Hidden Baby with My Ex-Billionaire

"Your daughter looks just like a friend of mine." It was a company retreat, and I'd brought my little girl along.

My boss studied her face a beat too long. "So much like him I'd wonder if she was his," he said. Chapter 1 The young boss snapped a photo of Nell.

Then he checked with me. "You don't mind if I send this to a buddy? Just to mess with him." I shook my head. A coincidence, nothing more. My coworkers perked up.

They circled me, hungry for gossip. "So, Wren, what's her dad do?" "We…split a long time ago." "She's gorgeous. That's not all you. Dad had to be a looker too.

Was your ex hot or what?" "Yeah," I said. "He was." Except he was never my ex. Not even that. "So why'd you break up? He cheat?" "No." "He hit you?" "No.

He was gentle." "Then what happened?" They looked genuinely let down. I gave them a thin smile and left it there. My mind drifted, all the way back to New York.

Seven hundred miles and a whole life ago. My adoptive father sold me to Julius Ashford to clear a debt. He didn't want me. Nobody would've.

But he figured my father would beat me to death otherwise, and something in him bent. He put me up in one of his apartments, rentfree.

He paid my way through high school and college. And in all those years, he never once came to see me.

Then graduation rolled around, and my father crawled back with a fresh pile of gambling debts. He told me to go shake Julius down for money. He had no idea.

I couldn't have found Julius if I tried. The only person I ever heard from was his assistant, Simon. And I wasn't about to go begging. My father put me in the hospital.

I missed my own graduation. I didn't tell Simon. Julius found out anyway. The room reeked of antiseptic, packed tight with other beds.

It was the second time I ever laid eyes on him. He stood there, still as deep water, impossible to read. Head tipped down, soft as anything. And somehow he owned the whole room.

The left side of my face was swollen purple. My mouth split with pain every time I moved it. I turned that side away from him.

I couldn't meet his eyes. "All those selfdefense classes, and you just took it?" There was no anger in it. Just something tired. "I didn't just take it," I shot back.

I let it happen on purpose.

That was the only way to get the injuries on record: the proof I needed to cut every legal tie to that man. "Why didn't you call Simon?" I dropped my head.

My voice came out small. "No reason." Julius let out a breath. He turned and told Simon to move me into a private room, then hired a nurse to sit with me.

When he moved to leave, I caught the hem of his jacket. He looked back, nothing in his eyes at all. "Mr. Ashford.

I'll pay you back." "You figure out what you want to do yet?" "I got the executive assistant job. Rhett Vance, over at Meridian.

I start next week." With the injury report, the court cut me loose from my father fast. Cleaner than I ever expected. Free, at last. The assistant job paid well.

But I wanted Julius's money off my back as fast as I could, so I lived on almost nothing. After I moved out of his place, I split an apartment with strangers.

Rhett Vance was a headache and a half. I didn't just handle his work. I handled his personal life too. One day it was an anniversary surprise for some college girl.

The next, a flower delivery for a model. That was just Tuesday.

Chapter 2 At the auction, Simon and I ended up bidding on the same pair of earrings, the last piece the designer Colette ever made. A few rounds in, I could see it on him.

He wasn't going to lose this. So I let it go. On my way out, Simon called after me. He pressed a velvet box into my hands. The yellowdiamond earrings.

The box went heavy in my hands. A year, and there he was. "Boss's orders." He'd won the earrings, then reported it straight to Julius.

And mentioned, in passing, one more thing. "Wren was here too. She was after these, I think." The line went quiet for a few seconds.

Then, flat: "Give them to her." I tried to hand the box back. He wouldn't take it. "Vance sent you for these, didn't he?

You go back emptyhanded, how's that going to land?" His new girlfriend had her eye on the earrings. Worst case, I'd go back and eat a screaming fit.

I was used to it. "Boss said they're yours," Simon said. "Do whatever you want with them." I found out later why Julius bought those earrings that day.

He was chasing a deal, and the man running it had a daughter who was crazy about Colette's work. The earrings would've smoothed the whole thing over. Rhett tore into me anyway.

Because I couldn't bring myself to give them up. Night after night, I'd look at those earrings, and Julius's face would surface on its own. Calm, held in, giving nothing away.

