Chapter 5

Arianna

Five years later

The girl name Arianna had died the night I ran from the Liam mansion. Now the world knew me as Dr. Aria Laurent, an award-wining cardiothoracic surgeon and medical innovator, founder of Laurent Biotech, and the woman they called the miracle queen.

I’d built hospitals, developed life-saving technology, and performed numerous surgeries other doctors said were impossible. I had wealth, power and respect. Everything I had once thought only men like Damian Liam could have.

But the most precious things in my life were my twins.

I adjusted the cuff of my white blazer as the private jet descended through the clouds. Beside me, my son, Leo, pressed his face against the window.

“Mommy! The buildings are tiny!” he shouted with excitement.

I smiled softly. “They won’t look tiny when we land, sweetheart”

My daughter, Lorna, rolled her eyes dramatically from her seat. She had my face, my stubbornness, and Damian’s dark, intense eyes.

“Leo says everything is tiny.” She muttered.

“That’s not true!” Leo gasped.

“It is,”

“It’s not!”

I laughed softly. How had I given birth to two tiny hurricanes?

 “Enough, you two” I said gently

They both looked guilty at once. I reached over and fixed Leo’s tie. He had Damian’s jaw, his mouth, and that same serious little frown when he concentrated. Every time I looked at him. I saw Damian.

Lorna crossed her arms. “Are we really staying here long?”

“Just for the international medical summit,” I answered with a sigh.

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “You’re not hiding something, are you?”

I nearly choked. She was only five, yet she was terrifyingly observant. “No, sweetheart,” I lied. It was a necessary one.

I had indeed returned for business and to expand my company. This country held painful memories, but I was not here for Damian.

The city looked exactly the same. Tall glass towers, luxury cars, and that same cold skyline. As my convoy drove through downtown, my eyes caught a familiar building. It was Liam Tower. My chest tightened with old pain, but I quickly looked away.

“Mommy, are you alright?” Leo asked softly.

I forced a smile. “I’m okay.”

Meanwhile, across the city, Damian Liam nearly ran a red light. His black Aston Martin screeched to a stop. Horns blared, but he didn’t hear them.

His eyes were glued on the massive digital billboard above the street. Arianna’s face stared down at him, she looked elegant, cold and untouchable.

A large heading was on the billboard and Damian read it. “Dr. Aria Laurent, keynote speaker, international medical summit.”

“Arianna…” Damian sucked his breath in shock, gripping the steering wheel so tight his knuckles turned white.

He stared harder at the image like the image might disappear and at the name under it.

“You’re alive.”

His heart thumped loudly in his chest. For five years, he had searched everywhere for her under the same name he knew her with, but he had hit dead end every time.

Five years of rage and obsession and sleepless nights, five years of fear that she might have died along with his child, and suddenly, there I was, alive and breathing.

He took out his phone and dialed a number. The line connected immediately, “Find out where the international medical summit is being held.”

The summit was chaotic. Camera flashed, journalist shouting questions. My security team kept the crowd back as I stepped out of the car in black stilettos and a cream suit dress. My hair fell in glossy waves down my back. Diamonds sparkled at my ears.

“Dr. Laurent!”

“Over here!”

“Are the rumors true about the new heart implant?

I smiled politely and answered their questions in flawless French-accented English. I had to protect my new identity. If I wanted to keep my identity as Aria Laurent, I needed this accent.

Inside the ballroom glittered with wealth, and I owned the room. Men stared at me, and women whispered. I heard how they admired me, saying I was stunning, brilliant and richer than half the people here.

The last time I had been to an event similar to this, I was just Damian’s pretty little wife from nowhere. Now everything was different and the narrative had changed.

I walked with my head held high until I suddenly froze.

Damian stood across the ballroom in a black suit. He looked even more ruthless than before, but still devastatingly handsome. His eyes were darker as they locked on me.

Five years disappeared in a single breath and he started walking toward me. I turned quickly and left the ballroom calmly, but fast.

My heels clicked against the floors as I slipped into a quiet hallway. I barely had time to breathe before a strong hand caught my wrist.

I gasped

His touch still sent shiver down my spine. I hate how familiar it felt.

I turned slowly. Damian towered over me, breathing hard. His eyes were wild as he stared at my face like he had seen a ghost.

“You’re alive.” he said, for the first time ever, his voice sounded broken. I saw tears shining in his eyes.

I gave him a beautiful, cold smile. “Do I know you?”

The color drained from his face, Shock turned to pain, then what follows was rage. “Arianna…’

“You got the wrong person,” I said, pulling my wrist free. “I’m Aria Laurent…”

He grabbed my hand again cutting me off, I tried to pull free, but his grip tightened. “Don’t lie to me.” his eyes darkened.

My heart skipped. Before I could respond, a small body slammed into my leg.

“Mommy!”

I looked down in shock. It was Leo.

He grinned up at me. “I found you!”

My blood froze. Damian went completely still. His eyes dropped to Leo and Leo blinked up at Damian curiously.

His tiny face mirrors Damian’s dark hair, dark eyes and Damian’s jaw.

Damian’s breathing turned ragged and his lips parted. He looked like he had been shot.

Leo tugged my hand and pointed at Damian “Mommy, who is this man?”

I couldn’t breathe, before I could answer, I saw Lorna behind us, holding her stuffed bunny. Her huge dark eyes moved between Damian and me.

She tilted her head and asked innocently. “Is he our daddy?”