All Chapters of What Daddy Left Behind: Chapter 111 - Chapter 120

135 Chapters

You have to see this!

~ Thea's POVFuck, I feel like I have been slammed backwards.Before I even opened my eyes, the desperation in Stellan’s eyes as he tore my clothes away. The way he had driven himself into me with such brutality that my mind had literally blanked out, my body betraying my every instinct to run by completely surrendering to his claim.Stupid, fucking body.I groaned, shifting my weight against the sheets. My inner thighs throbbed with a heavy, sensitive soreness, and my muscles felt like lead. I reached across the mattress, but the space beside me was empty. The sheets were cool to the touch.Stellan was gone.I forced myself out of bed, my legs trembling slightly as my bare feet hit the floor. I ignored the sprawling en-suite bathroom and the luxurious shower that beckoned. I didn't have time to wash away the lingering scent of his cologne. I pulled on a simple pair of dark jeans and a thick, oversized grey knit sweater, desperate for armor.I walked over to the floor-to-ceiling wind

Brace Yourself

~ Thea’s POV"See what?" I whispered, my throat entirely dry. "Maya, what is it?""Check your messages," she choked out. "I just sent you a link. It’s... it’s everywhere, Thea. It’s on every major news outlet. It’s trending number one."I pulled the phone away from my ear, switching the call to speakerphone with a trembling thumb. I opened my messages. Maya had sent a link to one of the most vicious, high-traffic celebrity gossip and financial news syndicates in the country.I tapped the link. The webpage loaded instantly.The bold, black, massive block letters of the headline struck me with the force of a physical blow.BILLIONAIRE EXECUTOR GROOMS DEAD FRIEND’S DAUGHTER.The air completely vanished from my lungs. My vision blurred, the edges of the screen darkening as I stared at the horrifying combination of words. Grooms. The word was filthy, predatory, and designed to completely incinerate Stellan’s reputation while simultaneously reducing me to a naive, victimized child.I was no

Everything is Out

~ Stellan’s POVThe atmosphere in the primary boardroom was toxic, suffocating beneath the sheer, crushing weight of my authority.After Thea had stormed out, leaving the untraceable military-grade tracker on the mahogany table, I had forced the Kinsley board of directors back into the room. I was no longer negotiating. I was executing a slaughter. I systematically stripped away their leverage, dismantling their valuation with a cold, homicidal precision that had their lead legal counsel physically sweating through his bespoke suit.I was functioning on pure, unfiltered adrenaline and rage.My mind was entirely split. Half of it was calculating the exact percentage required to absorb Kinsley Tech by the end of the fiscal hour, and the other half was entirely consumed by the ghost hunting my little bird. Someone had touched her. Someone had violated the perimeter of my protection. Every second I spent in this glass tower was another second the phantom tightened the noose around us."Mr

Face Stellan Vaughn

~ Thea’s POVAs Graham steered the heavy vehicle toward the main iron gates of the university, the suffocating reality of my exposed life pressed in from all sides. The sidewalks were completely overrun. A thrashing sea of reporters, paparazzi, and aggressive onlookers crushed against the police barricades, their camera lenses pressed greedily toward the glass. The muffled cacophony of their shouted questions and the blinding, strobe-light assault of camera flashes turned the morning into a waking nightmare.“Thea! Is it true? How long has he been touching you?!”“Did Stellan Vaughn force you into his bed?!”“Are you pregnant with his baby?!”I stared straight ahead, my hands folded tightly in my lap to hide their trembling. I was wearing my dark jeans and the heavy grey sweater. I knew this was coming.They were calling me a victim. They were painting me as a fragile, manipulated child who had been lured into a billionaire's trap.They had no idea that I had screamed for him to ru

Stellan Pleads

~ Thea's POVThe heavy mahogany doors of the Dean’s suite clicked shut behind me, sealing the suffocating, judgmental silence inside.I stood in the empty hallway for a fraction of a second, my hands trembling violently as the adrenaline that had fueled my terrifying display of Vaughn-level arrogance began to rapidly evaporate. I was tired."Thea!"I jerked my head up. Maya was sprinting down the hallway, her curly hair flying wildly around her face. Liam was right behind her, his expression grim. My tactical security detail instantly shifted, their hands hovering near their holstered weapons, forming a wall between us."Stand down," I commanded the lead guard, my voice cracking slightly. "Let her through."The guards parted just enough for Maya to slip past. She practically threw herself at me, grabbing my shoulders with a frantic, desperate grip. Her brown eyes were wide, bloodshot, and brimming with terrified tears."What happened?" Maya demanded, her chest heaving. "What did they

