Chapter 6

“Double-check that report, Noah. I want to know everything about them—their address, school, even the smallest habits if necessary.”

Liam’s tone was cold, yet his eyes stared blankly at the computer screen before him.

Noah swallowed hard. “Sir, are you sure you want—”

“Just do it,” Liam cut him off sharply, his voice low and heavy, as if holding back something ready to explode from within. “I need answers. Now.”

He pushed back his chair and slammed his fist on the desk, making the stack of files tremble. His breath came ragged—not from anger, but fear. Fear of something he had refused to believe for years.

The image of that little boy’s face flashed again in his mind. The eyes that looked so familiar, the same nose, even the way the child ran—it was like staring into a reflection of his own past.

“He looks a lot like you, sir,” Noah finally murmured.

Liam’s gaze snapped toward him. “What do you mean?”

Noah glanced down at the report in his hands. “I traced the medical records and birth dates. The eldest child… was born six months after your divorce from Mrs. Elara.”

The room fell into utter silence.

Liam said nothing. His heart pounded hard in his chest, as if his body refused to accept the truth that was slowly stripping bare his past.

“Six months…” he whispered, almost to himself. His hand clenched the edge of the desk until his knuckles turned white.

Noah continued cautiously, “All three of them use the surname Wynters. There’s no record of a biological father.”

Liam’s eyes narrowed. “No record—or deliberately hidden?”

Noah said nothing.

Liam let out a bitter laugh, one that sounded more like an old wound being ripped open. “Of course she hid it. Elara always knew how to protect her secrets.”

He walked toward the wide office window. Rain had started to fall again, and his reflection stared back at him—a man who once had everything, now facing nothing but emptiness.

“For six years I’ve lived inside a lie of my own making,” Liam said softly. “I divorced the woman who loved me the most… for someone who couldn’t love me even half as much.”

Noah lowered his head, unable to meet his employer’s eyes. “What do you want me to do now, sir?”

Liam turned slowly, his gaze sharp yet glistening. “Find them. But don’t let Elara know.”

His voice shifted—no longer a command, but a plea laced with regret. “I just want to see them… from afar.”

---

That night, Liam sat inside his car, parked across a dimly lit street.

In the distance stood a modest little house, glowing warm beneath the amber light spilling through its windows.

He saw Elara step outside, wearing a worn cardigan, holding the hands of three small children.

They laughed together, running through the light drizzle toward an old car in the driveway.

Liam froze.

One of the boys turned and looked toward the street. Their eyes met—just for a second, but it was enough to steal the air from Liam’s lungs.

“Those eyes…” he whispered.

His hands trembled as he stared. “Those are my eyes.”

Tears slipped down his face before he even realized it.

For years he had been surrounded by luxury, yet he had never felt as hollow as he did that night—watching the happiness that should have been his, now existing in a world where he no longer belonged.

---

Meanwhile, inside the house, Elara stood by the window after tucking her children into bed.

She could feel it—something lingering in the air. A gaze. A shadow. Something familiar yet distant.

“Liam…” she whispered.

She knew he had started looking for her. The signs were clear: someone had taken pictures of her home yesterday, and the silent phone calls that came late at night had returned.

Elara sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the framed photo of her three children sleeping peacefully in the next room.

Her hand pressed over her heart, trying to steady its trembling beat.

“Not now,” she told herself softly. “I won’t let them know… not yet.”

She wiped the tears from her eyes. “You deserve a peaceful life. No lies, no legacy that only brings pain.”

Her phone buzzed—a new message from an unknown number.

> I just want to talk. Just for a moment. —L

Elara stared at the screen for a long time, her lips trembling.

“No…” she whispered hoarsely. “You lost that right a long time ago, Liam.”

Yet deep inside her, something stirred. Fear… and a longing she had tried so hard to bury.

---

The next morning, Liam went to the children’s school.

He stood behind the gate, hidden beneath a dark cap and jacket.

Children ran out, laughing—and once again, the sight hit him like a blow.

A little girl with shoulder-length hair ran toward Elara, laughing. “Mama!”

Liam’s breath caught in his throat.

That smile—the same smile as Elara’s—was etched perfectly on the child’s face.

Noah stepped closer, gently touching his shoulder. “Sir, you need to leave. If Mrs. Elara sees you—”

“I know,” Liam interrupted, his voice rough.

“But how do I walk away… when they’re my own blood?”

He turned slowly, leaving the schoolyard with unsteady steps.

The world around him blurred into nothing but the crushing realization—

he had lost six years of his children’s lives. Six years he could never reclaim.

---

That night, Elara stood on her balcony, gazing at the gray sky above.

She knew Liam was out there—watching from the shadows, haunted by guilt as deep as the love they once shared.

But she also knew the truth of their blood wasn’t something easily faced.

“I have to protect them,” she whispered. “Until the time is right.”

Across the city, Liam sat alone in his study, staring at the photograph of the children glowing on his screen.

He buried his face in his hands, his voice breaking through the silence.

“I destroyed everything, Elara… but I swear, I’ll make it right. Somehow… I’ll make it right.”