Chapter 5

Harper’s POV

We both immediately froze, not even daring to breathe in case it made a whisper of a sound.

We heard another bang on the door.

“Stop pretending.” One of them said impatiently. “We heard you arguing. If you don’t open this door now, we’ll break it down—and we definitely won’t be as patient with you.”

My thoughts immediately went to Michelle, I couldn’t let them hurt her and they absolutely would if they came in. I fearfully turned to my father.

“You should go out there and face it. Ask for an extension or something.” I quietly urged. “If you don’t, they’ll come after us in here! Michelle may get hurt. ”

My father shook his head fearfully then froze in place, too afraid to sacrifice himself for our sake.

The door was suddenly kicked open loudly and aggressively, followed by two large men barging into the house.

One of the men had a strange tattoo on his neck that was probably a symbol for his boss. The other had a birthmark above his eye that was almost in the exact shape of a knife.

They looked incredibly intimidating and threatening, even by debt-collector standards (and unfortunately, I had seen my fair share).

My father stepped toward them and immediately dropped to his knees, begging for mercy without a moment’s hesitation or thought.

The man with the tattoo stepped forward and promptly punched my father clear across the face, knocking him to the ground.

The man with the birthmark grinned and kicked my father in the stomach.

Before I could even breathe, they both started beating my father on the ground.

I suddenly heard a shriek and glanced at where the sound came, seeing that Michelle had just come out of her door—probably to see what all the noise had been. She was met with the sight of our father being brutally beaten before her eyes.

She started sobbing uncontrollably and ran towards the men in an effort to pull them off our father.

The second she reached them, the one with the birthmark threw her aside and menacingly turned his attention to her.

I snapped out of my frozen state and frantically rushed in front of Michelle to shield her from the violent man approaching her.

“I-I’m doing surrogacy!” I blurted out in a panic, scrambling for something to save us. “Money will come soon! We’ll pay the debts, I swear!”

The one with the tattoo stopped beating our father, holding him by the collar, and turned his attention to us with an amused look on his face.

The one approaching us sent me a mocking smirk that sent shivers of fear down my spine.

“A surrogacy that pays that much?” The one with a birthmark said. “Yeah, right. Impossible.”

“I’m a surrogate for Young Leone!” I pressed. “Please! The money will come soon!”

The men looked at each other for a moment then started laughing, clearly not believing a word I said.

The one with the birthmark stopped laughing and turned his attention back to us with a glare.

“Young Leone?” He said in disgust. “He would never choose someone as low as you to bear his children. You’re a no-good liar just like your father.”

He took another step towards us, making us back away as far as we possibly could—our backs hitting the wall.

His eyes trailed up and down our bodies like a hunter watching helpless prey in the wild.

“It would be easier to sell the two of you to pay off the debt.” He said, his eyes suddenly staring directly at Michelle’s breasts. “I bet we could get a lot for the younger one, especially—she’s probably ripe for the picking.”

I held onto Michelle protectively, knowing exactly what that horrible man was implying and I felt disgust rise in my throat at the thought.

I briefly glanced at our father on the floor as the man continued to get closer to us, hoping and praying that my father would do something—anything—to protect us the way a father was meant to protect his daughters.

But my father stayed on the floor and didn’t bother to move an inch, half-conscious in his beaten state and too much of a coward to intervene.

The man with the birthmark grabbed us both and aggressively yanked us towards the door.

We both kicked and screamed and fought to get out of his grip, but he was too strong.

Michelle was sobbing as we fought with everything we had. I felt my own tears fall down my cheeks as I continued fighting to get her out of his grip—if only one of us managed to get away, I wanted it to be her. Please let it be her.

And then—

A light streamed through the apartment as I saw an imposing man appear at the door.

“No one touches her!”

The men went silent the moment they saw him and immediately froze in terror.

The one with the birthmark released his grip on us and we immediately scrambled away from him, Michelle rushing back to our father’s side as I watched her protectively.

“Young Leone?” The man with the tattoo said. “…Is it…it’s really you?”

Young Leone? Young Leone was in my apartment and was the one to save us?

Michelle looked up to our savior, confusion becoming clear on her face as she caught her breath and met his eyes.

“Wait, aren’t you…” Michelle said hesitantly. “You’re Harper’s…”

She trailed off, too stunned to continue whatever thought she had started.

Why was Michelle acting as if she recognized him, like she knew him?

I took a breath as my thoughts raced. So much was happening so quickly, I wasn’t sure what I should focus on first.

When I raised my eyes to Young Leone standing at the door, the first thing that caught my attention was the light glinting off the ring on his finger—a ring I immediately recognized.

That was Cade’s late grandpa’s wedding ring that his grandma gave him.

I took another deep breath as my eyes slowly trailed up his body, hoping I was imagining things or that it was a coincidence.

My gaze stopped briefly on the chain holding another ring around his neck—Cade’s grandma’s ring she gave him to give to his wife someday.

I swallowed hard, knowing there was no possible way for that to be a coincidence.

My eyes finally trailed up to the familiar features I had seen almost every night in my dreams and memorized thinking I’d never see them again.

The piercing brown eyes with specks of green staring back at me.

The strong jaw with a few freckles close to his ear that never went away.

The thick scar through his eyebrow from him falling off the roof when I said ‘I love you’ out of the blue.

The situation suddenly became crystal clear.

My Cade, the Cade that I had lost and loved all that time ago, was the Mafia King who employed me to have his child.

Cade glared at the debt collectors, his gaze falling on the one with the birthmark that had grabbed us.

“She’s mine.” Cade said coldly and clearly as a threat. “My surrogate.”