Chapter 4 THE FIRST GLIMPSE

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The doorbell rang just as Leah was tying Caleb's shoelaces.

"Mommy, I can do it myself," the five-year-old huffed, his little brows scrunched in determination.

Leah smiled, brushing a stray curl from his forehead. "I know, champ. But today, let me do it. We're running late."

Caleb rolled his eyes in a way far too mature for his age. "Fine."

Another ring-firmer this time.

Leah rose quickly, her heart thudding. No one rang her doorbell at this hour. Not here. Not in this quiet little suburb she'd chosen precisely to avoid drama.

She walked toward the door cautiously, peeking through the peephole.

And froze.

Adrian.

He was standing there in a sharp charcoal suit, tie undone, and eyes as stormy as she remembered.

How had he found her so fast?

She hesitated for a beat, then opened the door halfway, blocking the entrance with her body. "What are you doing here?"

He didn't waste time. "Is he mine?"

Leah blinked. "You didn't even say hello."

Adrian's voice was low, urgent. "Leah. I'm not here to argue. I'm here for the truth."

The boy behind her poked his head around her legs. "Mommy, who's that?"

Adrian's eyes dropped. And then the world around him slowed.

The little boy... had his eyes. His hair. Even his stubborn tilt of the chin.

Adrian's breath caught in his throat.

"Go upstairs, Caleb," Leah said quickly, placing a gentle hand on her son's shoulder.

"But-"

"Now."

With a pout, Caleb turned and padded up the stairs, his little feet thudding softly against the wood.

Adrian's gaze didn't leave the hallway.

"You named him Caleb," he whispered. "After my middle name."

Leah's lips trembled, but she held firm. "I didn't come back to drag you into this, Adrian."

His eyes met hers, stormy and unreadable. "You didn't come back to hide him either."

"I came back for work," she said. "For stability. For a life I can build without looking over my shoulder. I didn't expect to see you again."

"But here we are." He took a step forward, his voice lower now. "He's mine. Isn't he?"

She didn't answer. Her silence was the answer.

Adrian exhaled. It was like being punched in the chest.

"How could you keep him from me?"

Leah's voice trembled, but she didn't step back. "Because you weren't safe. You weren't clean, Adrian. You were wrapped in secrets and blood and men who disappeared without a trace. I was scared."

His jaw tensed. "I left that world behind."

"For how long?" she whispered. "What happens when someone from that past comes knocking? When your enemies decide to use him against you?"

Adrian's eyes flicked toward the staircase again.

Leah saw it-the war in him. The heartbreak. The fury.

And the longing.

"I don't want to take him from you," Adrian said softly. "But I am his father. I deserve to know him. He deserves to know me."

Leah bit her lip. She had imagined this moment so many times-but none of her versions came close to the storm of reality.

She didn't respond.

Adrian exhaled. "I'm not leaving, Leah. Not until I get to know my son."

And with that, he turned and walked away-not storming off, not slamming the door behind him.

Just leaving a promise hanging in the air.

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Later that night...

Leah stood by Caleb's bed, brushing his hair back gently as he slept.

She'd spent five years hiding him from his past.

But maybe the real danger now... was hiding him from his truth.

Here is the continuation of Chapter Four of The Billionaire's Secret Heir, flowing naturally from the emotional tension and lingering questions from earlier in the chapter:

Leah sat on the edge of her bed, staring blankly at her phone. Her hands trembled as she hovered over Adrian's contact-the one she never deleted, though she'd told herself a hundred times she should. Her mind was in chaos. The look on his face when he saw Caleb... it wasn't rage or manipulation. It was pain. Real, raw pain.

She tossed the phone aside and stood, pacing.

Was she wrong to keep Caleb a secret? Or was she right to protect him from the shadows that once followed Adrian like a second skin?

A knock at her window startled her.

Leah spun around.

She knew that knock.

She rushed over and yanked open the curtain.

Adrian.

Standing outside in the dark, rain beginning to fall, his jacket already soaked. He looked up at her window, eyes intense but pleading.

Leah cracked it open. "You shouldn't be here."

"I know," he said. "But I need you to hear this."

She didn't say anything.

Adrian exhaled. "That night you left-five years ago-it destroyed me."

"You mean the night you were almost killed in your own house?" she snapped. "The night I found blood on your shirt and three men threatening to burn it all down? That night?"

Adrian closed his eyes, the memory stabbing him. "Yes. That night. But it wasn't what you think."

She folded her arms, unsure whether to slam the window shut or open it wider.

"I was working with Interpol," he said suddenly. "Undercover. Deep. I was part of a sting to take down a global laundering network. My father... had gotten us involved in something dark. I was trying to protect my family. And you."

Leah's breath caught.

He looked up at her again, eyes searching. "You were pregnant. And I couldn't tell you the truth because it would've made you a target."

Tears pooled in her eyes. "So you let me believe you were the villain?"

"I let you walk away so you'd live. So our child would live."

Thunder cracked in the distance. The air between them thickened.

She whispered, "You should've trusted me."

"I did," Adrian replied, voice hoarse. "But I trusted the system more. And it failed me."

She stood there in silence.

Then, slowly, she pushed the window wider.

"I have conditions," she said. "If you want to be in Caleb's life-"

"I do."

"-you have to prove you've changed. No more shadows. No more secrets. No more mysterious phone calls or armed guards outside my home."

Adrian gave a small, sad smile. "You drive a hard bargain, Miss Bennett."

"And you better believe I will fight like hell to protect my son."

"I know," he said. "That's what I've always loved about you."

Her heart betrayed her with a flicker of warmth.

"Go home," she said. "You'll see him. But on my terms."

Adrian nodded. "Thank you."

And just like that, he disappeared into the night-again. But this time, with the promise that he'd return.

Not to claim.

Not to destroy.

But to rebuild.

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