Chapter 2

Emilia POV:

The phone in my hand felt heavy, yet light. My father' s number, uncalled for years, glowed on the screen like a beacon in the pre-dawn darkness. I took a deep breath, the decision firm in my heart. One ring, two, then a gruff, familiar voice.

"Emilia? Is that really you?" Aiden Alexander, the formidable patriarch of Sterling Holdings, sounded less like a business titan and more like a stunned, hopeful old man.

"It' s me, Father," I whispered, my voice cracking with emotion. "I... I need to come home."

The silence on the other end was deafening, then a choked sound. "Home? You mean... you' re coming home?" His voice was hoarse with emotion. "My God, Emilia. Seven years. Seven long years."

"And I' m not alone," I added, glancing at Colt, who was still asleep in his bed, his small body curled around a worn teddy bear. "You have a grandson, Father."

A loud gasp. Then, a raw, primal cry that tore through the phone. "A grandson?! Emilia, my God! My little girl... my family. You' re coming home. Both of you." His voice was shaking. "Don' t you dare go anywhere. I' m sending a retrieval team. Immediately. They' ll be there before sunrise. Just tell me where."

Relief washed over me, a warm current after years of cold despair. There was no blame, no anger, only an overwhelming flood of love and acceptance. I gave him the address, my voice trembling now too.

"We' re waiting, Father," I said, tears finally overflowing. "We' re coming home."

I hung up, my heart aching with a mixture of sorrow and hope. Colt stirred in his sleep, a soft, innocent groan escaping his lips. "Daddy?" he mumbled, his small hand reaching out instinctively for an absent presence. "Daddy said... he' d play with me today."

My heart shattered all over again. Harrison' s empty promises, a cruel lullaby that still echoed in our son' s dreams. Tears streamed down my face as I gently stroked Colt' s soft hair. He deserved a father who showed up, not one who traded him for a business deal and a pregnant socialite. He deserved a home where he was cherished, not tolerated.

"You won' t be waiting for empty promises anymore, my love," I whispered, kissing his forehead. "We' re going to a place where you are loved, truly loved, by everyone."

Just as the first hint of dawn painted the sky, a furious banging erupted from our front door. Not the discreet, professional knock I expected from Windmere' s security detail, but an aggressive, demanding assault on the wood. My stomach clenched. I knew that sound. And I knew who was behind it.

Karren Bruce. Harrison' s mother. The architect of my seven years of quiet misery. She had always despised me, her eyes seeing only a nameless woman who had somehow trapped her ambitious son. She thought I was of low birth, a commoner, unfit to breathe the same air as her precious Harrison. And she loathed Colt, seeing him only as an inconvenient mistake, a blight on her son' s carefully constructed future. She had always pushed Harrison towards Jeanine Case, the well-connected, high-society daughter of a powerful investor.

Before I could even reach the door, it burst open, revealing Karren, her face a mask of furious disdain. Her sharp eyes swept over our modest living room, a sneer twisting her lips. Four burly guards, not from Windmere, but from Harrison' s own security detail, stood stiffly behind her, their presence an intimidating wall.

"Well, well, if it isn' t the little wanderer," Karren sneered, her voice dripping with venom. "Still clinging to this pathetic existence, I see."

I stood my ground, my arms crossed, a silent shield over my heart. "What do you want, Karren?"

"What do I want?" she scoffed, taking a step further into my home, uninvited. "I want you gone. Now. Pack your things, pack the... boy' s things, and disappear. Harrison has a very important ceremony today, and you will not, under any circumstances, be there to tarnish it."

My blood ran cold. Ceremony. It was Colt' s fifth birthday. And Harrison was announcing his engagement to Jeanine. Today.

"Colt' s birthday is important to us," I said, my voice dangerously low. I felt a surge of protective fury, a primal instinct rising to defend my child.

Karren let out a harsh laugh. "His birthday? What even is that to Harrison, a distraction? He' s building an empire, girl! He needs a woman who can stand beside him, not a nameless... commodity who holds him back." Her gaze flicked dismissively towards Colt' s bedroom. "A woman like Jeanine, with her impeccable lineage, her connections. A woman who is carrying his rightful heir. Not some... street urchin' s spawn."

My hands clenched into fists, my nails digging into my palms. The insult to me was a dull ache now, but the attack on Colt... that ignited a fire I had long suppressed.

"You will not speak about my son that way," I warned, my voice trembling with suppressed power.

Karren simply smiled, a cruel, mocking twist of her lips. "Oh, I will. Because he is a mistake, Emilia. A painful, inconvenient mistake. And if you know what' s good for you, you' ll take him and vanish. If you don' t, we will consider you an intruder. And intruders, dear, are dealt with... severely. I wouldn' t want you to find out what happens to those who stand in the way of the Bruce family' s future. I wouldn' t want to have to... cleanse this stain myself."

My eyes narrowed. She had no idea the power she was provoking. No idea whose blood ran in Colt' s veins.

"You know nothing of this boy' s bloodline, Karren," I said, my voice now steady, cold as ice. "You would do well to remember that."

She merely scoffed again, a sound of utter contempt, and turned to leave. "Just be gone, Emilia. Don' t make me regret my leniency."

The door slammed shut with a finality that echoed through the small apartment. I stood there, rigid, trembling with a controlled rage.

Then, a small, choked sob.

"Mama?"

Colt stood in the hallway, his teddy bear clutched to his chest, his eyes wide and red-rimmed. He had heard everything. Every cruel word, every hateful insult. He was just five, a sensitive, innocent child. He didn' t understand why his grandmother, the woman he' d tried so hard to please, had just called him a mistake.

I dropped to my knees, pulling him into my arms, burying my face in his soft hair. He sobbed uncontrollably, his small body shaking.

"Does Daddy not love me anymore?" he whispered, his voice broken. "Am I... am I really a mistake?" He pulled back, looking at me with swollen, hopeful eyes. "You' re the only one who loves me, right, Mama? Only you?"