CHAPTER FIVE

After four long years of endurance, endless nights of tears, and the quiet, gnawing ache of one-sided love, here I was—divorced, broken, but not defeated. Eight months ago, I had thought my marriage to Lance left me with nothing but scars and regrets. Yet, as I cradled my daughter Bella, watching her tiny face as she slept, I realized she was my unexpected miracle, my blessing born from pain.

Bella yawned softly, her pink, toothless mouth stretching as her tiny hand instinctively reached up, gripping my finger. My heart swelled at the sight of it, remembering the intensity of her birth. The labor pain was like fire coursing through my veins, far more excruciating than anything my mother had described when I wasn still pregnant. But holding Bella now, I felt every ounce of that pain was worth it.

I'm now back to my parents house, it was a difficult journey but I'm still trying to reclaim my life back, especially when my parents had lied to everyone that their daughter was studying in Italy. They considered my marriage to Lance as an embarrassment and a disgrace to them.

My father, Marcus Roderigo, is the CEO of A&R Empire—the world’s largest and wealthiest conglomerate, consisting of different companies across the globe. There is A&R Holdings, A&R Fashion Group, A&R Airways, and so many more are woven into the fabric of our legacy.

My father didn’t build the empire from scratch, nor did he toil his way up the ladder but he inherited it from his father as the firstborn, a birthright passed down from generations of our family. His siblings and their children were granted the roles of managing some parts of the empire, scattered in countries all over the world. Yet, despite their positions, no decision could be made without his approval him.

And I…his only daughter, his sole heir—was meant to follow in his footsteps as well. I was groomed for this life, and even engaged to Kingsley Bane, my childhood best friend, at the age of seven years old. But I left it all behind. Jilted Kingsley without contacting him all these years, left my parents, the influence and their legacy. All for a man I once thought I couldn’t live without. A man who, in the end, abandoned me for beauty.

The soft creak of the door broke my reverie. Mom entered, her expression distant as she carried a tray of food. The aroma was comforting, but her face was anything but….

"How are you?" she asked, her voice cool but her gaze was purposefully avoiding Bella.

I tried to keep my voice steady, pretending I didn't noticed her expression. "She's doing well, Mom," I said, proudly showing Bella to her. Yet Mom's eyes shifted immediately, looking anywhere but at my daughter, her face hardening.

"I asked about you, not her," she replied coldly, setting the tray down on the small table by the bed..

Hearing that from her stung, piercing through me and it hurts a lot that after all this while, she's still the same. Not able to hold it in any longer, I took a shaky breath and voice out. "Mom, how long will you keep this up? She’s your granddaughter for Christ sake!. She shares your blood just as much as I do," I pleaded, my voice soft but edged with desperation. "It hurts so much to see you and Dad treating her this way. Bella deserves your love too and I'm begging you to please….” Tear laced my eyes “ please do not let my own sin against you cloud your judgement."

Mom’s jaw tightened, her gaze distant as if the walls of the room held more interest than her own flesh and blood. All what I had said fall on her deaf ear.

Throughout my pregnancy, I had been like a prisoner in my own home, hidden away from the world as though I were some shameful secret. When I got home eight months ago and told them about my pregnancy, the first thing my father would say was for me to get an abortion. I had begged, pleaded, even threatened harm upon myself to keep her.

Eventually, my parents allowed it, taking great care of me during the pregnancy. But the moment. Bella was born, they had changed….. completely turned into a different person that had known. Their warmth, their support—it was all meant for me, not her. They just don't want any harm to come to me during my term.

She opened her mouth to say something, then the door opened again, and I turned, seeing Dad stepping in, his face bright with a rare smile. I quick used my my hand to wipes off my tears that had slipped off, trying not to show him that I was discontent with their attitude. I know my father more than anyone and for him not to say anything for the last eight months that I had been back, makes him more scary.

My eyes landed on the two women that followed behind him, one older and, the other younger, perhaps around my age. Dad’s eyes lit up as he approached me, and for a fleeting moment, I felt a spark of hope. I had never seen this side of him since Bella was born.

He never even stepped into my room.

"Is she awake?" he asked, looking down at Bella. His voice was uncharacteristically warm, and my heart leaped. Could this mean he was finally accepting her?

I smiled, my heart soaring as I gently handed Bella to him. Dad cradled her with a tender touch I hadn’t seen in years, his face softening as Bella gurgled and cooed, reaching her tiny hands up to him. In that moment, it felt like a dream, the kind I dared not wish for, as if Bella was finally, truly being welcomed into the family.

This is a dream come true and I wish for nothing more.

But then, something shifted.

Without a word, Dad turned, slowly walking toward the two women as my heart dropped. My eyes tracked his every step, confusion and dread gnawing at me. I watched as he approached two unfamiliar women standing quietly by the door, then, without a word, handed Bella…I mean my own Bella, over to the older woman. I blinked my eyes continuously, trying to process what exactly was happening right now.

My breath caught, unease prickling along my skin.

“Dad...?” I called, my voice was barely a whisper, a mix of confusion and dawning dread.

I pushed myself up from the bed and sit up, eyes fixed on the woman who now held my daughter. “Is something wrong? Why did you give her to that woman?" I asked, trying to get down from the bed.

But before I could swing my legs over the side, Mom was beside me, placing a firm hand on my shoulder. Her grip was gentle but unyielding as she climbed onto the bed to keep me down.

“Maya, rest. You’ve been through so much,” she murmured, her voice soft, almost soothing. But there was something about it…something rehearsed.

“Mom?” I whispered, looking into her eyes for answers, but her gaze avoided mine, staring at a distant point over my shoulder and I knew that they had made a decision behind me… a very bad decision about my own daughter.

Then, the older woman holding my daughter abruptly left the room, and fear gripped me instantly. I struggled against Mom's grip, but she held me down firmly.

" Mom, Dad, can't you see she's leaving with my child? You need to do something!"

But i got no reaction from them. They both kept a straight face as if nothing was happening.

My pulse thundered, my breath quickening as I realized what they are trying to do. “Where… where is that woman taking Bella?” I demanded, louder this time.

Dad’s chuckle cut through the room, low and almost mocking. He turned slowly, his face devoid of any trace of the father I’d known. “Bella? What are you talking about, Maya?” he asked, cocking his head as if he hadn’t heard me right. “You didn’t have a child, honey. You never have any.”