Chapter 4 - THE MAN WHO HAD BEEN LOOKING
Grant Vale refused to meet Maya at a hotel.
He refused to meet her at his office.
He chose a quiet private library inside the Vale Foundation building where Catherine had once volunteered.
Maya almost canceled three times.
Then Lily took her hand.
“Are we seeing the grandpa man?”
Maya looked down.
“We don’t know if he’s your grandpa.”
Lily considered this.
“Can I still bring my bunny?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’m ready.”
Grant was standing near the window when Maya entered.
The billionaire who had intimidated senators, CEOs, and bankers suddenly looked terrified.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Maya saw his eyes move across her face.
Her hair.
Her hands.
Then the ring.
Grant whispered, “You have Catherine’s eyes.”
Maya stiffened.
“Please don’t.”
He stopped immediately.
“I’m sorry.”
Julian remained near the door.
Maya sat with Lily beside her.
Grant stayed standing until Lily stared at him.
“You’re really tall.”
Grant laughed unexpectedly.
It was the first genuine laugh he had made in days.
“So was your grandmother.”
Maya’s head snapped up.
Grant corrected himself.
“Catherine.”
Lily hugged her stuffed rabbit.
“My mom says we don’t know yet.”
Grant nodded.
“Your mom is very smart.”
Maya nearly smiled.
A medical technician arrived twenty minutes later.
The DNA collection took less than five minutes.
The waiting would take much longer.
Afterward, Grant placed an envelope on the table.
“What is that?”
“Nothing you have to accept.”
Maya opened it.
Inside were photographs.
Her mother on a sailboat.
Her mother dancing barefoot at a family wedding.
Her mother holding a newborn baby.
Maya’s hands began trembling.
The baby was wrapped in a cream blanket embroidered with orchids.
On the back, Catherine had written one sentence.
Maya Elizabeth Vale, six days old.
Maya pressed her hand over her mouth.
Memories she had never trusted began flickering through her mind.
A huge staircase.
A garden.
A man lifting her onto his shoulders.
A woman singing beside a piano.
Grant spoke softly.
“I looked for you.”
Maya raised her eyes.
“Then why didn’t you find us?”
Pain moved across his face.
“I don’t know.”
“That isn’t good enough.”
“No.”
He didn’t defend himself.
“It isn’t.”
Maya stood.
“I need air.”
Outside, Julian followed at a distance.
Maya turned.
“If the test is positive, I’m not becoming some billionaire princess.”
Julian almost smiled.
“Grant doesn’t need a princess.”
“He needs his daughter.”
Maya looked through the glass doors toward the old man kneeling beside Lily’s rabbit.
“And what if I don’t know how to be her?”
Julian answered, “Then be Maya.”
“It seems to have gotten you this far.”
Her phone suddenly buzzed.
A notification from Richard.
A legal filing.
Emergency petition for temporary custody of Lily Vance.
Maya opened it.
Richard claimed she was financially unstable, emotionally volatile, and had abducted their daughter following a public breakdown.
Maya’s fear vanished.
Something colder replaced it.
“He wants a fight.”
Julian read the screen.
“Yes.”
Maya slipped the phone into her bag.
May you like
“Then he finally picked one I’m willing to finish.”
—
