Billionaire Pretends To Be A Janitor To Find True Love — But Discovers A Secret Hidden For 20 Years
Chapter 6
Grace didn’t return to work for three days.
Alexander pretended not to care.
He cared desperately.
He sent no messages.
He gave her space.
Then, on the fourth morning, she appeared.
She looked exhausted.
“Can we talk?”
Alexander nodded.
They sat in an empty conference room.
Grace placed a folder on the table.
“I found this in my mother’s things.”
Alexander recognized the envelope.
It was the missing page.
She had found it.
He opened it.
The letter continued:
Your uncle Alexander may one day find you.
If he does, don’t blame him for what the family did.
He was only a child when everything happened.
My brother should have known the truth.
I hope he finds you.
Alexander closed his eyes.
Grace watched him.
“My mother knew you existed.”
“Yes.”
“And she didn’t hate you.”
“I didn’t know.”
“She wanted you to find me.”
He looked at Grace.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For not finding you sooner.”
Grace shook her head.
“You didn’t know.”
They sat quietly.
Then she asked,
“Why were you pretending to be a janitor?”
Alexander hesitated.
She knew.
“I wanted to know whether someone could care about me without knowing who I was.”
Grace stared.
“So you lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me?”
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
“That nobody would ever see me.”
She softened slightly.
“You could have trusted me.”
“I know.”
She looked at him.
“I liked Alex.”
Alexander’s heart lifted.
“Grace…”
“I liked the man who listened.”
He smiled.
“I am that man.”
“Then why did you need a uniform?”
He didn’t have an answer.
She looked down.
“I don’t know whether to be angry or laugh.”
He smiled.
“Either is fair.”
She laughed softly.
Then became serious.
“There is something else.”
“What?”
“My mother wrote about Richard.”
“Yes.”
“She said he wasn’t the only person involved.”
Alexander looked at her.
“She mentioned another name.”
“Who?”
Grace opened the folder.
A name appeared.
Martin Hayes.
Alexander froze.
“My father?”
Grace nodded.
“He knew.”
Alexander stared.
“No.”
“My mother said he knew she was hiding.”
“That doesn’t mean he helped.”
“She said he did.”
The room became silent.
Alexander had spent his entire life believing his father was complicated but good.
Now the evidence suggested he had been involved in hiding his own daughter.
Grace continued.
“My mother wrote that your father gave her money to disappear.”
“Why?”
“To protect you.”
Alexander shook his head.
“From Richard.”
“Yes.”
He understood.
His father had made terrible choices.
But perhaps he had been trying to protect both children.
Then Grace asked,
“What happened to Richard?”
Alexander looked at her.
“He died ten years ago.”
“Then why do I feel like this isn’t over?”
He didn’t know.
Until his phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
You should have left the past buried.
Attached was a photograph.
Alexander and Grace.
Taken that morning.
Outside the hotel.
Grace saw it.
Her face went pale.
“Who took that?”
“I don’t know.”
Another message appeared.
Your mother’s secret wasn’t the only one.
Alexander’s blood ran cold.
“What does that mean?”
The phone buzzed again.
Tomorrow.
The truth about your father.
He showed Grace.
She looked at him.
“Whatever happens…”
“Yes?”
“We deal with it together.”
Alexander nodded.
“For the first time, I agree.”
They didn’t realize someone had been watching them from across the street.
And that person had waited twenty years for the Hayes family secret to return.
