To make sure my daughter got a decent meal, I took a massive risk and snuck her into the company's annual banquet. I never expected the big boss to decide to "dine with the commoners" and sit at our exact table. My daughter blinked her big, innocent eyes at the CEO. The CEO looked back at her. She turned her head, called me "Mommy," and then stared incredibly seriously at the CEO. "This is Mommy. Why aren't you calling her Mommy?" 1 Instantly, every single eye at the table was glued to me and the CEO. I frantically slapped my hand over her mouth, laughing awkwardly. "Kids say the darnedest things! So silly!" Penny yanked my hand away and pointed innocently at my two coworkers. "Auntie Maya and Uncle Leo call you Mommy too!" Maya and Leo were our newest interns. I noticed they were always eating sad desk salads or ordering takeout, so I invited them over for dinner a few times. The two of them had been so overwhelmed with gratitude that they tearfully started calling me "Mommy." I scooped Penny up in my arms and bolted. "Excuse us, she needs the restroom!" Penny struggled, trying to speak, but she was no match for my panicked adrenaline. I hauled her away. "Penelope, what did you promise me before we left the house?" I stood her against the wall, making her put her hands flat against her sides. I used my most serious Mom Voice. "Only eat, no talking," she pouted, her lower lip sticking out as she immediately tried to act cute. "I'm sorry, Mommy! But I'm so hungry." "When we go back, absolutely no talking!" I lightly tugged on her earlobe, and she dramatically winced and nodded. I had hoped the big boss would have moved to another table by the time we got back, but he was still sitting there. Seeing me return, my coworkers immediately tried to smooth things over, telling me the food was getting cold and urging me to eat. I was eating and keeping an eye on Penny when a piece of sweet and sour rib suddenly appeared on her plate. Before I could say thank you, Penny shrieked, "You didn't use the serving chopsticks! That's unsanitary!" Everyone's heads snapped over, catching sight of the CEO's chopsticks before he even had a chance to pull them back. Then, in perfect unison, everyone slammed their heads back down, pretending they had never looked up in the first place. The CEO coughed twice, picked the rib back up, grabbed the communal serving chopsticks, and placed a fresh piece on Penny's plate. The little girl nodded in satisfaction. Then, using her own chopsticks, she dropped a piece of beef onto Liam Sterling's plate. "Courtesy demands reciprocity." It was like the two of them had initiated a localized automated protocol. They just kept going back and forth, serving each other food. I was incredibly embarrassed, but I also used the distraction to eat my weight in crab legs. I was very satisfied. Halfway through the banquet, Liam had to leave for another engagement. The moment he walked away, everyone at the table exhaled a massive sigh of relief. "Chloe, I swear my food wasn't digesting while he was sitting here," Leo groaned, watching Liam's retreating back. "Me neither," Maya quickly agreed. "I was too scared to even chew." I looked over at little Penny, who was happily munching on a shrimp, and couldn't help but give her a thumbs-up. 2 It was very late by the time we got home. Penny had run wild all day, so she crashed the second her head hit the pillow. I took a shower, crawled into bed, and my phone lit up. I opened my texts and saw a two-word message from a specific contact: [Come over.] After double-checking that Penny was dead asleep, I went next door. Before I even had a chance to scan my fingerprint, the door swung open from the inside. A pair of strong, muscular arms pulled me in and pinned me against the wall in the entryway. He gripped my waist, gently rubbing his nose against mine, and pecked my lips playfully. "Mommy?" My face turned burning red. "Kids don't know what they're saying." He let out a low chuckle, raising an eyebrow as if considering the thought. "Well, she's not entirely wrong." Then he suddenly scooped me into his arms. By the time I opened my eyes again, it was 8:00 AM. I panicked, frantically throwing on my clothes, terrified that Penny would wake up and freak out when she couldn't find me. Liam leaned back against the headboard. "I already had someone go over to your place." "Who?" I asked. He frowned. "That kid you adopted at the office." A second later, my phone rang. Maya's voice came through the speaker: "Chloe! Penny is still asleep. Don't worry about your business trip, I'll watch her!" Knowing someone was with Penny, I let out a massive sigh of relief and slowed down my frantic dressing. Liam hugged me from behind, resting his chin on my shoulder. "Since you're awake, let's get some exercise." Liam was flying out for a business trip at noon. Before he left for the airport, he had someone deliver a massive order of steamed pork ribs to my apartment. It was my absolute favorite dish, and also Penny's favorite. The clock on the wall hit 6:00 PM. I brought the ribs home and called Penny and Maya to the table for dinner. Last night was a rare exception; Liam almost never let me stay the night. We kept our relationship perfectly hidden. He was the untouchable CEO; I was