All Chapters of I HEARD HIM SAY " DADDY": Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

AIDEN The air in the presentation room was thick with the scent of coffee, expensive perfume, and a sharp, hopeful energy. I stood at the back, leaning against the cool glass wall, watching Tala command the screen. Her pointer tapped against the final render—a sleek, structural evening gown in a color she called “midnight moss.” “And this,” she said, her voice clear and cutting through the quiet focus, “will be the flagship piece for our autumn collection. Market-ready. Launching in Milan in eight weeks.” A beat of silence held. Then the room erupted. The sound was physical—a wave of clapping, of chairs shifting, of low, enthusiastic murmurs. Twenty faces, the core of our design and strategy teams, were lit with a collective pride. Smiles, genuine and relieved, spread like cracks in ice. Tala caught my eye, a question in her raised brow. I pushed off the wall and nodded, once. It was good. It was better than good. For a moment, the tight band of pressure that seemed to permane

AIDEN The air in the Blackwood Holdings boardroom, usually crisp with the scent of lemon polish and old money, hung thick with unspoken verdicts. I stood at the end of the table, silently pleading for my mother—Evelyn Blackwood, the CEO—to say something. Anything that would stop this madness, that would erase this insane timeline before it became real. But no one spoke. She didn’t even react. She simply stared at everyone around the table, calm and composed, as if there wasn’t a quiet coup unfolding right in front of her—one designed to strip me of my inheritance. All eyes were on the lacquered tabletop, the family crest gleaming under the chandelier light like a dead eye. My voice, when it finally came, sounded foreign to my own ears—thin, stripped bare, cracking under the weight of a betrayal I still couldn’t fully comprehend. “Mum…” I began, the word catching in my throat. I swallowed, forcing steel into my tone. “Aren’t you going to say anything?” She didn’t look at me

AIDEN “ Sir Aiden…” Vera’s voice wavered at the doorway, tentative, almost like a small animal daring to enter the lion’s den. Her hands fidgeted, wringing each other as if the motion could squeeze out an apology. “I—I thought she was still inside.” “I expected you, Vera, to put an eye on my visitor,” I snapped, the words like jagged shards slicing the air. “She was sick, even. And you just let her leave. Tell me one reason why I shouldn’t fire you right now.” Vera’s face went pale, her lips trembling as if she were trying to form words that would somehow protect her from my fury. “I… I’m sorry, sir. I really thought she was inside. I—” “Well, you thought wrong,” I cut her off sharply. My voice had the weight of finality. “And you are about to mess up a whole lot for me right now. Do you understand me?” “Y-yes, sir…” she whispered, barely audible. Her fear radiated through the room, a palpable pulse of tension that should have calmed me—but instead, it fueled the storm tha

ANNALISEI left Aiden without saying a word.I couldn’t. My voice would have cracked. My chest felt like it was being squeezed by a vise, tight and unrelenting. My ribs ached with each shallow breath. My face—God, my face—would have betrayed everything. Every thought, every fear, every heartbeat, every shred of exhaustion. I just needed air. Space. Anything that didn’t make me feel trapped under his suffocating expectations.I rushed down the hallway, my steps sharp, almost frantic. The floor echoed beneath me, each sound punctuating my panic. My shoulders were tight, coiled like springs ready to snap. My fingers curled into fists, knuckles white, nails pressing painfully into my palms. My spine stiffened, rigid as steel. I couldn’t relax. I didn’t care if he noticed. I couldn’t care less.My mind spun faster than my feet could carry me. Thoughts collided, chaotic, relentless, like waves smashing against a jagged cliff. The idea barreled into the next, heavier and sharper than th

ANNALISE As I heard Aiden and his mother’s voices at the door, a strange, unwanted thought lodged itself in my chest. What if I was passing up a good opportunity for my child? What if this was a way to get back my life and pay Sam back in his own coin? What if this was the chance for Annalise Carter to return from the dead? The thought made me nauseous. I hated it. Hated that it had power over me at all. I had spent the last couple of hours telling myself I didn’t need him, didn’t need any of this. That I could walk away with my dignity intact and my child protected by nothing but my own strength. But strength didn’t pay hospital bills. Strength didn’t buy time. Strength didn’t silence society’s questions or soften the judgment that came with being pregnant and alone without any money. I pressed my lips together, forcing myself to breathe evenly as their voices drifted closer. Evelyn sounded cheerful, unaware. Aiden sounded controlled, as always—too controlled, like someone