You can go

~ Stellan's POVThe interior of the SUV was suffocatingly quiet, the only sound the low, powerful hum of the engine as Graham navigated us away from the media circus and back toward the estate.Thea was asleep.The sheer, catastrophic emotional toll of the morning had completely short-circuited her nervous system. The moment the doors of the vehicle had locked, sealing the flashing cameras and the screaming reporters outside, she had collapsed against my side. Her head rested heavily on my chest, her dark hair spilling over my unbuttoned collar. Her breathing was shallow and uneven.I sat perfectly still, my arm wrapped tightly around her shoulders, staring down at her pale, tear-stained face.My heart, an organ I had spent thirty-five years encasing in impenetrable ice, was tearing itself to shreds in my chest.I was a man who solved problems by dismantling them. I bought companies to gut them. I destroyed my rivals with calculated, ruinous precision. But looking at the dark circles b

Instant Chaos

~ Thea’s POVI woke up to a house that was completely, terrifyingly quiet.I pushed myself up against the headboard, the charcoal sheets pooling around my waist. The morning light filtered through the heavy velvet curtains, casting long, pale shadows across the hardwood floor. I looked toward the window.I slipped out of bed, my bare feet padding softly against the cold floor, and pulled the curtain back.The sprawling grounds of the limestone estate were empty. The imposing wall of black-clad tactical mercenaries was gone. The armored SUVs that had blockaded the circular driveway had vanished. The main iron gates, which had been sealed shut like a vault just yesterday, were standing wide open.Stellan had kept his word. He had dismissed the army. He had removed the titanium locks.I turned around, leaning my back against the cold glass of the window, and looked at the heavy duffel bag sitting by the velvet armchair exactly where I had dropped it.Yesterday, that bag had represented m

What is your choice now?

~ Stellan’s POVThe amber liquid in the tumbler caught the glaring, artificial light of the executive war room before I hurled it with a blind fury.The glass shattered against the far mahogany wall, sending a violent spray of three-thousand-dollar scotch raining down onto the plush carpet.My chest heaved, my breath tearing through my teeth in ragged, uneven pulls as I stared at the massive hundred-inch monitor dominating the room. The broadcast was muted, but the closed captions scrolling across the bottom of the screen were a digital execution....emergency petition with the state of New York. Immediate legal conservatorship... full, unconditional custody of the Mercer estate.Caroline Mercer’s weeping, perfectly powdered face was frozen on the screen. The sheer, unadulterated audacity of her lies was a toxic poison flooding my veins. She had stood on the steps of the Surrogate's Court and weaponized my protection, twisting it into a narrative so vile it made my blood run entirely

Stellan could work it out!

~ Thea’s POVThe massive hundred-inch television screen was entirely black, but the image of Aunt Caroline’s weeping, perfectly powdered face was permanently burned into the back of my eyelids.I sat perfectly still in the center of Stellan’s massive bed, my knees pulled tightly to my chest. The thick, charcoal duvet was wrapped securely around my shoulders, but I couldn't stop shivering. It wasn't the room's temperature. It was a deep, violently cold tremor vibrating through my bones, born of absolute, paralyzing terror.They wanted to declare me incompetent. They wanted to strip away my fundamental human rights and lock me in a pristine, polite prison where I would never be allowed to make a single choice for myself again.And they were using my love for Stellan as the lock on the cage.On the mahogany nightstand, my cell phone vibrated with the energy of a dying insect. It had been ringing continuously for hours. Maya. Unknown reporters. Legal correspondents. Distant family memb

Just Leave Thea!

"What are you saying, Stellan?"The words scraped against my dry throat, falling into the heavy, suffocating silence of the master suite like shattered glass. I stared at him, my heart hammering a frantic, agonizing rhythm against my ribs.He didn't move from the doorway. He stood there in his immaculate three-piece suit. The feral, possessive beast was entirely gone, replaced by a ruthless CEO evaluating a catastrophic loss on a spreadsheet."It was a simple logistical question," Stellan replied, his voice a flat, glacial monotone. He stepped fully into the room, but he kept a vast, deliberate physical distance between us. "The legal department has reviewed your aunt's petition. The media circus surrounding this estate is entirely unsustainable. The situation has become untenable.""Untenable?" I repeated, a cold, violent tremor racking my body. I took a hesitant step toward him, my bare feet silent against the hardwood floor. "Stellan, she stood on the steps of the courthouse and li

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