Dominic's POV
"Your mother is alive?" The words feel stupid even as I say them. "That's impossible."
Isla stares at the photo on my phone like it might bite her. "My mother died when I was eight years old. I went to her funeral. I watched them lower her casket into the ground."
"Then who is this?" I zoom in on the woman's face. She has Isla's eyes, Isla's smile, even the same small scar above her left eyebrow.
Isla's hand flies to her own matching scar—the one she got falling off her bike as a child. She told me about it that blurry night six years ago, back when we were both drugged and confused and she was still talking to me like I was human.
"We need to find that jade pendant," Isla says, her voice shaking. "If my mother is somehow alive, if she left me some message—"
"My mother's pendant is in a safe deposit box at First National Bank." I check my watch. "It doesn't open for three more hours."
"We don't have three hours! That message said twelve hours, and it's already been—" She stops, her face going pale. "Ethan. I need to call Lily right now."
She pulls out her phone with trembling fingers, but before she can dial, it rings. Unknown number.
We both stare at it.
"Answer it," I tell her. "Put it on speaker."
She does. "Hello?"
A woman's voice comes through—soft, gentle, achingly familiar even though I've only heard it in old video recordings my father kept. "Hello, my darling Isla. It's been so long."
Isla's phone nearly drops from her hand. "Mom?"
"Yes, baby. It's me."
"You're dead!" Isla's voice cracks. "You're dead! I cried at your funeral for weeks!"
"I know, and I'm so sorry. But I had to disappear. It was the only way to keep you safe from the people who killed Dominic's parents."
My blood runs cold. "What did you just say?"
A pause. "Dominic? Dominic Ashford? You're with my daughter?"
"Answer the question." My voice comes out harsh, commanding. "What do you know about my parents' death?"
"Everything. Because I was there the night they died. I was the one driving the other car."
The world stops spinning.
Isla grabs my arm, steadying me, even though she has every reason to hate me. Even though I destroyed her six years ago with my cruelty and suspicion.
"You killed my parents?" The words taste like poison.
"No! I tried to save them. Someone cut their brake lines that night. I saw their car losing control on the mountain road and tried to force them to stop using my car. But I was too late. They went over the edge." Her voice breaks. "And when I tried to go to the police, someone tried to kill me too. So I faked my death and went into hiding."
"Who?" Isla demands. "Who's behind this?"
"The same person who drugged you both six years ago. The same person who wants little Ethan now. His name is Victor Ashford—Dominic's uncle."
I feel like I've been stabbed. "Uncle Victor? That's insane. He's been like a father to me since my parents died."
"That's exactly why he's so dangerous. He's been controlling you for fourteen years, Dominic. Controlling your company, your decisions, your life. And when he found out you might have a son—an heir who would inherit everything—he couldn't allow it. That child threatens his entire plan."
Isla's hand tightens on my arm. "Where's Ethan? Where did you move him?"
"Somewhere Victor will never find him. But you two need to get that jade pendant from the bank. It contains information about offshore accounts where Victor's been hiding stolen money—money he embezzled from both Ashford Global and Chen Industries. With that evidence, you can destroy him before he destroys your family."
"Tell me where my son is!" Isla's voice rises desperately.
"I can't. Not over the phone—it's not secure. Get the pendant, bring it to the old Chen Industries warehouse on Harbor Street. Come alone. Both of you. Anyone else, and Ethan disappears forever."
The line goes dead.
Isla immediately tries calling back, but it goes straight to voicemail. She looks at me with wild eyes. "Your uncle tried to kill your parents? He's been controlling you? He wants to hurt Ethan?"
My mind races through fourteen years of memories. Uncle Victor teaching me the business. Victor advising me on every major decision. Victor suggesting I acquire Chen Industries six years ago. Victor telling me that Isla Chen was a corporate spy trying to trap me...
"Oh God." The realization hits like a freight train. "He's the one who told me you were lying about the pregnancy. He's the one who convinced me you were sent by your father to sabotage the acquisition."
"What?" Isla's face goes white.
"That day you came to my office—before you arrived, Victor pulled me aside. He said he had intelligence that Chen Industries was planning to send someone to claim I got them pregnant, hoping I'd stop the takeover to avoid scandal." My voice sounds hollow even to my own ears. "When you walked in an hour later and said you were pregnant, I thought he'd been right. I thought you were the corporate spy he warned me about."
"So you threw me out." Isla's voice is flat, dead. "You had security drag me away because your uncle planted suspicions in your head."