an invisible assistant in the secretarial pool. He was going to be gone for three months this time. I felt an unprecedented wave of relief. On the first of every month, he wired money to my account. This time, he sent six months' worth upfront. I took that money and took Penny to the fancy buffet she had been begging to go to. Liam had never treated me poorly, but I knew the day would eventually come when he got bored of me. When that day arrived, I would take Penny and leave San Francisco to move back to my hometown in the Midwest. It wasn't as glamorous as SF, but the schools were decent, and more importantly, I wouldn't have to live in constant fear of being discovered. I was incredibly thankful that Penny looked exactly like me. There wasn't a trace of Liam in her features. But as she got older, some of her little mannerisms were becoming terrifyingly similar to his. It was starting to make me anxious. 3 Getting pregnant with Penny was a complete accident. Six years ago, I was a brand-new hire. The senior executive assistant had to travel, so I was temporarily assigned to accompany Liam to meet a client. It turned out someone had slipped something into his drink. I had just graduated. My grandmother was critically ill and needed surgery we couldn't afford. In a moment of absolute desperation, I gritted my teeth, got into his bed, and planned to use it to blackmail him for the surgery money. But before I even had the chance to demand the hush money, the hospital called. My grandmother was failing. I dragged my exhausted body to the hospital, but I was too late. I didn't have a dime. I couldn't even afford to decide where she would be buried. Eventually, my relatives scraped together enough money to buy a plot in a public cemetery back in our hometown. Three days later, I went back to the office. The senior assistant had heard about my grandmother and told me to just go with the flow and try to live in the present. I forced a smile and nodded, even though I had my resignation letter drafted and ready to send. After what I did, being fired was the best-case scenario. I could have gone to jail. But what I expected didn't happen. Instead, the company transferred me to the Austin branch "for professional development." I was terrified, asking around to find out why I was being shipped off. The senior assistant just smiled and told me it was a good opportunity and not to worry. It wasn't until later that I found out the person who actually drugged Liam was the head of the Austin branch. That woman threatened to jump off the building if Liam didn't marry her. Liam immediately called her parents. To apologize and sweep it under the rug, her parents handed over a massive piece of commercial real estate to Liam's company. "She's been obsessed with Mr. Sterling forever," a coworker gossiped. "She's the daughter of a family friend. She used to work here at HQ, but they transferred her to Austin." "Did you know about her and Mr. Sterling?" The coworker winked at me and started spilling all the colorful details... I was shocked. Did another girl go into his room after I left? "Weren't there security cameras?" I asked, pretending to be casually curious. "Please, the princess planned it perfectly. She had the hallway cameras shut off in advance. If Mr. Sterling hadn't played hardball, we probably would have all been invited to their wedding by now," another older coworker chimed in knowingly. I let out a long exhale. I could finally tear up my resignation letter. "You lucked out," someone else joked. "The Austin branch is smaller, but there's plenty of money to be made there." I just smiled and didn't say anything. Not long after I got to Austin, I realized I was pregnant. My first instinct was to get an abortion. But I was so desperate for family. So desperate for a companion. After agonizing over it, I decided to keep the baby. Looking back, I was actually incredibly lucky. Just a few days after I found out I was pregnant, another coworker was transferred from HQ to Austin. They ended up taking on a lot of my workload. By the time I was transferred back to HQ, Penny was already learning how to talk. Everyone at the main office was shocked that I came back with a toddler. I fabricated a tragic story about getting engaged in Austin, but my fiancé dying in a car crash. Everyone was so sympathetic, telling me that having a child meant having a piece of him to hold onto. I forced a bitter smile and agreed. As for Liam and me... he was the one who approached me. He said we were both adults with physical needs. Since I already had a child, he knew I wouldn't cling to him with unrealistic expectations like the younger girls. He also offered to move me into a much nicer, more secure building, and give me a generous monthly allowance. I just stared at his eyes, completely dumbfounded. "Does Ms. Vance feel the compensation is too low?" he asked. It wasn't just "not low." It was more than enough for Penny and me to live very comfortably. "It's not low," I replied, giving an honest assessment. He let out a low chuckle. "Don't worry. I won't let you get the short end of the stick." 