Then my roommate stole them and sold them off. I was so furious I beat her bloody, and it landed us both at the police station. The officer told me to call someone to post bail.

I scrolled my contacts. Chewed on it. Called Simon. And begged him, over and over, not to tell Julius. But when I walked out beside him, a black town car was waiting.

The back window slid down. And there was Julius's face. It threw me. Somehow another year had gone by since I'd last seen him. "You hurt?" He didn't ask why I'd hit her.

I shook my head. "You like them that much?" Enough to nearly put the thief in the ground.

I bit my lip, guilty. "They're worth a lot." "Way I heard it, she offered you every cent from the sale. You still didn't let her off." My head sank all the way down. "I'm sorry, Mr.

Ashford. I dragged you into this." He blinked. Then a soft laugh slipped out of him. "This is hardly a problem." He said it like money could fix anything. For him, it did.

Julius pulled out a handkerchief, folded into a neat square, and handed it to me for the blood on my hands. "Don't dirty your hands over things that don't matter." It carried that faint scent that was only his.

I couldn't stand to ruin it. Julius knew where I lived. He'd just never come. The hallway was dim and narrow, paint peeling off the walls.

Inside, there was barely room to turn around. Too tight for one person. Three of us lived there.

His brow creased, just slightly. "You've been living like this since you left Kingsley Tower? Are you that short on money?" He didn't wait for an answer.

He told Simon to come up, pack my things, and move me back into Kingsley Tower. Julius wouldn't take rent. So I offered to cook him dinner instead.

He raised an eyebrow. "Simon says you're a good cook?" I couldn't believe Simon had told him even that. I love food. I love figuring out how to make it.

Back in college, Simon came by once, and I'd made him stay to eat. Chapter 3 I went to the kitchen. Julius followed me in.

He shrugged off his suit jacket, rolled his shirtsleeves to the elbow, and picked up the vegetables to wash like it was nothing. A man like him, elbowdeep in my sink.

I lost the words I'd lined up. "I've got it," I said. "I'll prep. It goes faster." His hands never stopped. From behind, he was tall and lean and straightbacked.

He looked like the lead from the webtoon I'd read the night before. Broad shoulders, narrow waist. The kind that gets your mind wandering.

After that, Julius started showing up with groceries so we could eat together. Little by little, the stiffness wore off.

Before long I was bossing him around the kitchen without a second thought. Rhett swapped out his celebrity girlfriend for a new one.

Her birthday landed on a shoot day, and she wanted him on set. He didn't have time, so he sent me with flowers and jewelry to smooth things over. Turned out she had a temper too.

Every bit of her anger at Rhett, she dumped on me. She had a halffinished coffee, and she threw it. No warning. The whole set stared. Nobody moved to help.

Too worried it'd splash onto them next. I stood there and let her get it out of her system. If she vented now, maybe she'd leave Rhett alone.

Otherwise I'd be cleaning up the mess for days. And I had dinner with Julius that night. I'd drifted off in my own head when another cup of coffee hit the actress. Out of nowhere.

Steam still curling off it. I turned, stunned, and there was the hard line of Julius's jaw. One hand in his pocket. He tossed the empty cup onto a side table like it was trash.

I'd never seen him angry before. Even Simon, a step behind him, went wideeyed. I grabbed a napkin and rushed to blot the actress dry.

Julius caught my wrist and pulled me clean away from her. "I can't leave." If I walked out now, Rhett would never let it go. Julius let go of my wrist. His lashes dipped.

Our eyes met, and I saw it plain in his eyes. He was furious. "Now you don't know how to fight back?

Wren, I'd give anything to know what goes on in your head." "She's my boss's new girlfriend. I can't set her off." It was just my job. I didn't feel sorry for myself over it.

And usually, after something like this, Rhett slid me a decent bonus to make up for it. No job spares you the humiliation. And pride isn't worth a dime next to money.

Julius sighed. "Don't worry. I'll have a word with Rhett. He won't take it out on you." The penthouse he lived in was close to the shoot.

I showered at his place and changed into the clean clothes Simon had set out for me. When I came out, Julius was tipped back against the couch. Eyes shut. Asleep.

The fitted vest cinched at his waist, hinting at the hard line of muscle underneath. His legs were loose, slightly apart. Every inch of him gave off this raw pull.

