Chapter 7: Five Years of Silence

The view from the Romano Enterprises boardroom in New York was amazing. It was the kind of view that made big-shot business people jealous. From my seat at the head of the shiny black table, I could see the whole city like a chessboard. And I had more pieces than anyone.

"The Sterling Industries deal should be done by the end of the month," Marcus Chen—no relation to Sophia, thank goodness—said, sounding sharp like I want my people to sound. "Their drug business is losing money fast, and the board is getting desperate."

I didn't show any feelings as I looked at the reports. But I felt that cold winning feeling that kept me going for the last five years as I was building my empire. Sterling Industries was once worth three billion dollars. Now, it's worth less than half that. Some bad business moves, lost deals, and partners that disappeared mysteriously turned Mikel's company into nothing.

"Great," I said, signing the papers. "Make sure the news comes out during their board meeting. I want it to sting."

My assistant, Sarah, leaned in with my schedule on her tablet. "Mrs. Romano, you have the Europe meeting at three, the charity thing at five, and Emma's play practice at seven."

Emma. Just hearing her name made me smile a bit. She's five, but she's smart and strong like the Romanos. But she's also sweet, which reminds me of what's really important.

"Forget the charity thing," I said. "Emma's rehearsal is more important."

The room went quiet. In the five years I've been running Romano Enterprises, I've never put my personal life before business. But Emma isn't just personal—she's why I did all this in the first place.

After the meeting, I stayed in my chair, looking at the city. I thought about who I was five years ago. That girl who thought love was enough, who trusted too much and gave everything for a man just to like her, felt like a stranger. I didn't change overnight—it took a lot of eighteen-hour days, tough deals, and times when I almost gave up.

My phone buzzed. It was a text from Lucas: *Emma's teacher wants to talk about the family tree project. Nothing big—just wants to set up a time.*

Family tree project. I closed my eyes. I knew what this was about. Emma's been asking about her father a lot. I've been dodging the questions, saying he's far away and busy. She's five, so she knows something's up, but she's still young enough to believe me.

For now.

I grabbed my stuff and headed to the elevator. But my assistant stopped me, looking worried. "Mrs. Romano, someone's here to see you. It's about Emma."

My heart froze. Over the past five years, I'd built walls so high that no one from my old life could find us. No one knew where we were. The company kept our identities secret. If someone got through all that...

"Who?" I asked, trying to stay calm.

"A woman named Victoria Chen. She says she has information about Emma's father that you need to hear."

Sophia's sister. She's the one who called Mikel at the hospital. She's the one who tried to defend the awful. I gritted my teeth as my old anger came back.

"Security," I said. "Conference room C. Five minutes."

Victoria seemed older. She looked tired from defending her sister all those years. She sat across from me in the boring conference room, nervously twisting her hands. Two security guards stood by the door.

"Bella—I mean, Mrs. Romano—thanks for seeing me," she said, her voice shaking. "I know you don't trust me, but this is about Emma. What she deserves to know."

"Emma deserves to be away from the toxic people who ruined her family before she was even born," I replied, sounding cold. "So I'm not interested in what you're selling."

"Mikel has been looking for you," Victoria said, sounding desperate. "He hasn't stopped for five years. He hired detectives, asked for favors, spent a lot of money looking for you and Emma. He knows the truth now about what Sophia did, the lies she told."

The truth. Like the truth matters after five years of silence. Like it changes what he did in that hospital room while I was dealing with giving birth to our child.

"The truth," I said slowly, "is that your sister ruined my marriage. Your precious Mikel believed her lies instead of trusting his wife. I told him to pick between his family and his pride, and he picked pride. Nothing else matters."

Victoria leaned forward, desperate. "He knows he messed up. He's been trying to make things right, trying to find you so he can say sorry—"

"Say sorry?" The word sounded like poison. "He wants to say sorry for giving me divorce papers while I was recovering from surgery? For making me sign custody papers while I was still bleeding? For picking his mistress over his daughter's mother?"

"He never picked Sophia," Victoria said. "The affair—it wasn't real. Sophia drugged him, took fake pictures, and lied. She ruined your marriage because she thought he'd be with her once you were gone. But he never was. He barely talks to her."

I looked at Victoria, trying to see if she was lying. But I only saw desperation. It didn't matter. Even if she was telling the truth, it didn't change what happened back then.

"Here's what I think," I said, standing up and walking around. "I think Mikel realized what he lost when he was alone in that house. I think he realized that winning doesn't mean anything when you have no one to share it with. I think he spent five years understanding that trading a family for pride was the worst thing he's ever done."

Victoria nodded. "Yes, that's right. He—"

"But here's what Mikel didn't think about," I said, my voice getting colder. "I didn't spend five years missing a man who left me. I spent five years becoming someone who doesn't need anyone to like her or take care of her. I built a company that makes his tech company look small. I'm powerful enough that his regrets don't matter to me."

The words were true, and it felt good to say them. But it didn't explain why my chest hurt when Emma asked about her dad, or why I still dreamed about what we could have been.

"Emma asks about him," Victoria said quietly, playing her last card. "She asks why she doesn't have a dad like the other kids. Don't you think she should get to know her father?"

There it was. The one thing that could get through my defenses. Emma's happiness matters more than anything.

"Emma," I said carefully, "is doing well. She's smart, confident, and loved. She doesn't need a father who couldn't be bothered to fight for her when it mattered."

"But what if she needs him now?" Victoria asked. "What if she needs to know where she's from, to understand her story? You can't stop her from wanting to know her father forever."