Chapter 1 - The Knock in the Rain
Rain hammered against the diner’s wide glass windows, turning the red neon lights outside into warped streaks across the wet tile floor.
Emma Carter had been working the night shift here for nearly seven months.
Seven months pregnant.
Seven months living under a false name.
And seven months since she had vanished from Chicago without leaving a trace.
That night, Emma stood behind the counter, one hand resting protectively over her swollen belly, the other holding a glass coffee pot filled with steaming coffee.
Then the bell above the front door rang.
Ding.
Emma looked up.
The coffee pot slipped from her hand.
CRASH!
Glass exploded across the floor.
The entire diner went silent.
The man who had just stepped inside froze less than ten feet away from her.
Alexander Moretti.
His long black coat was soaked from the rain.
Dark hair clung to his forehead.
Behind him stood two broad-shouldered men in dark suits, their expressions cold enough to make every customer in the diner suddenly look away.
But Alexander wasn’t looking at anyone else.
He was staring at Emma.
More precisely—
He was staring at her stomach.
The face of the most powerful man Emma had ever known suddenly went pale.
“Emma?”
His voice came out rough, almost broken.
She stepped backward.
“You have the wrong woman.”
Alexander moved one step closer.
Emma immediately wrapped both hands around her belly.
“Don’t come any closer.”
He stopped.
His eyes moved from her pale face back down to her pregnant stomach.
“How many months?”
Emma said nothing.
“Emma.”
“You don’t have the right to ask me that.”
Alexander clenched his jaw.
“How many months?”
She stared directly into his eyes.
“Seven.”
The room seemed to lose all its air.
One of the men behind Alexander slowly raised his head.
Alexander didn’t move at all.
Seven months.
Emma could see him doing the math.
And she knew the exact moment he understood.
“No…”
He lifted a hand to his mouth.
“The baby…”
“Don’t.”
Emma’s voice trembled.
“Don’t say it.”
Alexander stared at her.
“Is the baby mine?”
Emma gave a quiet laugh.
There was nothing warm about it.
Only bitterness.
“Do you remember the night I disappeared?”
“I looked for you.”
“No.”
Emma shook her head.
“You hunted me.”
Alexander’s expression hardened.
“Because you disappeared with a file that could have sent half my family to prison.”
“And you believed I stole it.”
“The security footage showed you leaving the house.”
“The footage was altered.”
Alexander went still.
Emma continued.
“You never once asked me what really happened.”
“I questioned everyone.”
“Everyone except me.”
Alexander stared at her for several seconds.
“Then tell me now.”
Emma looked down at the broken glass scattered around her shoes.
Then she spoke quietly.
“That night, I overheard a conversation in your father’s study.”
Alexander stiffened.
Emma lifted her eyes.
“They knew I was pregnant.”
The two men behind him exchanged a quick glance.
“And what did they say?”
Emma swallowed.
“They said the baby would make you weak.”
Alexander said nothing.
“They said a man like you couldn’t afford to have a family.”
Emma pressed a hand against her stomach.
“Then your father said…”
She stopped.
Alexander stepped forward half a pace.
“What did he say?”
Emma looked directly at him.
“Take care of both of them before Alexander finds out.”
Something in Alexander’s face changed completely.
The shock disappeared.
The confusion vanished.
All that remained was something cold.
One of the men behind him immediately reached for his phone.
Alexander raised one hand.
“Not yet.”
His eyes stayed on Emma.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Emma laughed again, but tears were already sliding down her cheeks.
“Because the man who drove me out of the city that night worked for you.”
Alexander frowned.
“That’s impossible.”
“He told me you gave the order.”
“I never—”
“He took me to a warehouse.”
Alexander fell silent.
Emma continued.
“I escaped through the back door when he stepped away to answer a phone call.”
Alexander’s fingers slowly curled into a fist.
“Do you remember his name?”
“Marcus.”
One of Alexander’s bodyguards immediately went pale.
Alexander turned his head.
Just one look.
“Where is Marcus?”
The man hesitated.
“Sir…”
“Where is he?”
“At your father’s house.”
Silence swallowed the diner.
Emma watched Alexander’s expression.
The truth was coming together.
Piece by piece.
Lie by lie.
Month by month.
Alexander turned back toward her.
For the first time, Emma didn’t see a powerful man.
She saw a man realizing that his own family may have tried to kill the woman he loved and his unborn child.
“You’re not staying here another night.”
Emma immediately shook her head.
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Emma—”
“I don’t trust you.”
Those words hit Alexander harder than any bullet ever could.
His gaze dropped to the broken glass between them.
Then, slowly, he removed the ring from his finger.
The Moretti family crest.
He placed it on the counter.
“I’m not asking you to trust me.”
Alexander looked into her eyes.
“But from this moment forward, nobody touches you.”
Emma opened her mouth to answer.
Then—
One of his bodyguards’ phones vibrated.
The man glanced at the screen.
His expression changed instantly.
“Mr. Moretti…”
Alexander turned.
“What?”
The bodyguard handed him the phone.
A live security feed from outside the diner filled the screen.
Three black SUVs had just pulled up in the rain.
The doors opened.
Six men stepped out.
And the last man to emerge was Alexander’s father.
Emma saw him through the rain-covered window.
Black umbrella.
Gray suit.
Calm smile.
Alexander slowly turned toward Emma.
“He knows you’re here.”
Emma wrapped both arms around her stomach.
“How?”
Alexander looked back at the phone.
A new message had appeared.
Only one sentence.
BRING ME THE WOMAN AND THE CHILD.
Alexander raised his head.
His expression turned frighteningly cold.
He stepped forward, placing himself completely between Emma and the diner entrance.
Then he spoke to the two men behind him.
“Lock the door.”
One man immediately pulled the blinds closed.
The other grabbed his phone.
Alexander stared at the silhouette of his father approaching through the rain-streaked glass.
“No one fires unless I give the order.”
Emma looked at him.
“Alexander…”
He didn’t turn around.
“Tonight, you’re going to find out who really wanted you to disappear.”
A knock echoed through the diner.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Alexander’s father stood outside.
Smiling.
Then he raised a white envelope.
Written across the front were only six words:
May you like
ALEXANDER — SHE LIED ABOUT THE BABY.
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