Now Elaine sat beside Athena's hospital bed, gently brushing her fingers through her daughter's hair as the steady beep of the monitor filled the room. Fear still clung to her chest, but something heavier pressed on her heart.
How could she ever tell Adrian the truth?
He was engaged. He was building a new life, one that didn't include her — or the secret she had carried alone for years. She had already caused enough damage in his life. The last thing she wanted was to destroy his happiness with a truth that might feel like a burden.
Elaine closed her eyes briefly, torn between guilt and longing, knowing that the past was no longer willing to stay buried.
_______________________
A week had passed since the party, and Athena was healthy again. Life slowly returned to normal — at least on the surface.
But inside, Elaine felt anything but normal.
Guilt followed her everywhere. She moved through her days distracted, her smiles forced, her eyes carrying a quiet sadness no one seemed to notice. It felt as though she were committing a silent crime by keeping the truth from him.
She couldn't forget the image of Adrian at the hospital — the way he had instinctively kissed Athena's forehead while holding her. He hadn't known she was his daughter, yet his touch had been protective, almost natural.
That moment haunted her.
Because for the first time, she had seen what could have been — and what she lost because of her denial .
Mary had been watching her for days. Finally, she couldn't hold back anymore.
"Elaine, what's going on with you?" she asked gently. "You've been distracted all week. Talk to me."
The concern in her best friend's voice broke the last of Elaine's restraint. She told her everything — the hospital, Adrian holding Athena's , the way a father holding his child. Guilty for hiding the secret.By the time she finished, her eyes were moist with emotion.
"I don't know if I'm doing the right thing," Elaine whispered.
Mary reached for her hand. "He has a right to know. That's his daughter. If he finds out from someone else, imagine how broken he'll feel. He was always a good friend to you… and he loved you. He'll understand."
But Elaine shook her head.
"No," she said softly. "He's moved on. He's building a new life. I won't destroy it with this burden. I have to protect him — even from the truth."
______________
While Elaine struggled with silence, Adrian wrestled with something he couldn't name.
His grandfather had called twice that week, his voice firm and impatient, reminding him it was time to return. The contract negotiations were finished. As CEO, Adrian had responsibilities waiting overseas. His fiancée had already flown back ahead of him.
There was no reason to stay.
Yet he couldn't bring himself to leave.
It wasn't logic holding him back — it was instinct. A quiet, persistent feeling in his chest, as though something unfinished lingered here. Something important.
Something missing.
He stood by the window of his hotel suite, the city lights flickering below, and tried to convince himself it was nothing. Just nostalgia. Just the past resurfacing after seeing old faces at the party.
But it wasn't just that.
It was Elaine.
He had asked his investigation team to discreetly look into her life over the past five years. The report had come back frustratingly thin. clear record of a marriage. A security company that she is running with her husband she had married. No proper explanation of where she had lived or what she had been doing in past five years.
It was as if part of her life had been erased.
Why had she disappeared so suddenly after graduation? Why had rumors spread that she had already been pregnant before marriage that one night stand had gone wrong? And what happened to the man she once loved — her stepsister's fiancé?
Nothing added up.
And then there was the child.
He shook the thought away, yet it returned again and again — the memory of holding Athena in the hospital. The way she felt like his. The strange pull he had felt.
It made no sense.
Still, his instincts had never failed him in business.
And they were not failing him now.
Something had been hidden from him.
And Adrian was not a man who walked away from unfinished truths.