Brown huffed at their gestures. If only they knew who is behind these custumes. If it wasn’t for his stupid boss, he would never be here.


    He has managed to run from the security men and was now hiding behind therge water fountain just at the center of the mall when he saw her.


    The beautiful girl that looked just like the one he has been looking for for weeks now.


    His boss has troubled him countless times to find her. No one in their camp has had a peaceful day since she disappeared and yet here she is, looking all okay.


    She looked so different now. Different from how she was thest time. She was even with guards and a maid.


    Has Maybelline finally started taking good care of her daughter?


    Still, he couldn’t go to her. His orders were clear: Watch her. Protect her from afar. Do not approach.


    Brown took out his phone, his fingers trembling. He quickly snapped a picture and sent it to his boss with a short message.


    "I found her, boss. She’s safe. Our little Miss is doing well."


    The reply came within seconds.


    "Is she alright? Oh my God... My little princess!"


    <fn6e2b> ???s ??????? ?s ?????? ?? find?novel</fn6e2b>


    Brown smiled. He could almost see his boss crying.


    #####


    Far away, on the top floor of a towering 26-story building, a man sat in a sleek office. The room was cold, sharp, and silent, just like him.


    Xavier Bloodsworth.


    His ck suit was spotless, the creases sharp enough to cut. His dark hair was slicked back. Not a strand out of ce. His hands were folded on the desk, eyes focused on nothing, jaw clenched.


    He looked like he was carved out of stone.


    "Brother, the shareholders have been waiting for over three hours," Barry Bloodsworth said, trying to keep calm. "Are you going to ignore them again?"


    Xavier didn’t respond. He cared less about stupid shareholders. He was worried about his daughter. The heir to the Bloodsworth fortune.


    Barry’s voice rose, frustrated when his brother said nothing again. "You can’t dy this meeting again. They’re starting to panic. One more dy and there could be chaos!"


    But Xavier didn’t move. He hadn’t been the same since his daughter disappeared. The once powerful CEO had turned into something else.


    Staffs walked on eggshells. People cried in bathrooms because of his fury. No one dared speak unless spoken to.


    "You’ll see her next month Xavier," Barry continued carefully. "The restraining order will expire by then, and you’ll be her father again. But right now, we have to keep thepany alive."


    "Tell Brown to handle the meeting," Xavier said, his voice deep and ice-cold.


    Barry nearly exploded. "Did you forget you sent Brown out to find your daughter? You threatened to chop off his head if he came back without her!" Xavier finally looked up. His eyes were hollow, dangerous.


    "Then you handle the meeting," he said, tone cutting. "Or are you that useless now?"


    Before Barry could respond, Xavier’s phone buzzed. He nced down, fingers moving fast. At the message he recieved.


    He opened it instantly.


    As the screen lit up with the video of his daughter, something shifted in him.


    Barry kept talking. "If you can’t do your job, Xavier, then maybe someone else should run thepany. We’re not going to watch everything fall apart because you’re mourning..."


    "My baby girl..."


    Barry froze.


    Xavier’s voice was trembling.


    Was... Was he crying?


    Barry had never seen it before. Not once. Not even at their mother’s funeral.


    And now, here he was, this cold, cruel demon lord, weeping over a blurry video on a phone screen.


    That was the power his daughter held over him.


    No one else could touch his heart. Not money. Not power. Not family. Just her.


    Xavier Bloodsworth hadn’t abandoned his daughter because he wanted to. He was forced to.


    The day Maybelline used him of rape, everything fell apart.


    He didnt meant to. Infact he isn’t the type to rape anyone. But that night he was drugged by their cousins at the royal party, wandering like a madman, desperate for relief.


    Then she appeared. The innocent girl walking by.


    He lost control.


    After that night, he begged for forgiveness. He offered to marry her. He begged her family. He offered to raise the child with her. But she refused. Again and again.


    "You’re not royalty," she had said. "I won’t marry amoner."


    When she gave birth, she ced a restraining order on him. She took his money, but kept him away.


    Xavier sent millions for his daughter every month. But instead of using it for the child, Maybelline spent it on expensive drugs, drugs that could have killed the child.


    Xavier has watched his precious girl grow from the sidelines. It hurt him that he wasn’t involved in her life.