4 Liam texted me saying he wanted home-cooked food. The moment I saw the message, a wave of intense irritation washed over me. I had promised to steam fish for Penny tonight. I couldn't just drop everything and go to his place. He usually didn't ask to see me the day he got back from a business trip. This sudden ambush really annoyed me. Not long after I sent a text rejecting him, the doorbell rang. Penny cheered and ran to the door, chanting, "Penny's boba! Penny's boba!" I didn't want her opening the door alone, so I followed her. I was absolutely stunned to see Liam standing in my entryway, looking like he had just stepped off a plane. "Mommy, we don't have shoes for him," Penny frowned, looking up at me. I was so caught off guard by his sudden appearance that the only thing I could do was hand him Leo's extra pair of guest slippers. "Those are Uncle Leo's," Penny pouted. "It's okay, baby. Mommy will buy Uncle Leo new ones," I said, crouching down to hold her little hands. Suddenly, I felt an intense, burning gaze sweeping over me. I looked down and realized I had completely forgotten I was only wearing a thin silk camisole. While I was standing there panicking, the doorbell rang again. Liam smoothly opened the door and took a beige insulated bag from the delivery driver. "Penny's boba!" Penny shrieked happily, reaching up with both hands to grab the bag from Liam. Liam kicked off his shoes—pointedly avoiding Leo's slippers—and walked into my living room in his socks, holding the bag in one hand and putting the other in his pocket. Penny followed right behind him like an eager little puppy. He slowly and methodically pulled the boba cup out, poked the straw through the lid, and gestured for Penny to hold the cup with both hands. The little girl's eyes were glued to the boba. She obeyed his every command. When she finally got her hands on it, she took a massive gulp and let out a very satisfied sigh. "Mommy, can I drink my boba and play on my iPad?" Her eyes screamed, Please do not say no to me. I nodded, and she bolted toward her bedroom with the boba. Once her door clicked shut, I finally had a second to deal with Liam. For once, I didn't call him "Mr. Sterling." I said, "Liam, why are you at my house?" He casually grabbed the second cup of boba from the bag and took a sip. "Too sweet." Then he walked over to the entryway and dragged his carry-on suitcase inside. "I want to take a shower." He said it so casually, like it was his own house. I did something incredibly childish and tried to physically push him out the door. Instead, I ended up trapped in his arms. "Be a good girl. Raising a kid takes a lot of money." Liam's tone was light, but there wasn't a trace of a smile in his eyes. "Doesn't it?" His words hit me like a slap to the face, waking me up immediately. Just because he had been a little accommodating lately, I had completely forgotten that I held zero leverage in this dynamic. I was getting arrogant. "Good girl. I'm going to shower," he said, releasing me with a slow, leisurely smile. With an extra adult in the house, I grabbed some more vegetables from the fridge. I kept chopping and prepping, but my mind was a million miles away. I had changed out of the silk cami into a standard, practical cotton pajama set. Suddenly, a pair of slightly damp arms wrapped around my waist, and wet hair tickled my ear. "I've never seen you wear pajamas like this," Liam whispered in my ear. 5 To keep him happy, I always made sure to wear sexy lingerie or silk nightgowns around him. This was the first time I was letting him see the domestic, everyday version of me. "Mommy!" Penny's voice was getting closer. Liam released me like he had been electrocuted, instantly putting distance between us. "Did you finish it?" I asked. "No." Penny always dragged out her syllables when she talked. "Mommy said I could only have a little bit, so Penny only drank a little bit." "You're so good." I wiped my hands on my apron and patted her little head. "Can you go look at your picture books for a little while? Dinner will be ready soon!" Now that the sugar rush was settling down, Penny suddenly became very interested in Liam. "Mommy, who is he?" I glanced at Liam, completely freezing up. "I'm your mommy's coworker," Liam said, crouching down to her eye level. "Do you know what a coworker is?" "I know! Like Uncle Leo and Auntie Maya!" Penny looked incredibly proud of herself, clearly waiting for a compliment. "Not exactly the same." Liam was about to keep talking, but I quickly cut him off. "Penny, ask the nice man to read you a storybook!" The second I said it, I realized how impulsive it was. I looked at him nervously, and sure enough, his brow was slightly furrowed. I tried to backpedal immediately. "Mr. Sterling, if it's too much trouble..." "Let's go," he said, crossing his arms. "I've read to my friends' kids before." I let out a long sigh of relief, but a sudden wave of sadness hit me. This was the first time Penny was ever spending time with her father. 