Chapter 2

In his private study, he gestured for me to sit. The room, dressed in leather and mahogany, felt more like a courtroom than a place where a father and daughter should speak.

"So, when are you going back to New York?" he asked, his voice calm but direct.

"Tomorrow," I replied not wanting to engage with him even for a moment

"Don't go," he said suddenly

I blinked, turning to look at him, utterly shocked. For the first time in my life, my father had asked me to stay, the man who had barely spoken to me for years, who hadn't even flinched when I left for NYC to pursue my dream was now asking me to stay suddenly but why? It was a strange and, unsettling My mind flashed back to the time when I first told him I wanted to study medicine, and he hadn't said a word. No encouragement, no resistance, just silence and a black card that I didn't use.

It was my grandmother, my aunt, and Melora who had caused the usual drama, but none of that had mattered because I had left anyway because I was so habitat to their freaking dramas.

I opened my mouth, about to ask why he wanted me to stay, when his next words froze me in place.

"I've arranged your marriage"

My heart stopped. For a moment, it felt like the air had been sucked out of the room. I couldn't breathe, couldn't think. My mind reeled, trying to process the weight of what he had just said.

Marriage? My heart pounded in my chest, disbelief crashing over me.

what the fuck?!

I had never imagined that he would make such a decision for me out of sudden, he, who had barely shown any interest in my life, who never cared whether I stayed or left, was now dictating my future?

A thousand emotions surged within me, shock, anger, betrayal, confusion. It was like the ground beneath me had shifted, leaving me standing on an unsteady feet. My fingers trembled as they gripped the edge of the chair, trying to hold onto something, anything, that made sense but nothing made sense.

"Marriage?" I finally whispered, the word foreign and bitter on my tongue. I wanted to scream, to demand why he was doing this, but I couldn't find the strength. All I could do was sit there, staring at him.

"Yes, you're grown enough to understand it," he began, his voice cold and calculated.

"I won't circle around my words. I'll come straight to the point, the company's sales have been decreasing over the past two years and despite all our efforts we haven't been able to recover So after much discussion, we and Valor&Co. decided to join hands. Your marriage to Rowan Valor, the CEO would solidify this partnership and guarantee the future of the business"

His words hit me like a punch to the gut he wasn't just arranging a marriage, he was using me like a damn pawn, i wasn't his daughter to him in that moment i was just another pawn in his business deal the shock quickly turned into an overwhelming sense of betrayal, all this time, I had hoped even in the smallest corner of my heart, that maybe, just maybe he'd want something better for me because at the end of the day he is my father ? and father won't want bad for their child would they? But no. I was nothing more than a tool, an asset to be traded for profit and power.

"So, it's a deal?" I asked, my voice hollow.

"Call it whatever you like and I'm not asking you to remain forever with him, I'll sign a contract with you to be with him only for 5 months and after that you'll be free to do anything of your own will. " he said, brushing off my question with the same indifference that had colored my entire life I couldn't believe me just how easy and thoughtless he can be, relationships are a mere joke to him

The knot in my chest tightened, anger bubbling beneath my skin.

"And my answer is a darn NO." I stood abruptly, my heart racing with defiance as I moved toward the door desperate to escape the suffocating room

"Sit down, Lilienne" he commanded his tone sharp like the one he usees on his employees.

I whirled around, fury coursing through me.

"And listen to you blabbering about using me for your business? No thanks, I'm your daughter a freaking damn daughter not a tool you can use when you want.

His expression remained stony, but there was an edge to his voice when he said,

"Lily, I've never asked anything from you. But this is something you have to do, for the betterment of the company"

I let out a bitter laugh, the sound hollow and filled with years of pent-up resentment.

"Never asked anything from me?" I repeated.

"Dad, you were never even there for me you never acknowledged my existence, so how would you ask for anything from me"

I could see the frustration flash across his face, but I didn't care. My hand reached for the door handle, ready to walk out and leave everything behind.

His expression remained stony, but there was an edge to his voice when he said

"And how about we both make a deal?" he said

I ignored him, my fingers already twisting the knob, but then his next words froze me in place.

"I'll give you your mother's belongings and her house."

My breath caught in my throat, and for a moment, the world seemed to stop.

My mother.

