All Chapters of What Daddy Left Behind: Chapter 161 - Chapter 170

181 Chapters

DNA TEST

~ Thea’s POVThe scalding hot water cascaded over my shoulders, filling the massive glass enclosure of the master bathroom with thick, billowing clouds of white steam.I stood completely still under the rain showerhead, letting the heat seep into my freezing, exhausted bones. Behind me, Stellan’s massive, scarred chest was pressed flush against my back. His large hands were working a rich, cedarwood-scented lather into my dark hair. He moved with a slow, agonizing reverence, his long fingers massaging my scalp, entirely focused on washing away the ashes and the trauma of the last forty-eight hours.It was a silent, beautiful baptism.Stellan rinsed the soap from my hair, his hands sliding down my arms, tracing the delicate, bruised lines of my ribs with butterfly-light touches so he wouldn't aggravate the pain. He didn't speak. He didn't need to. The frantic, terrified boy from yesterday was completely gone, replaced by a quiet, towering protector who was actively drawing his strength

I wish you were my mother

~ Thea’s POVDr. Aris swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing nervously as my whisper echoed in the pristine, white examination room.He clutched the biohazard bag containing the swabs as if it were a live grenade. "I understand perfectly, Mrs. Vaughn. I will process the sequence myself in the secure subterranean lab. The results will be encrypted and delivered directly, and exclusively, to your husband’s private server."I held his terrified gaze for one second longer, letting the absolute weight of the Mercer steel press down on his shoulders, before I gave a sharp, definitive nod.I turned on my stiletto heel, the severe lines of my charcoal-grey suit radiating an unyielding, titanium authority. I walked back into the private waiting area of the VIP wing. Stellan was standing near the reinforced glass windows, his massive frame rigid, his pitch-black eyes fixed on the distant Manhattan skyline. A few feet away, little Leo sat swinging his legs on an oversized leather chair, his sm

Is this good enough?

~ Stellan's POV"Then why don't we go make our own later?"Thea’s voice was a barely audible, silken whisper against the shell of my ear, but it struck my central nervous system.I completely froze. My pitch-black eyes snapped down to her face. She was sitting so close to me, her dark eyes completely stripped of the terrifying, lethal Queen who had held a gun to my abuser’s head, replaced entirely by the wicked, fiercely devoted woman who owned my soul.I swallowed hard, the thick, heavy tension in my throat bobbing visibly.A profound, violent surge of heat pooled instantly in my groin. The sheer, intoxicating magnitude of her promise—the idea of creating a life with her, of replacing the darkest ashes of my past with a future forged from our absolute devotion—made me instantly, agonizingly hard. My large hand, resting on the mahogany table, tightened into a fist until the wood groaned in protest.Seeing the immediate, predatory darkening of my eyes, Thea leaned back slightly. A low,

Throwing a Tantrum

~ Thea’s POVWhen I woke up the next morning, the heavy grey clouds over Manhattan had finally broken, allowing bright, pristine sunlight to flood through the floor-to-ceiling windows.I was entirely cocooned in Stellan’s embrace. His broad, scarred chest rose and fell in a steady, peaceful rhythm beneath my cheek. The dark shadows that had haunted his pitch-black eyes were gone, replaced by a relaxed, devastatingly handsome serenity. For a few blissful hours, we simply existed. We laughed softly in the quiet sunlight, tracing lazy patterns on each other's skin, genuinely having a good time, entirely insulated from the corporate warlords and the media syndicates.But the devil never sleeps for long.The absolute tranquility of the morning was violently shattered by the harsh, rhythmic buzzing of the secure, hardwired intercom on the nightstand.Stellan’s arm tightened instinctively around my waist. The relaxed billionaire vanished in a millisecond, the lethal, hyper-vigilant CEO immed

This isn't true

~ Thea’s POVStacy spun around on her designer heels. Her arm, which had been raised to violently point at the Chief Financial Officer, completely froze in mid-air. For a fraction of a second, her blue eyes widened in sheer, unadulterated panic as she recognized the black tailored suit and the unyielding Mercer steel radiating from my posture.But then, she saw Stellan standing right behind me.She assumed that because my husband was in the room, the terrifying, broken boy from the Tribeca penthouse had returned. She assumed he had brought me here to beg for mercy. Stacy’s chest heaved, her face flushing with a toxic, manic arrogance as she dropped her arm and sneered."You?" Stacy scoffed, letting out a sharp, hysterical laugh that bounced off the polished mahogany table. She looked me up and down with dripping condescension. "You have absolutely no authority here, little girl. I am an Executive Vice President of Vaughn Enterprises. I am a majority shareholder by proxy of my son’s t

The result is out.

