My Pregnant Ex-Wife Was Rushed Into the Hospital—Then I Learned the Baby Was Mine and Her Secret Could Destroy My Entire Empire / Chapter 22 / 25

Chapter 22 - The Perfect IllusionThe background check on Eli arrived at 7:00 AM on Saturday.

I sat alone in my home office, the morning sun casting long shadows across my mahogany desk. David, who was now the head of our global security and legal apparatus, had personally delivered the file.

"Elias Thorne," David said, standing by the window. "Born in Seattle. Raised by a single mother who passed away when he was twelve. Bounced around the foster system before securing a full academic scholarship to Northwestern. He majors in supply chain management. No criminal record. Not even a parking ticket."

I stared at the flawless dossier. "It’s too clean."

David frowned. "Lucian, you asked for a background check on a college sophomore. Most kids with his profile don't have international criminal records."

"A boy who grew up in the foster system doesn't look a billionaire in the eye from across a ballroom without flinching," I said, tossing the file onto the desk. "He is hiding something. Put a shadow detail on him. I want to know everywhere he goes and everyone he speaks to."

"Lucian," David hesitated. "If Elena finds out you are putting a surveillance detail on a boy Sofia likes, she will have both our heads."

"Then make sure she doesn't find out," I ordered.

Later that afternoon, the house was quiet. Elena was at a board meeting downtown, and I was reading in the living room. Sofia came bounding down the stairs, wearing distressed jeans, a vintage band t-shirt, and a leather jacket. She looked so much like her mother it made my chest ache.

"Where are you going?" I asked casually, setting my book down.

"Out," Sofia replied, grabbing her keys from the console table.

"Out where?"

Sofia sighed, the classic, exasperated teenage sigh that she had perfected over the last year. "Just to a coffee shop in Wicker Park, Dad. I’m meeting some friends to study."

"Does this study group include Eli?" I asked.

Sofia froze, her hand on the doorknob. She turned around, her dark eyes narrowing. "Are you having me followed?"

"I don't need to follow you to know when you're lying, Sofia," I said, standing up. "You are a terrible liar. You get it from me."

"I didn't lie!" Sofia fired back, her chin tilting up defensively. "He's just a guy, Dad. He’s nice, he’s smart, and he doesn't care that my parents are basically royalty in this city. He just treats me like a normal person."

"You are not a normal person, Sofia," I said, stepping closer. "You are the heir to a multi-billion-dollar foundation. People will lie to you. They will try to use you. It is my job to make sure you know the difference between a friend and a parasite."

"It's your job to trust me!" Sofia shouted, her temper flaring. "You and Mom talk all the time about how you built this safe world for me, but it doesn't feel safe! It feels like a cage! You interrogate everyone I talk to. You analyze everything I do. I can't even go to a coffee shop without being treated like a hostage!"

Her words hit me like a physical blow. The absolute last thing I ever wanted was for my daughter to fear my protection.

I softened my posture, holding my hands up in surrender. "Okay. Okay, Sofia. I’m sorry. Go to the coffee shop. Just... keep your location sharing on. Please."

Sofia glared at me for a second longer, her anger warring with her underlying love. "Fine. But I’m taking my own car."

She walked out, slamming the front door behind her.

I stood in the silent foyer, rubbing the bridge of my nose, feeling the agonizing, helpless frustration of fatherhood.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. It was Marcus, my head of physical security.

"Boss," Marcus said, his voice tense. "Sofia just left the property. But she isn't heading toward Wicker Park. Her GPS just diverted toward the South Side industrial district."

My blood turned to ice. "Who is she meeting?"