6 After dinner, Liam dragged me back to his place. Even though we had been intimate countless times, being alone with him still made me incredibly nervous. "How old is your daughter?" he asked. "Four," I lied, shaving a year off. "Was it a C-section?" Liam asked. My hand instinctively reached toward my C-section scar, but he beat me to it. My hand ended up covering his. Our hands had intertwined a million times before. Whenever passion overwhelmed us, I would cling to him like a lifeline, his palms always radiating intense heat. He flipped his hand over and gripped mine tightly. "Did it hurt?" I forced myself to stay calm, terrified of what he was getting at. Did he somehow know? "I'd be lying if I said it didn't hurt. But since he's gone, I wanted to have a piece of him left in this world." I dragged out my fabricated dead fiancé to use as a shield. Liam squeezed my hand harder. "You two must have been very much in love." I couldn't read the emotion in his voice, but the crushing grip on my hand made it very clear he was not happy. "I don't like talking about the past," I said, pulling away from his embrace. "I have to go. I can't leave Penny home alone." He didn't say anything. He just leaned back against the headboard. The warm yellow light from the lamp spilled over him. I couldn't clearly see his face, but I knew he wasn't going to ask me to stay. The first thing I did when I got home was check on Penny. I loved staring at her face while she slept. People always say daughters look like their fathers. I was terrified of seeing Liam's reflection in her face. Thankfully, she still had her baby fat. Forget looking like anyone specific, she just looked like a generic toddler. If you tossed her into a room full of kids, I wasn't even sure I'd be able to spot her right away. But tonight, seeing the two of them sitting next to each other at the dinner table... those subtle micro-expressions, the identical little habits... I closed my eyes, too scared to even think about it. Women are emotional creatures. Even though I had zero feelings for Liam when this started, things were different now. I felt like I was falling for him. I even had this insane, reckless urge to just tell him the truth—that Penny was his biological daughter. But then what? Would Liam even want her? And even if he did want Penny, would he want me? I stubbed out my cigarette, hid the pack back in its secret spot, and let the smoke drift out into the night air. I opened the balcony window, and the freezing wind slapped me in the face, waking me up completely. It was time to end this. 7 Some busybody posted the photos of Liam and Penny interacting at the banquet into the company group chat. [Do you guys think Chloe's kid might actually be Mr. Sterling's...] They didn't finish the sentence, but... everyone knew exactly what they were implying. [No way. Chloe is way too plain. She's not Mr. Sterling's type at all.] [You guys need to stop gossiping. Chloe's fiancé died in a car crash. The baby was born after he died.] An older coworker jumped in to defend me. [You guys need to watch your mouths. Little Penny already doesn't have a dad, and now you're making up disgusting rumors about her mom!] [Careful what you type...] More and more coworkers started taking my side. "These people are unbelievable," Maya was even angrier than I was. "Penny looks nothing like the CEO." "Penny is so adorable!" Leo huffed indignantly. "Mr. Sterling is nowhere near as likable as Penny." The second the words left Leo's mouth, Mr. Sterling coughed twice right behind him. There was a very important client standing next to him, desperately trying not to laugh. "Our CEO is a natural-born king," Leo said without missing a beat, not breaking eye contact with his monitor. "We wouldn't dare 'like' him. We only gaze upon him in awe from a distance." Then, he turned around with a perfectly feigned look of surprise. "Oh! Mr. Sterling! You're here!" Liam gave him a long, dark look before striding away. "I almost died," Leo slumped against Maya's desk. "How does the CEO walk without making a sound?" "Maya, can you please take this file to Mr. Sterling's office for me?" Leo begged, looking at her with puppy dog eyes. "You're scared? I'm scared too!" Maya shoved him away. "Get off me, stop trying to use me as a shield." Leo turned his desperate, pleading eyes to me. With no other choice, I—the woman currently at the center of the company's biggest scandal—had to step into the line of fire. "Liam, is that really your daughter?" "Do you actually believe that?" Before I even had a chance to knock, their conversation drifted out of the partially open door. "If she is, that's great," the client said. "Daughters are sweet." "I don't like kids," Liam's voice was freezing cold. "Especially fragile, whiny little girls. I can't handle them." I stood outside the door, the blood draining from my face. So he absolutely hated kids. Then why the hell did he read Penny a storybook? Forcing myself to stay calm, I knocked on the door. "Mr. Sterling, I have a contract that needs your signature." "Come in." He took the contract from my hands, signed it, and handed it back. "Ms. Vance." "Do not bring your child to the office again. "Your salary is more than generous. You do not need to bring your child to company events just to get a free meal." He handed me the signed contract without looking at me once. "I apologize, Mr. Sterling. It won't happen again," I said, keeping my face perfectly neutral, apologizing instantly. "Liam, you're being too harsh," the client chuckled. I shot the client a grateful look and quickly escaped that suffocating room.
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