The Innkeeper's Secret: His Daughter

stared back from the glossy page. The headline screamed: "Tech Mogul Dax Roth Weds Longtime Assistant Charley Hood in Secret Ceremony." Secret? My

he phone. The sheer audacity of their deception punched the air from my lungs. I ripped the paper, th

, the city streets a maze of flashing lights and angry horns

t recognize, gleaming against the New York skyline. The front do

is arm around Charley. Her head rested on his shoulder, her hand resting over a sl

pped through the a

color. Charley shrieked, pulling back

g in front of Charley, shieldin

her?" My gaze dropped to Charley's hand. On her finger, a sapphire ring. The very ring I had shown Da

anded, his voice suddenly cold, pr

y eyes focused on the faint love bite on Charley's neck, barely hidden by her collar. A fresh w

ds flying, fueled by a rage so potent it consu

mbling back. "She's crazy,

shoved me away. I fell, hitting the edge of a coffee table

ntorted with fury. He knelt beside Charley, cradlin

ugh the haze of my anger. The kick. My first baby kick. Just th

d, clutching my stomach.

rror. But it was fleeting. He quickly turned back to C

I looked down. Blood. My blood. Dark a

l sound of pure agony and d

rroring the emptiness inside me. The doctor's words wer

uquet of white lilies, a gesture of hollow remorse. He s

urmured, his voice gentle.

"You and your whore! You killed our baby!" I thrashed, hitting him, scra

itting by my bedside, a smug smile playing on her lips. S

d, her voice sweet as poison. "He's so wor

whispered, the realization dawnin

g with you and not me? I heard you talking to your doctor. Such a shame, isn't

ou placebos for months. He didn't want a child with you. He wanted my child. He ju

y, every morning. It was all a lie. He had controlled my body, my future, for mont

hrieked, tears stre

needed to get rid of you, but he wanted to do it cleanly. He was trying to protect you from yourself." She paused, her voice drippin

sband, a monster. My best friend, his accomplice. My hea

tacking his "innocent" assistant, trying to ruin his life. My father's company, already struggling, was ruthlessly taken over by Dax, his name stripped fr

ce cameras he had installed. He would visit, playing the concerned husband, pretending to care, while Char

, Alysa?" she cooed. "This is what a real woman's body does. You'

ere always stronger. Dax would just watch, detached, a cruel smile playing on his l

reaming, crying, trashing the house. He had edited it, twisted it, made me look like a madwoman. It went v

ed away. The world believed Dax's narrati

ad taken to wandering the grounds, a ghost in my own home. I stumbled upon an old, forgotten shed. Inside, dust

gan to form. I would burn it all down. Like the first

his was different. A tiny, insistent tremor. A whisper of life. My hand fl

n bathroom drawer. My hands trembled as I took

r. I wasn't barren. I wasn't alone. I had a second chance.

e my death. Dax would think I was gone, another tragic victim of my own

ntly within me, a silent promise of a future he would never touch. I watched the inferno in

oom, pulled me sharply back to the present. Brenda was s

e past. "I'm fine, Brenda. Just... a lot on my mind." I got up, my body a

y was eating. He stood there, statue-still, his gaze glued to Emma, who was now chattering happily with Cristopher. A