A Single Dad Fell Asleep on His Boss’s Shoulder — What Happened Next Changed Everything
Chapter 4
Daniel couldn’t speak.
For several seconds, the café seemed to disappear around him.
People talked.
Coffee machines hissed.
Music played softly.
But all he could hear was Victoria’s voice.
Your son’s birth certificate.
“Why would anyone want that?”
“I don’t know.”
“Victoria, what aren’t you telling me?”
“I don’t know enough yet.”
“You know something.”
“I know someone has been investigating you.”
“Why?”
“That’s what I’m trying to find out.”
Daniel looked at Noah.
The boy was sitting beside him, eating a cookie and watching his father carefully.
Daniel lowered his voice.
“What do we do?”
“Come to my house.”
“Your house?”
“It’s secure.”
Daniel hesitated.
Then he agreed.
Victoria lived in a private building downtown.
She met them downstairs.
When she saw Noah, her expression softened.
“Hi.”
Noah looked at her.
“You’re Dad’s boss.”
Victoria smiled.
“I am.”
“You’re the one he talks about.”
Daniel nearly dropped his phone.
“Noah.”
“What?”
Victoria laughed.
“What does he say?”
“That you’re scary.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Thank you, son.”
Victoria smiled.
“I’ve been told that before.”
They went upstairs.
Victoria’s apartment was surprisingly warm.
Bookshelves covered one wall.
A piano stood near the window.
Noah immediately noticed it.
“You play?”
“A little.”
“Can you play?”
Victoria sat down.
She played a simple melody.
Noah listened.
Daniel watched them.
Something about the scene felt strangely peaceful.
Then Victoria’s phone rang.
Her expression changed.
She answered.
“Yes?”
Silence.
“Send it to me.”
She hung up.
“What happened?” Daniel asked.
Victoria turned toward him.
“They found a hidden account.”
“Where?”
“In the subsidiary connected to your employment.”
“What does it contain?”
“Payments.”
“To who?”
Victoria looked at Daniel.
“Your ex-wife.”
Daniel froze.
Noah was in the other room.
Victoria lowered her voice.
“Your ex-wife has received nearly $800,000 over the past four years.”
Daniel stared at her.
“That’s impossible.”
“The transfers began two weeks before she left.”
Daniel felt dizzy.
“Why would she get money from my company?”
“We don’t know.”
“She told me she left because she didn’t want to be a mother.”
Victoria looked at him.
“Maybe that wasn’t the whole story.”
Daniel sat down.
For four years, he had believed the worst thing that happened to him was being abandoned.
Now he wondered if he had been lied to.
Victoria placed a file in front of him.
“There’s more.”
Daniel opened it.
Inside were photographs.
His ex-wife meeting different people.
Bank records.
Messages.
And one photograph that made his hands shake.
His ex-wife was standing beside the same black SUV Daniel had seen outside his apartment.
“Who is that?”
“We’re still identifying him.”
Daniel stared at the photograph.
“Why would she be involved?”
Victoria didn’t answer.
Noah returned.
“What’s wrong?”
Daniel quickly closed the file.
“Nothing.”
Noah looked at Victoria.
“Is my mom coming back?”
The question hit Daniel harder than anything else.
Victoria looked at him.
Daniel swallowed.
“I don’t know.”
Noah lowered his head.
“I wish she would.”
Victoria walked over.
She crouched beside him.
“You know something?”
Noah looked up.
“Your dad talks about you all the time.”
“He does?”
“All the time.”
Noah smiled.
Then Victoria added:
“And he’s very proud of you.”
Daniel looked away.
He didn’t want them to see his eyes filling.
That night, Noah fell asleep on Victoria’s couch.
Daniel covered him with a blanket.
Then he returned to the living room.
Victoria was standing by the window.
“Why are you helping me?”
She didn’t answer immediately.
Finally, she said:
“Because I know what it feels like to have nobody.”
Daniel looked at her.
“My father died when I was nineteen.”
She continued.
“My mother disappeared into another state afterward. I built this company because I thought money could prevent people from leaving.”
Daniel smiled sadly.
“Does it work?”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“Money can buy security.”
She paused.
“It can’t buy someone who stays.”
Daniel didn’t know what to say.
Victoria stepped closer.
Then Daniel’s phone buzzed.
A message.
Unknown number.
Ask Victoria what happened to her father.
Daniel looked at Victoria.
She saw the screen.
Her face went pale.
Because she knew exactly who had sent it.
