She Sat Down At My Table And Said, ‘My Ex Is Watching’… A Year Later His Daughter Called Me Daddy
Chapter 10
I stared at the trust document.
“My name?”
Michael nodded.
“You were named as contingent beneficiary.”
“Why?”
“Your father and Claire’s father created the trust together.”
Claire looked at me.
“So if something happens to Lily…”
“The land passes to Daniel.”
I shook my head.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
Michael pointed to another clause.
“The condition is simple.”
“If Lily dies?”
“No.”
“If Lily’s legal guardian is found to have endangered her.”
I understood.
The trust would bypass that guardian and transfer to me temporarily.
That meant someone could try to make me the legal target.
If anything happened to Lily while she was under my protection, I could be blamed.
Then the land would still be locked.
It was a brilliant structure.
But it also made me vulnerable.
Ryan would gain nothing by hurting Lily.
But he could destroy me.
Claire understood.
“That means if he frames you…”
“He could trigger another legal battle.”
“And the land remains tied up.”
“Yes.”
Ryan didn’t need to control the land immediately.
He needed to keep everyone fighting.
The development project was waiting.
Months of delays could eventually force a sale.
I realized then that the real weapon was exhaustion.
Keep Claire afraid.
Keep me occupied.
Keep the court fighting.
Then wait.
That afternoon, someone set fire to the vacant lot beside the café.
No one was hurt.
But the fire spread dangerously close.
The firefighters contained it.
On the wall behind the building, someone had painted one word.
LEAVE.
The police called it vandalism.
I didn’t.
It was a warning.
That night, I moved Claire and the children to a secure house.
My mother came too.
We stayed together.
For the first time, Claire cried in front of everyone.
“I can’t keep doing this.”
My mother sat beside her.
“Yes, you can.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“I am tired.”
My mother nodded.
“Then let someone else carry you for a while.”
Claire looked at me.
I smiled.
“We’ve got you.”
Lily climbed onto the couch.
“Can I sleep with Mom?”
“Yes.”
“Can Daniel sleep too?”
Everyone laughed.
Claire looked embarrassed.
I said,
“Eventually.”
Lily nodded seriously.
“Okay.”
That night, after the children slept, Claire and I sat by the fireplace.
She whispered,
“I was afraid love would make me weaker.”
“And?”
“It’s doing the opposite.”
I took her hand.
“Because now you’re not alone.”
She kissed me.
Then there was a knock at the door.
Everyone froze.
The security team checked the cameras.
No one outside.
Then another knock.
This time, a package appeared.
Inside was a folder.
My name.
Claire’s name.
Lily’s name.
And a photograph of my father and Robert Cross.
On the back:
You have forty-eight hours to leave Grayhaven.
Claire looked at me.
“We can’t.”
“I know.”
“What are we going to do?”
I opened the folder.
Inside was one final document.
A development agreement.
Signed by Robert.
But the buyer wasn’t Sterling Heights Group.
It was a company called Northstar Holdings.
I recognized the name.
Northstar was owned by someone we had never suspected.
My former business partner.
The man who had disappeared five years earlier.
Andrew Blake.
I stared at the page.
He wasn’t missing.
He was behind everything.
And he had just declared war on my family.