It drew me in before I could think. I stared at his face a long moment, then eased his glasses off, slow and careful. I was pulling back when his eyes opened. Inches apart.

I caught myself staring at his mouth and swallowed. "Mr. Ashford, I was just—" I never finished. His kiss swallowed the rest of it whole. Nothing like his usual softness.

This one pushed, took, kept coming. A long while later I sagged against his chest, boneless. Somewhere in it, I'd ended up straddling his lap. Chapter 4 We were too close.

Like we could each feel the other's heartbeat. Sense trickled back, and I moved to get up, flustered. Julius cupped the back of my neck and pressed me tighter into him. "Wren.

Will you be my girlfriend?" My head came up, surprised. Under that warm look of his, a smile spread across my face. I nodded like crazy. I was young then.

I thought loving each other was enough to last a lifetime. I forgot that two people from different worlds, even if they cross paths by chance, come to the day they split off again.

The fourth year we were together, I got pregnant. His whole face changed. He kept a hand on my stomach like he couldn't help it.

Simon laughed. "Guess the boss has to move up the proposal." I was still floating in it when a video landed on my phone. Shot through a crack in a door.

Julius sat on a couch, back to the camera, shirt off. His lean spine was crossed with welts. I couldn't look away, and I couldn't stand to.

The family doctor was easing medicine over them, careful. Every time the cotton swab touched a wound, his body flinched. Not once did he make a sound. [My brother loves you.

But you don't know our family. We don't get to choose who we marry.] [Can you really watch him suffer this much for you?] [Wren.

After everything he did for you, let him go.] I never knew. Somewhere I couldn't see, Julius had been paying a price like this to make his family accept me.

That pride of his shouldn't have to bend, over and over, because of me. When I handed him the paperwork saying I'd lost the baby, his eyes went red in an instant.

But he didn't ask a thing. He just pulled me gently into his arms. He'd even come up with the reason for me. "If you don't want a child, then we won't. It hurt, didn't it? "Wren.

I'm sorry. I won't let anything like this happen again." I pushed his arms off me. He let go, and something in his face cracked. "Julius. It's not just the baby I don't want.

I don't want you either. "We're…done." I said it without blinking. Then I picked up my bag and didn't look back.

That February, rain that wouldn't quit, I left the city that had given me my worst memories and my best ones. I went to Chicago, where my adoptive mother was from.

My adoptive father couldn't have kids, so they took me in. Later, work moved them to New York, and me with them. Then my mother died.

My father found the tables, and the man he'd been was gone. The years before I met Julius were one long nightmare. So I loved him. And I was grateful to him, even more.

That was exactly why I wanted him to stay the brightest sun in the sky. Not get dragged down off it by me.

Once my coworkers moved on from me, the talk drifted to the new young boss, Beckett Wells. Said he'd spent a long stretch building out the New York market.

Came back, did half a year at a branch office, then landed at headquarters. I went still. I checked with them, nerves prickling. "Wait.

The young boss came back from New York?" "Yeah. You didn't know?" My ears started to ring. I found Beckett again. "Mr. Wells.

That friend you mentioned…his last name Ashford?" Beckett looked thrown. "How'd you know that?" "That photo.

Can you still unsend it?" He'd shot it off to Julius and pocketed his phone. Now he dug it back out. Past the window to take it back.

Chapter 5 Under the photo Beckett had sent, there were a few lines of text. [This employee's daughter.

Doesn't she look just like you?] [I'm freaking out!] [If I didn't know what a straight arrow you are, I'd swear she was yours!] Right then, the other end, silent this whole time, lit up with a reply. [Send me the address.] Beckett finally caught the shift in the air. "Back in New York, I used to hear about it.

They said Julius had a girlfriend once.

Treasured her like nothing else. "To be with her, he was ready to cut ties with his own family. "And then the woman up and dumped him. "He was a wreck over it for a good while." His eyes slid sideways, landing on me, thoughtful. "Wren.

That woman who dumped him and vanished. That wouldn't be you, would it?" I said nothing. He looked over at Nell, who had my coworkers eating out of her hand.

He clicked his tongue. "So Nell really is Julius's kid." He wasn't quiet about it. Lucky for me, the room was loud, and nobody was watching us. "Mr. Wells.

