Chapter 6: The Child Everyone Was Fighting For
The phone slipped from my hand.
It didn’t hit the floor.
My fingers caught it at the last second, but I barely felt it.
Because my mind was stuck on one sentence.
The baby you’re carrying belongs to the only person who can destroy Charles Hawthorne.
And that person is not your husband.
I looked at Alexander.
He looked as confused as I felt.
For the first time in years, we were standing on the same side of something.
Two people trapped inside a nightmare neither of us understood.
“Who was that?”” my father asked.
His voice was low.
Too low.
I had heard him angry before.
I had heard him disappointed.
But I had never heard him afraid.
“I don’t know,” I whispered.
The phone rang again.
Everyone froze.
My father reached for it.
“Don’t answer.””
But this time, Alexander grabbed my wrist.
“Wait.””
I looked at him.
“Why?””
His eyes were fixed on the screen.
“Because whoever this is… they know something.””
The phone continued vibrating.
Finally, the call stopped.
Then a message appeared.
Unknown Number.
*You deserve the truth before they take your child away from you.*
My breathing became uneven.
My father immediately took the phone from my hand.
“What does this mean?””
I looked at him.
“That’s what I was about to ask you.””
He stared at the message.
Then he looked at Alexander.
“You.””
Alexander frowned.
“What?””
“You brought this into her life.””
Alexander’s expression hardened.
“No. Your family secrets brought this into her life.””
My father stepped forward.
“Be careful.””
“Why?”” Alexander replied.
“Because you’re powerful?””
The room became tense again.
But this time, I didn’t feel like watching two powerful men fight.
I was done being the person everyone protected and controlled.
“Stop.””
Both of them looked at me.
I wiped my face.
“I don’t care who has more money.””
Silence.
“I don’t care who built what company.””
I pointed toward the phone.
“I care about one thing.””
My hand moved to my stomach.
“My baby.””
Nobody spoke.
“Someone out there knows something about my child. So we are going to find out what.””
My father looked at me.
The sadness in his eyes almost broke me.
“You shouldn’t have to deal with this.””
“I already am.””
He nodded slowly.
Because he knew I was right.
An hour later, we were sitting in the private office inside the mansion.
A place Alexander had always considered his.
A place where business decisions had been made.
Contracts signed.
Deals created.
Tonight, it became the room where my entire identity was being questioned.
My father’s legal team searched through records.
Alexander brought his laptop.
And I sat between the two families that had apparently been connected long before I existed.
“Start from the beginning,” I said.
Everyone looked at me.
“I want every secret.””
My father hesitated.
Then he opened a file.
“Your mother was born Evelyn Hawthorne.””
I listened.
“She was Thomas Hawthorne’s younger sister.””
I looked at Alexander.
His jaw tightened.
“She was never supposed to inherit the family business. Thomas was.””
My father continued.
“But Evelyn discovered something about her brother’s company.””
“What?””
“Illegal financial dealings.””
Alexander looked up.
“My father?””
My father nodded.
“Yes.””
Alexander shook his head.
“No.””
“He wasn’t always the man you knew.””
That sentence clearly hurt Alexander.
Because despite everything, Thomas Hawthorne was still his father.
My father continued.
“Evelyn wanted to expose him. Thomas found out.””
“And then?””
My father looked down.
“She disappeared.””
I felt a chill.
“Disappeared?””
“Yes.””
“Then how did she meet you?””
My father was quiet.
“Because I found her.””
I stared.
“What?””
“She was hiding.””
“From Thomas?””
“Yes.””
My father’s voice became softer.
“She was scared.””
For the first time, I saw my father not as a billionaire.
But as a man who loved a woman enough to protect her.
“She told me she had a daughter.””
My heart stopped.
“A daughter?””
My father nodded.
“You.””
The room went silent.
I felt dizzy.
“She was pregnant with me when she escaped?””
“Yes.””
I looked away.
“My whole life…”
My voice broke.
“My whole life I thought my mother was Sarah Bennett.””
“She was.””
My father reached for my hand.
“Names don’t define love.””
I pulled my hand back.
Not because I didn’t love him.
Because I was overwhelmed.
“Why did she change her name?””
“Because Hawthorne blood had become dangerous.””
Alexander suddenly stood.
“Wait.””
Everyone looked at him.
“You said Evelyn was pregnant before she escaped.””
“Yes.””
Alexander’s face changed.
“But my father’s records said she left the family years before I was born.””
My father nodded.
“That’s the lie.””
Alexander stared.
“What?””
“Thomas changed the timeline.””
The room went quiet.
I looked between them.
“What are you saying?””
My father opened another document.
“This.””
It was an old birth record.
A name.
A date.
My eyes moved across the page.
Then stopped.
I couldn’t understand what I was seeing.
“No…”
Alexander stepped closer.
“What is it?””
I looked at him.
My voice barely worked.
“Your father…”
I swallowed.
“He wasn’t older than my mother.””
Alexander frowned.
“What?””
My father looked at him.
“Thomas Hawthorne was not your biological father.””
The silence was deafening.
Alexander stared at the document.
“No.””
My father nodded.
“Your mother had a relationship before Thomas.””
Alexander’s face turned pale.
“Who?””
Nobody answered immediately.
Then my father said:
“Me.””
The entire room froze.
I looked at Alexander.
He looked like someone had physically attacked him.
“No.””
My father’s voice was filled with regret.
“I didn’t know.””
Alexander stepped backward.
“You’re saying…”
He pointed at me.
“Emma and I…”
My father closed his eyes.
“The records were altered.””
My hands covered my mouth.
I couldn’t breathe.
Another impossible truth.
Another secret.
Alexander and I weren’t connected through Thomas Hawthorne.
We were connected through my father.
Richard Bennett.
The man who raised me.
The man Alexander hated.
The man who had unknowingly watched his own son marry his daughter.
“No,” Alexander whispered again.
He looked at me.
“I didn’t know.””
I couldn’t answer.
Because I didn’t know what I felt.
Anger?
Pain?
Disgust?
Grief?
Everything was tangled together.
Then the office door suddenly opened.
One of the lawyers rushed inside.
“Mr. Bennett.””
My father turned.
“What happened?””
The lawyer looked nervous.
“We found something.””
“What?””
He placed a tablet on the desk.
“Someone accessed the hospital records from the night Emma was born.””
My blood ran cold.
“Who?””
The lawyer hesitated.
“Charles Hawthorne.””
Alexander immediately looked up.
“Impossible.””
The lawyer shook his head.
“There’s more.””
He pressed a button.
A scanned document appeared.
A transfer agreement.
A custody arrangement.
Signed decades ago.
My father looked at it.
And his face lost all color.
“What is it?”” I asked.
He didn’t answer.
I stepped closer.
The document had one sentence highlighted.
*In the event of Richard Bennett’s death, guardianship of Emma Bennett will transfer to Charles Hawthorne.*
My stomach dropped.
“Why would he have guardianship over me?””
Nobody spoke.
Then Alexander whispered:
“Because Charles wasn’t trying to destroy your family.””
He looked at me.
“He was trying to take you.””
The lights flickered again.
And this time, the power didn’t return.
Outside the mansion, a car door slammed.
Everyone turned toward the window.
A figure stood in the rain.
Watching us.
My father moved instantly.
“Everyone away from the windows.””
But I was already staring.
Because I recognized the face.
I had seen it before.
In old family photographs.
In pictures my mother kept hidden.
The man standing outside slowly raised his head.
May you like
And smiled.
Charles Hawthorne had finally come home.