"I'm so sorry—"
"Sorry?" She laughs, but there's no humor in it. "Your uncle has been manipulating both of us for six years! He set us up, destroyed our lives, and now he has my son!"
"Our son." The words feel foreign on my tongue, but they're true. "Ethan is our son, Isla. And I will burn down the entire world to get him back."
She stares at me for a long moment, and I see her making calculations. Can she trust me? Should she trust me? I haven't exactly earned it.
"Fine," she says finally. "We work together until Ethan is safe. But don't think this makes us friends, Dominic. You broke my heart and nearly broke my mind. I'm only tolerating you because my baby needs both of us right now."
"I understand." And I do. I deserve her hatred. I deserve worse.
My phone buzzes. A message from James: "Sir, your uncle just cleared out his office. Security says he took everything—files, computer, even the painting. His secretary says he's flying to somewhere in Asia tonight. Should I stop him?"
I show Isla the message. "He knows. Somehow he knows we're onto him."
"Then we need that pendant NOW." She heads for the gym exit. "Break into the bank if you have to. I don't care how you get it, just—"
The gym doors burst open again.
But this time it's not armed men.
It's a little boy—five years old, with dark hair and silver-gray eyes that are exactly like mine. He's holding the hand of a young woman I recognize from photos James showed me. Lily Zhang.
"Mama!" The boy—Ethan, my son—runs toward Isla with his arms out.
Isla drops to her knees, catching him in a fierce hug. "Baby! Oh God, baby, you're okay!"
"Aunt Lily said we had to come here." Ethan pulls back, his small face serious. "She said the bad men were coming to the safe house, so we ran away."
Lily looks exhausted and terrified. "I'm sorry, Isla. I didn't know where else to go. They found us. I don't know how, but they found us."
Ethan's eyes land on me. He tilts his head, studying my face with unnerving intelligence for a five-year-old.
"Mama," he says slowly. "Why does that man look exactly like me?"
Isla's arms tighten around him protectively. "Ethan, sweetie—"
"Is he my daddy?" Ethan's voice is small, hopeful, breaking my heart into a thousand pieces. "The one you said didn't want me?"
I can't speak. Can't breathe. This is my son. This small, perfect, terrifyingly smart little person is mine, and I've missed five years of his life because I was too damaged and suspicious to believe the truth.
"I—" My voice cracks. "I didn't know about you, Ethan. If I had known, I would have been there. I swear I would have been there."
Ethan studies me with those eyes—my eyes. "Do you want me now?"
Four simple words that destroy me completely.
"Yes." The word comes out fierce and certain. "Yes, I want you. I want you so much."
Ethan considers this, then nods once. "Okay. You can be my daddy then."
Just like that. As if forgiveness is that simple. As if five years of absence can be erased with one honest answer.
Isla looks like she might cry or scream or both.
But before anyone can say anything else, Lily's phone buzzes. She checks it and her face goes white. "Isla. You need to see this."
She shows us a live video feed. It's the old Chen Industries warehouse—our meeting location.
And standing in the middle of it is a man I've called uncle for fourteen years. Victor Ashford. He's smiling at the camera, holding something small and jade-green in his hand.
The pendant. He already has the pendant.
"Hello, nephew," Victor says to the camera. "I believe you and Ms. Chen have something I want. And I have something you want—the evidence you need to take me down. So here's the deal: bring me the boy, and I'll give you the pendant. You have one hour."
The video cuts out.
Isla pulls Ethan closer, her face full of fierce protective fury. "He wants to trade our son for a piece of jewelry?"
"No." My voice is cold, deadly calm. "He wants Ethan because my son is the true heir to Ashford Global. With Ethan under his control, he can manipulate the boy, steal the inheritance, and keep his power forever."
I look at Isla, at Ethan, at this family I didn't know I had until yesterday.
"But he's not getting him. I don't care what I have to do—Victor Ashford will not touch my son."
Ethan looks up at me with complete trust. "You'll keep me safe, Daddy?"
The word 'Daddy' hits me harder than any business loss ever could.
"Yes," I promise. "I'll keep you safe. Or I'll die trying."
But as I pull out my phone to call James, it buzzes with one more message. From Victor:
"P.S. — The boy isn't your only son, Dominic. There were two babies that night. Twins. I have the other one. Bring Ethan, or his brother dies."
Isla's gasp tells me she's reading over my shoulder.
"Twins?" she whispers. "I had twins?"