Daniel slowly turned around.
Standing near the elevator was an older woman trembling uncontrollably.
It was his mother.
Tears streamed down her face as she stared at the little girl.
“That watch…” she whispered.
“I gave it to Sofia before she disappeared.”
Daniel’s heart nearly stopped.
Sofia.
The woman he had loved ten years ago.
The woman who vanished the same night she told him she was pregnant.
He looked back at the little girl.
His voice shook.
“What’s your name?”
The child hesitated.
“Emma.”
Daniel felt weak instantly.
That had been the name Sofia always wanted for their daughter.
The little girl slowly reached into her hoodie pocket and pulled out a folded photograph.
“She told me to give you this if I ever found you.”
Daniel unfolded the picture with trembling hands.
It showed him and Sofia together on a beach years earlier.
On the back, written in Sofia’s handwriting:
“If you’re reading this… I couldn’t protect her anymore.”
Daniel’s eyes filled with tears.
“Where is your mother?” he asked desperately.
Emma lowered her head.
“She’s very sick.”
The billionaire immediately stood up.
“Prepare the car. NOW.”
Minutes later, Daniel sat beside Emma in the back of a black luxury SUV speeding through the city.
Rain poured against the windows.
“Why didn’t she come to me?” he whispered.
Emma looked down quietly.
“She said powerful people wanted you apart.”
Daniel suddenly froze.
Because he knew exactly who she meant.
His own father.
The man who destroyed Sofia’s life to protect the family empire.
Daniel’s hands curled into fists.
For ten years, he had searched for Sofia.
And his own family had hidden the truth.
The SUV finally stopped outside a tiny abandoned apartment building.
Emma grabbed his hand tightly.
“You have to hurry…”
Daniel ran upstairs.
The apartment door slowly opened.
And there—
lying weakly on an old couch—
was Sofia.
The woman he never stopped loving.
Her eyes widened the moment she saw him.
“Daniel…?”
Tears rolled down his face as he dropped to his knees beside her.
But before he could speak—
someone behind him pulled out a gun.
CLICK.
“You should’ve left the past buried.”