~ Stellan’s POV"This isn't true."Stacy’s voice was a hollow, breathless wheeze, entirely stripped of the venom and high-society arrogance that had defined her existence for the last two decades. She stared at the crisp parchment in her trembling hands, the official corporate seals and my wife’s signature blurring before her frantic blue eyes.She looked up, her gaze darting past Thea to lock onto me. She was searching for the broken, terrified fifteen-year-old boy. She was desperately hunting for the victim she had conditioned to freeze on command, hoping to find a single shred of hesitation she could exploit to reverse her apocalyptic ruin.She found absolutely nothing.I stood behind my wife, my broad shoulders relaxed, my hands casually resting in the pockets of my slacks. The suffocating, paralyzing ice that had encased my lungs for twenty years was completely gone. Looking at Stacy now, stripped of her leverage and cornered by the brilliant, ruthless intellect of the woman I ma

You have to see this

~ Stellan’s POV"The sequencing is complete, sir. I have the results."Dr. Aris’s voice was a thin, trembling wire stretched across the secure, hardwired connection.I didn't lift the heavy black receiver to my ear. I reached down, my finger pressing the speaker button on the mahogany console. The glowing red indicator light flared to life, filling the quiet, sunlit expanse of the master suite with the faint, ambient hum of the subterranean laboratory.I wanted Thea to hear this. I wanted my wife, the woman who had walked into the darkest, most radioactive epicenter of my trauma and dragged me out alive, to be present for the final verdict. I reached out, my large hand entirely enveloping hers. She squeezed my fingers, her grip an unbreakable, titanium anchor."Read it, Aris," I commanded, my voice a low, gravelly rumble that betrayed none of the violent, apocalyptic tension warring inside my chest.A heavy, rustling sound of thick medical parchment echoed over the speaker."I persona

She is going to have a nice time

~ Thea’s POVThe heavy, definitive thud of the thick black dossier hitting the charcoal duvet completely shattered the suspended, breathless peace of our master suite.I stepped out from behind Stellan’s broad back, my heart hammering a sudden, frantic rhythm against my ribs. Julian didn't wait for an invitation. He marched directly up to the edge of our custom mattress and violently unzipped the leather binding of the folder. With a single, sweeping motion, he tipped it over, spilling a chaotic avalanche of printed financial ledgers, offshore bank statements, grainy surveillance photographs, and heavily redacted legal documents across the pristine sheets of our marital bed."Julian," Stellan commanded, his voice a low, lethal rumble that demanded immediate clarity. "What exactly am I looking at?""You are looking at a masterclass in smoke and mirrors," Julian breathed, his chest still heaving from his sprint. He planted his hands on his hips, his sharp eyes burning with a grim, vindi

Quite the audience.

~ Thea’s POVThe morning sun over Manhattan was blindingly bright, entirely completely severing the heavy, grey storm clouds that had suffocated the city for the past three days.I stood near the floor-to-ceiling windows of the grand boardroom on the eightieth floor of Vaughn Enterprises, looking out over the sprawling, sunlit metropolis. The sky was a pristine, unbroken blue. It was the perfect weather for an execution."She has arrived at the plaza, Mrs. Vaughn," Graham’s crisp, British voice broke the hushed silence of the massive room.I turned away from the glass. The grand boardroom was a masterpiece of corporate intimidation. A massive, thirty-foot polished mahogany table dominated the center of the space, surrounded by plush, high-backed leather executive chairs. Usually, this room was a warzone of shouting billionaires, aggressive takeovers, and ruthless negotiations.Today, it was a tomb.I had given a direct, unequivocal order to Carlisle and the rest of the board of direct

Bring our son home

~ Stellan’s POVThea’s voice was a silken, lethal caress that echoed through the cavernous expanse of the grand boardroom. Beside me, she was a terrifying vision of absolute, uncompromising authority. She didn't look like a twenty-one-year-old college student. She looked like the reigning Queen of a global empire, standing over the guillotine she had personally constructed.I kept my large hand securely over hers, our fingers intertwined against the leather back of my executive chair.For twenty years, the mere scent of Stacy’s perfume, the shrill pitch of her voice, had been enough to completely paralyze my central nervous system. She had been a towering, omnipotent god of my nightmares, a monster who held the absolute power to drag me back into the darkest, most horrific trauma of my childhood.But as I sat at the head of the thirty-foot mahogany table and watched her completely freeze in the threshold, the illusion violently, permanently shattered.She wasn't a god. She wasn't a mo

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