CHAPTER 2: THE WOMAN HE NEVER STOPPED LOVING
The private jet cut through the night sky.
Edward sat across from the little girl—her name was Lily—and he couldn’t stop staring at her face. The resemblance… it was undeniable.
Anna’s eyes. Anna’s smile.
Anna’s pain.
“Why didn’t she ever come back?” he asked gently.
Lily shook her head. “She said she wasn’t allowed. That powerful people didn’t want you to find her.”
Edward’s jaw tightened.
There was only one man capable of that.
Victor Hale.
His former business partner.
The man who betrayed him decades ago.
By the time they reached the small, worn-down apartment on the outskirts of the city, Edward’s heart was pounding like a war drum.
“Mom!” Lily ran inside.
Edward followed slowly.
And then he saw her.
Lying weakly on a narrow bed, pale but still beautiful… was Anna.
Time stopped.
Her eyes fluttered open.
And when she saw him—
She froze.
“Dad…?”
That single word shattered everything.
Edward rushed to her side, tears streaming down his face.
“I’m here,” he said. “I’m so sorry. I should’ve found you sooner.”
Anna’s lips trembled. “They told me you didn’t want me… that you chose your empire over me.”
“I would burn my empire to the ground for you,” he said without hesitation.
May you like
For the first time in years—
Anna smiled.
