CEO Handed a Single Dad a Wedding Invitation—Then Whispered, “You’re the Groom”
Chapter 3
My father was named Thomas Hayes.
He had worked in finance.
Not banking.
Not investment.
He managed accounts for private businesses.
At least, that’s what I had always been told.
After his death, my mother had raised me alone.
She never spoke badly about him.
She simply said,
“Your father got involved with people who were bigger than him.”
I had never understood what that meant.
Now Victoria had shown me a photograph proving he had met her father.
I went home and opened the old storage box my mother had kept.
Inside were tax documents.
Photographs.
A watch.
Letters.
Nothing seemed unusual.
Then my daughter, Lily, came into the room.
“What are you doing?”
“Looking through Grandpa’s things.”
“Why?”
“Because I found something.”
She sat beside me.
She loved stories about my father.
“He was funny,” she said.
“He was.”
“Did he like pancakes?”
“Terrible pancakes.”
She laughed.
Then she reached for the old watch.
“Can I see?”
I handed it to her.
She turned it over.
There were initials on the back.
T.H.
But beneath them was another engraving.
V.S.
I froze.
Victoria Sterling.
I called her immediately.
“Where are you?”
“At home.”
“I found something.”
She arrived twenty minutes later.
She looked at the watch.
Her face changed.
“My father gave this to him.”
“How do you know?”
“Because my father had the same watch.”
She turned it over.
“Look.”
There was a matching engraving.
Two halves.
One watch for each man.
I stared.
“What did they work on together?”
Victoria shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
“Then ask your mother.”
“My mother died when I was sixteen.”
I looked at her.
“We are apparently excellent at family secrets.”
She gave me a tired smile.
“Apparently.”
Lily entered the room.
She looked at Victoria.
“Are you the lady Daddy is marrying?”
I froze.
Victoria looked equally surprised.
“How did she know?”
I sighed.
“She found the invitation.”
Lily held it up.
“You’re the bride.”
Victoria smiled.
“Yes.”
“Do you like my dad?”
Victoria looked at me.
Then at Lily.
“Yes.”
Lily nodded.
“Good.”
I nearly laughed.
“That’s all?”
“Yes.”
She walked away.
Victoria watched her.
“She likes me.”
“She likes everyone.”
“Not everyone.”
I looked at her.
“What do you mean?”
“Children are usually better judges of people.”
I smiled.
“You’re trying to impress my daughter.”
“Maybe.”
“Why?”
“Because I need her trust too.”
That answer stayed with me.
The wedding preparations began.
Victoria moved fast.
Venue.
Clothes.
Security.
Legal paperwork.
A temporary apartment for Lily during the wedding weekend.
I kept waiting for her to behave like a billionaire.
Instead, she spent an entire afternoon helping Lily choose flowers.
Lily chose yellow roses.
Victoria chose white.
They argued for twenty minutes.
I watched from the doorway.
It was strange.
The woman who could terrify a boardroom was kneeling on the floor with an eight-year-old arguing about flowers.
Later, I asked Victoria,
“Why are you doing this?”
“Doing what?”
“Trying so hard.”
She looked at Lily.
“She deserves a family that doesn’t feel temporary.”
I swallowed.
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I know.”
She looked at me.
“I want to.”
The wedding was now eleven days away.
Then I received a call.
My mother.
Her voice was shaking.
“Daniel?”
“Yes?”
“You need to come home.”
“Why?”
“There is something about your father.”
I looked at Victoria.
“What?”
“He didn’t die in an accident.”
Silence.
My hand went cold.
“What do you mean?”
“I found his old file.”
She started crying.
“Someone wanted him dead.”
