All Chapters of One Night, One Baby, One Billionaire Mess: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Damian's Point of View It started with flames. Not flames in the literal sense, though my blood was hot enough for that, but the fire of determination. About justice. Of knowing that someone had attempted to destroy everything I had ever loved and believed they would get away with it. Not this time. Ava sat with me at the kitchen island, going through legal contacts. Her hair was pushed back, her face naked, and she appeared like a warrior queen planning a siege. And I? I was her blade. "We can't go public yet," Ava explained, tapping the screen. "Rachel's lies have already gone viral. If we rush this, it will appear that we are scurrying. "We need to strike hard, smart, and once."I nodded, setting my coffee aside untouched. “We’ll leak it anonymously. Let the world do what it does best, let them eat her alive.” She glanced up, a flicker of amusement breaking through the fog in her eyes. “You’ve changed.” I held her gaze. “You changed me.” Her lips part

Damian's Point of View Throughout the night, I kept hearing the same message: "I haven't even opened the vault yet." Rachel didn't lie. Not like this. If she had a vault, it was not a metaphor. She meant something real. Something buried literally, digitally, or legally was designed to withstand even her own demise. And knowing her, it wasn't merely a threat. It was a well-timed landmine. I stood in the war room, a glass-walled corner office that we had transformed into a strategy hub, peering at the security feeds and evidence boards adorned with red threads, photographs, and timestamps.Ava joined me moments later, her face pallid but composed. She wore a navy dress and braided her hair, yet her eyes burned like steel. "She's forcing us into the final move," she told us. I nodded. "We need to find that vault before she uses it." She met my eyes. "And we need to be ready for what's inside." Because we both understood that if Rachel was saving it for last

Ava's POV Grief without confirmation is a form of madness. I wasn't sure if I was mourning a lost child or preparing to meet one I have never known existed. Both alternatives nagged at me. Both were terrifying. I sat in my office, the shades shut and the sunshine streamed through like anguish through lace. Sophia paced in front of my desk, phone in her ear. "He's six," she replied, nodding slowly. "Dark hair and green eyes." "Slight dimple on the left cheek." My breath caught. Liam had the same dimple. She hung up and turned to me. "I spoke with the private investigator. Two days earlier, Rachel checked Levi into a luxury mansion in Connecticut. High security. "No access.""Is he safe?" Sophia paused. "Physically? Yes. But emotionally? She shakes her head. "Rachel is coaching him. Feeding him stories." My heart broke. "Does he know about me?" I whispered. "Yes." "What did she tell him?" "That you left him." I grabbed the edge of the d

Damian tightened his grip on the laptop's edges as he peered at the flickering screen. The blurry picture was unmistakable: Rachel and Dr. Langdon seated in a slick, dimly lit restaurant, too personal and conspiratorial. Rachel's voice was muffled, but the captions provided by the anonymous sender were chillingly clear: "Memory suppression is delicate. Ava must forget the night or everything will fall apart." Damian's world tilted. He had trusted the woman in charge of Ava's care and recovery, and she had known. She had participated. And, Ava... He slammed the laptop shut, his heart racing. He felt the walls closing in. He wanted answers, and the only place to start was with Rachel.Rachel was cooking tea in her Manhattan home when Damian walked in unexpectedly. "Damian?" she exclaimed, nearly dropping her teacup. He didn't bother with greetings. "What did you do to her?" Her confusion appeared genuine, but he had seen how deceiving that expression could be.

The following morning, the city hummed as usual, unknowing that a silent predator had circled its victim the night prior. But Ava didn't feel the coolness in the air because something colder had wrapped around her spine, a keen, agonizing intuition.She stood in the crib, arms wrapped around herself, watching her kid sleep. He remained calm, unconscious of the shadow that had almost touched him. "Damian," she muttered. He emerged in the doorway a moment later, still wearing black pants and a sleeveless undershirt, his eyes alert. "What's wrong?""I saw something… outside his window," she told me. "I'm not sure how I missed it last night.""But something does not feel right." Damian's expression changed instantaneously. He strolled up to the window and examined the nearby roofs. "Stay with him," he stated. He summoned James, his head of security, and within minutes, specialists had thoroughly cleaned their penthouse.It wasn't until they reviewed the external film that t