The flood of emotions hit me hard, nearly knocking the air out of my lungs. Memories of her, or rather, the absence of her, crashed over me like a tidal wave, i never knew her, she had been gone for as long as i could remember. But I'd always craved her, the love of a mother, the warmth, the presence. I used to watch my classmates talk about their mothers, see them bring homemade lunches to school, and a five-year-old me had cried in silence wishing for something I'd never had.

As I grew older i stopped crying for her, but the ache never went away. When I was 14 i visited the house where she used to live, separate from my father, and found her diary. That's when I felt the sharpest pang of loss, realizing how much I truly missed her, even though I had never known her, i promised myself that one day, i would have her house, her belongings, anything that connected me to her. But my father had always refused as after her death he became the owner of it and I always hated him for that

And now, he was offering me the one thing I'd wanted my entire life

my mother's memory.

Some belongings which would make me understand that even I was loved once

Tears stung my eyes, and I turned back slowly, my hand still gripping the doorknob. The emotions were overwhelming,grief, longing, betrayal, and an undeniable yearning to finally have a piece of my mother, even if it came at the cost of my freedom.

I hated myself for even considering it, for letting him manipulate me like this. But deep down, I knew, my mother's memory was the only thing that could break my resolve and he knew it too and that's why he is using it

indeed a brilliant businessman. Cold calculated. Even with his own daughter.

"You have one day to make your decision," he said.

---

I locked myself in my room the only place in this entire mansion that ever felt even remotely like home. The four walls had witnessed everything: my silent breakdowns, my whispered thoughts, every tear that I was never allowed to cry in front of the world.

Here, I wasn’t a pawn, i wasn’t the daughter of multi-million dollar empire's king

I was just… Lily. A girl who had grown up aching for something as simple as love and care

I walked over to the window, twilight spilling soft gold across the wooden floor. From my bag, I pulled out the one thing that had always brought me peace.

My mother’s diary.

The pages had grown more fragile over time, the ink slightly faded, but the word they still breathed her.

'Today, I found out I'm pregnant once again, and my happiness is out of this world. After so much pain and darkness, this child will be the light in my life. I'll raise it with all the love and care I can give.'

A soft smile tugged at my lips, trembling with the ache in my chest. Her words were a whisper across time. A promise of a love I never got to feel.

'Jonathan will be so happy to find out he’s going to be a big brother. My sweet, innocent boy would have loved this baby, but he’s lost to me now, taken by the man I once thought I loved. But as I feel this child move inside me, I find hope again. My friend thinks it will be a baby girl. A baby girl to dress, to love, to raise.'

Tears blurred my vision as I looked out the window. The stars had started appearing distant and cold.

When I was younger, I used to believe people became stars after they died. I’d lie on the cold balcony floor, searching the sky for the brightest one, and pretend it was her. Pretend she was watching me. That her warmth still wrapped around me, somewhere, somehow.

But now… even the stars felt too far away.

How easy it is for a child to find peace in imagination. But when you grow up, and reality slaps you hard you can’t cling to fairytales anymore.

I wiped my tears and turned another page.

'Finally, my baby is here in the world, in my arms. Two days old and perfect in every way. When I held her, i felt joy i never knew. But there was no one to share it with me. No family. Not even John, fo Not even a call, despite knowing I was pregnant. I gave up everything for this man my home, my parents and he couldn’t even be there when I gave birth to our daughter, but it doesn’t matter. She is my daughter. My happiness. I’ll raise her to be strong. Independent. She will never suffer the fate I have.'

I broke.

Sobs tore through me as I clutched the diary to my chest like it was the only thing keeping me from falling apart completely.

I’m already living your fate, Maa.

The same loneliness. The same heartbreak. The same silence from the people who should’ve loved me most.

You wanted so much more for me. And yet… here I am. Trapped in the same cycle.

I couldn’t read more. I closed the diary, heart too heavy to carry.

I laid back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling like it could give me answers.

Then, slowly, I picked up my phone. My hands were shaking as I typed the message.

"I'm ready. But hold onto your promise."

I stared at the screen for a moment, my thumb hovering above send. Then tap.

The decision was made.

If five months in a marriage could get me to my mother’s house, her belongings are something that could make me feel close to her i would do it.

The void inside me was too vast the longing is too deep.

And maybe… just maybe… touching a piece of her life would help me find mine.

But deep down, I already knew

Even that wouldn’t be enough.

No house, no material possession could ever replace what I had truly lost the chance to know her to be loved by her to escape this lonely cold fate that had always been here

and I hate every bit of it.