Chapter 2 - THE ANSWER THAT CHANGED THE HALLWAY
Adrian Kane looked down at my daughter.
“Mia,” he said quietly, “why exactly do you think your mother needs me to be your daddy?”
Mia’s smile disappeared.
And the answer she gave him made my heart stop.
“Because my other daddy says he’s coming to take me away.”
Every sound in the executive hallway seemed to vanish.
I stared at her.
“What?”
Mia looked at me with the guilty expression children wear when they realize they have stepped into an adult secret.
“He called Grandma’s phone.”
My stomach dropped.
“Mia, when?”
“Yesterday.”
My mother had been staying with us before flying to Atlanta.
She sometimes let Mia play games on her phone.
I crouched.
“What did he say?”
Mia hugged Gerald, her stuffed elephant, tighter.
“He said he’s my daddy and you’ve been keeping me from him.”
My lungs forgot how to work.
Adrian’s expression changed completely.
The amusement disappeared.
“What’s his name?” he asked.
I stood too quickly.
“This is personal.”
His gaze moved to me.
“Obviously.”
“Mia, come with me.”
I reached for her hand.
Adrian said, “Claire.”
I stopped.
He had almost never used my first name without attaching a work-related sentence after it.
“Are you in danger?”
“No.”
The lie came too fast.
His eyes narrowed.
I hated that he noticed everything.
“I’m fine.”
“That wasn’t what I asked.”
Around us, executives pretended not to listen.
I wanted the floor to open.
“My daughter’s father has been absent for six years. He doesn’t know where we live. He has no custody rights.”
Adrian’s expression sharpened.
“Does he know where you work?”
I hesitated.
That was the wrong thing to do.
“Claire.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
Mia tugged my sleeve.
“He does.”
I looked down.
“He said your office has big windows.”
Cold moved through me.
Adrian immediately looked toward his head of security standing near the elevators.
“Caleb.”
A tall man in a charcoal suit stepped closer.
“Sir.”
“Lock down visitor access to this floor. Pull lobby footage for the last seventy-two hours. Nobody approaches Ms. Bennett or her daughter without clearance.”
I stood.
“No.”
Adrian looked at me.
“No?”
“You cannot lock down half the company because my ex made a phone call.”
“I can lock down my building because someone described your office to your child.”
“That does not mean he was here.”
“It means he knew enough to make her afraid.”
Mia whispered:
“I’m not afraid.”
Adrian crouched again.
“I know.”
Her little chin lifted.
“I’m brave.”
“I can see that.”
She considered him.
“Mommy says brave people can still be scared.”
His eyes flicked toward me.
“She’s right.”
Mia nodded.
Then, because she was six and apparently determined to destroy what remained of my professional boundaries, she asked:
“Do you have kids?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Adrian actually paused.
“I never had any.”
“Do you want one?”
“Mia.”
He almost smiled.
“I haven’t thought about it recently.”
“You should.”
She pointed at me.
“Mommy already knows how.”
I covered my face.
Adrian laughed again.
Less loudly this time.
But enough that three people near the copy room looked stunned.
“Okay,” I said. “We’re leaving.”
“Your board presentation is at one.”
“I’m aware.”
“You’re still presenting.”
I stared.
“You want me to stay?”
“Yes.”
“With Mia?”
“Yes.”
“I thought you didn’t tolerate distractions.”
His eyes moved toward my daughter.
“She’s less distracting than most vice presidents.”
Mia smiled proudly.
I should have hated how naturally they seemed to understand each other.
Instead, something inside my chest loosened.
Only a little.
Back inside my office, I shut the door.
Mia climbed into my chair.
I knelt in front of her.
“Tell me everything.”
She twisted Gerald’s ear.
“Daddy called Grandma.”
“You don’t call him Daddy.”
“He said I should.”
A familiar anger rose inside me.
“What else did he say?”
“He said he missed six birthdays.”
“He chose that.”
“He said you made him.”
Of course.
“What did you say?”
“I said Mommy doesn’t make people do things.”
I nearly cried.
Mia continued.
“Then he asked if you still work for the rich man.”
My heart stopped.
“What rich man?”
“She said…”
Mia scrunched her face, trying to remember.
“The Kane man.”
Adrian.
“How does he know Mr. Kane?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did he say exactly?”
“He said if Mommy keeps helping Adrian Kane, then he’s going to come get me.”
The room tilted.
Helping Adrian?
I wasn’t helping him with anything unusual.
I was preparing the biggest luxury-brand campaign Blackwell & Reed had pitched in years.
The Astor Crown account.
A billion-dollar hospitality group planning to relaunch properties across Europe and the United States.
Our presentation was that afternoon.
Only senior leadership had seen the full creative concept.
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
I almost ignored it.
Then Mia stared at the screen.
“That’s him.”
My blood froze.
I answered.
“Claire.”
Six years disappeared.
Daniel Mercer’s voice sounded exactly the same.
Smooth.
Confident.
The kind of voice that had once convinced twenty-six-year-old me that disappearing for weeks was ambition instead of selfishness.
“Daniel.”
Mia went very still.
“I hear our daughter had an interesting morning.”
“How do you know?”
He laughed softly.
“You should be more careful about what your coworkers post online.”
I looked toward the hallway.
Someone had already uploaded a photograph of Adrian crouched beside Mia.
Of course.
“Do not call her again.”
“She’s my daughter.”
“You signed away parental claims when she was eight months old.”
“I signed paperwork while under financial pressure.”
“You abandoned us.”
“That’s your version.”
“It’s the judge’s version too.”
A pause.
Then Daniel’s voice changed.
“I don’t want a fight.”
“Then disappear again.”
“I want to see Mia.”
“No.”
“Claire.”
“No.”
He exhaled.
“Then perhaps we discuss what I really need.”
There it was.
“What?”
“The Astor Crown campaign.”
My stomach dropped.
“What about it?”
“I need your final presentation files.”
I could barely believe what I was hearing.
“You called our daughter to steal a marketing pitch?”
“Don’t be dramatic.”
“Daniel—”
“I work for Voss Creative now.”
Our biggest competitor.
The firm we were competing against for Astor Crown.
Everything clicked.
The sudden reappearance.
The threats.
Adrian’s name.
“You’re insane.”
“I’m practical.”
“You will never get those files.”
“Then maybe I file for custody.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
“You have no case.”
“You’re a single mother working sixty-hour weeks for a man everyone in Manhattan thinks is heartless.”
“You think that makes you a better parent?”
“No.”
Daniel’s voice became colder.
“But lawyers can make almost anything look ugly.”
I could hear my heartbeat.
Then:
“Send me the presentation before noon.”
“No.”
“If you don’t, I file tomorrow.”
I looked at Mia.
She was watching me.
Six years old.
Listening to a father she barely remembered turn her into leverage.
Something inside me hardened.
“File.”
Silence.
“What?”
“I said file.”
“You’re bluffing.”
“No.”
I lowered my voice.
“And if you ever use my daughter to threaten me again, I will make sure every judge in New York hears this conversation.”
Daniel laughed.
“You didn’t record it.”
A knock came from my door.
Adrian stood outside.
Caleb beside him.
Adrian held up his phone.
On the screen, a recording waveform moved.
My own office phone system had captured the entire call.
I looked at Daniel’s number.
Then at Adrian.
For the first time that morning, I smiled.
“Actually, Daniel…”
I opened the door.
“My boss did.”
May you like
And the line went dead.
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