All Chapters of Craving My Forbidden Daddy: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Lila’s POVThe next few days blurred together in a mix of hard work and tension. Bianca’s arrival changed the whole mood at the vineyard. She moved around like she owned everything, throwing little comments everywhere she went. I tried to stay out of her way, but she made that difficult.One morning while I was helping sort grapes, Bianca walked by with Theo. She looked me up and down slowly. “So you’re the new girl everyone’s talking about,” she said sweetly, but her eyes were sharp. “Writing an article? How cute. Just make sure you don’t get too comfortable here.”I wiped my hands on my jeans and tried to smile. “I’m just doing my job. The vineyard has a lot of history.”Theo stood beside her, smirking quietly. Bianca laughed lightly. “History. Right. Be careful, honey. Some histories bite back.” She linked her arm with Theo’s and pulled him away, but not before shooting me another look full of warning.Her drama spread fast. At lunch she would make small jokes about “city girls who

Lila’s POVThe anonymous note from last night still sat hidden under my pillow. “Your grandmother knew too much.” Those words would not leave my head. I needed to dig deeper into the clues around me. Every free moment I had, I spent searching for answers. The vineyard felt full of secrets, and I was determined to uncover at least a few of them.I started the day by helping in the fields again, but my mind was elsewhere. During a short break, I found Elena working alone near the kitchen garden. She always seemed to know more than she let on. I decided to take a chance.“Elena, can I ask you something?” I said, keeping my voice low. “About the past here. About my grandmother.”Elena wiped her hands on her apron and looked around to make sure we were alone. “What do you want to know, dear?”I showed her the edge of one of the old letters I had copied. “She worked here a long time ago. Did people talk about her? Was she close with the family?”Elena sighed and sat down on a wooden bench.

Lila’s POVSophia stood right outside my door at dawn, holding that old letter like a weapon. Her eyes were sharp and full of suspicion. I froze in the doorway, my heart hammering so loudly I worried she could hear it. The incriminating paper in her hand looked exactly like one of the documents I had found about my grandmother.“What is this, Lila?” she asked in a low, dangerous voice. “I found it near your things. Are you digging into family secrets that do not belong to you?”I swallowed hard and tried to keep my face calm. My mind raced for the right words. “Sophia, that is just research for my article. I found some old papers while helping organize the study. I thought they might give good background on the vineyard history.”She stepped closer, waving the letter. “Research? This looks like private family business. You are a guest here, not part of this family. Stay in your place or I will make sure you leave with nothing.”Her threat hung heavy in the air. I could feel the danger

Lila’s POVJulian in the cellar left me feeling exposed for the rest of the day. I moved through my chores with extra care, keeping my head down and trying not to draw any more attention. My hands still shook a little when I remembered how close he had come to discovering everything. The secrets were becoming too heavy to carry alone, but I did not know who I could truly trust yet.Later that afternoon, Julian found me near the tool shed. He had a serious but gentle look on his face as he approached. “Lila, can we talk for a minute? Please?”I wiped my dirty hands on my jeans and nodded slowly. “Sure, Julian. What is on your mind?”He glanced around to make sure we were alone before speaking. “I saw you coming out of the cellar earlier. You looked really upset and out of breath. And those bruises I noticed on your arms before… they are not from simple accidents, are they? Someone is hurting you. I can see it.”His words hit me hard. I looked down at the ground, my fingers twisting tog

Lila’s POVTheo’s phone call about working with Blackthorn kept repeating in my head like a bad dream I could not wake up from. I barely slept that night. The betrayal felt personal and huge. How could he help the people trying to destroy his own family’s vineyard? I lay in bed for hours, staring at the ceiling and turning the words over and over in my mind. “Keep the sabotage quiet. We need to weaken the old man faster.” Those words made my stomach twist with anger and fear. I had to be smarter now. No more just surviving day to day. I needed a real plan.The next morning, I threw myself into the work to keep my thoughts from overwhelming me completely. The vines needed careful pruning, so I headed out to the fields early with my tools. The sun was just coming up, painting the rows in soft golden light. Sebastian found me there a short while later. He carried his own pruning shears and smiled when he saw me working.“Lila, perfect timing,” he said warmly. “Let me join you on this row