Can you keep this between us? I don't want Julius knowing." Beckett shrugged. Didn't get it, but agreed anyway. "Your business, your call.

Of course I'll respect it." He typed his reply to Julius right in front of me. [The two of them already took off.

You'd come and miss them.] Julius fired back in a second. [What's the mom's name?] Beckett gave him some random name. The other end went dark. "Mr. Wells.

When did Julius come to Chicago?" "Start of the year. Couple of big deals out here. Doubt he's heading back to New York anytime soon." I nodded. Chicago's a big city.

Short of trying, we weren't likely to cross paths. My coworkers meant well. Once they found out I was raising a kid alone, they threw themselves into setting me up.

Mostly sharp young guys who'd let work eat their twenties. I turned every one of them down. Told them straight: I wouldn't marry again.

I wasn't about to let my daughter share a roof with a strange man. And the truth was, the one I met so young had set the bar too high. Everyone after just looked ordinary.

My moods got to her. Nell came early, before the eightmonth mark. She spent two months and change in a NICU incubator. Her health was shaky from the start.

Once, she ran a fever that wouldn't break, and a coworker told me St. Anne's was the place to pray. I knelt from one end of that church to the other.

Begged, over and over, for a little mercy. Maybe someone up there was moved by all that begging. When we got home, Nell started turning the corner.

After that, whenever I had a free afternoon, I'd bring her to light a candle. We'd stay for the potluck, sit while the sisters said their prayers.

Over time, she got close with them. Whenever I fretted over her health, the sisters would settle me down. They said she was a lucky child. A long road ahead of her.

Told me not to worry so much. We'd planned to go that Saturday. Then a sudden downpour scrapped it. The rain quit the next day, and Nell packed her own little bag.

She dragged me out the door before I was ready. She'd gotten hooked on these chocolate wafer cookies, and she couldn't wait to share them with the sisters.

Gray skies, hardly anyone there. But the sisters were glowing. A few days back, they said, a tycoon's assistant had reached out. Wanted to make a sizable donation to the church.

Chapter 6 Enough to start restoring the old wings they'd never had the money to fix.

Nell's best friend, Sister Bea, took her to the kitchen to watch the rolls go in and help with the holiday soup. I wandered the grounds on my own.

The winter plum was in full bloom, the air thick with it. And I thought of Julius again. My hand drifted up on its own, brushing the yellowdiamond earring at my ear.

He'd had someone track down the pair after they were stolen. Took real effort, I heard. Cost him several times over. He really seemed to think it was the earrings I loved so much.

Two young women passed by me. Their chatter carried, sharp and clear down the empty walkway. "No idea who the big shot is.

The priest came out to greet him himself." "Look at all those people trailing him. Somebody important, that's for sure." "Shame he's spoken for.

Can't even let yourself daydream." "How do you know?" "I saw the wish he wrote on a prayer ribbon.

It was for his wife and kid." "…" They rounded the walkway, and their voices faded. Then I saw the man they meant.

He walked at the head of the group, listening to the people around him, giving a small nod here and there. For his wife and kid.

The line came back to me and hung there, circling, like it wanted me to hear it twice. Julius…really had gotten married. My legs locked.

I was still stuck between staying and running when the whole group reached me. The priest knew me and stepped up to introduce us. My head was a tangled mess.

I barely caught it: the priest saying Julius meant to fund the restoration. So he was the tycoon the sisters had mentioned. Julius's eyes settled on me, warm as ever.

Behind him, Simon dipped his head at me. I looked away and made my excuses. Fled. I found Nell. I wanted us gone, fast. She said a long, reluctant goodbye to Sister Bea.

We passed the prayer wall, and she stopped short. "Mom, our names are up here!" She let go of my hand and trotted over. Up on her toes, she pointed at one of the ribbons.

Handwriting she couldn't read, except for two words. She knew my name and hers. I'd taught her those myself. I walked over, slow.

And when I made out the whole thing, my eyes started to burn. [May my wife Wren and daughter Nell know peace all their days. —Julius Ashford] Nell tipped her head, all curiosity. "Mom, what's it say?" "It's about you… A wish for you to be safe and happy your whole life." I never said the word Dad out loud.

But something reached her anyway, and she broke into a grin