawn crooked tattoos on her arms, who had given him half a lollipop, who believed his house was too quiet.
Damian sat down.
For the first time in years, he cried without hiding it.
Isabelle watched from the doorway.
“I wanted you to know her,” she whispered.
He looked up.
“I want to spend every day making up for the time I lost.”
“You can't make up for four years.”
“I know.”
“You can't buy her childhood back.”
“I know.”
“And you can't expect me to trust you because a piece of paper says she's yours.”
He nodded.
“Then don't trust me yet. Watch what I do.”
That evening, Lily climbed onto the sofa beside him.
She was wearing pink pajamas and holding Mr. Bun.
“Mister Damian?”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“Can I call you Daddy?”
Damian went completely still.
He looked toward Isabelle.
She was standing near the doorway, listening.
“Only if you want to,” he said carefully.
Lily nodded.
“Daddy.”
He closed his eyes.
It was the smallest word.
It was the biggest thing that had ever happened to him.
Then his phone rang.
Enzo's voice was urgent.
“Boss, we found Samuel Cross.”
“Where?”
“Saint Mary's Cemetery.”
“Is he alive?”
A pause.
“Yes. But he says he won't speak to you.”
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“Why?”
“Because he claims your father ordered him to kill Isabelle four years ago.”
