Mr. Blackwood, your son is waiting outside."
Samuel froze mid-step. His assistant's words echoed in his head like gunfire.
"My what?"
The assistant blinked, confused. "A boy. Six or seven. Said his mother told him to find his dad at Blackwood Industries."
Samuel's breath hitched. No one in the building dared to joke with him — not unless they wanted to be fired before lunch. And this wasn't a joke.
He strode to the executive elevator, heart pounding. The doors slid open.
Standing outside was a small boy with dark blue eyes that matched Samuel's so precisely it felt like a mirror from the past. The kid even had the same cowlick in his hair and a crooked smirk that punched Samuel right in the gut.
The boy tilted his head. "Are you Mr. Blackwood?"
Samuel couldn't speak. He just stared.
The boy shrugged and added, "Mommy said you'd recognize me."
"Who is your mother?" he managed to say, though his voice came out tight.
The boy reached into his small backpack and pulled out a crumpled envelope. "She said to give you this."
Samuel took it with shaking fingers and stepped into his office without a word. He didn't sit. He opened the letter.
> Samuel,
If you're reading this, it means I did something I swore I never would: I brought our son into your world.
I had my reasons for disappearing. I just never thought he'd find you on his own.
Please don't hate me. I only ever loved you.
— Cecilia
Cecilia.
The name hit him like a brick.
The woman he had once loved, the woman who vanished five years ago without a word, had just rewritten his entire existence. She hadn't just left him. She'd taken his child.
His son.
He ran a hand through his hair, forcing himself to breathe. The kid was still outside, probably bored and playing with the buttons in the hallway.
What the hell was he supposed to do now?
Two Hours Earlier…
Cecilia paced in the small café across the street, watching the Blackwood Industries building like a criminal.
She hadn't planned it this way. She never intended to send Leo into that building alone. But when he saw his father's name on the door, he insisted.
"Mom, if he's really my dad, I wanna see him," Leo had said, stubborn as always.
She didn't want him to face rejection — not like she had.
But they were running out of money. Her landlord had given her one more week to pay up, and Leo's school fees were overdue. She couldn't run anymore. She was tired.
She saw the elevator open and Samuel step out.
Cecilia's heart cracked wide open.
He hadn't changed much — still tall, still intense, still cold and powerful in that flawless suit. But his eyes… They looked like they saw a ghost.
He must have recognized Leo.
She ducked behind a column, her body trembling. He didn't know she was watching. He didn't know how much it cost her to walk away back then.
He didn't know the secret she still kept.
---
Back in the Office
Samuel poured himself a glass of whiskey. At 10:30 a.m.
He couldn't stop staring at the boy through the glass wall. Leo. The kid had taken out a sketchpad and was drawing, completely unbothered by the chaos he had dropped into Samuel's world.
Was he really mine?
The resemblance was undeniable. But Cecilia had disappeared five years ago. She hadn't even said goodbye. Why?
There had been whispers. That she was pregnant. That she left to avoid scandal. He never believed it—until now.
Samuel picked up his phone.
"Find Cecilia Hart. I want her in my office in twenty-four hours. I don't care what it takes."
He hung up and looked out at Leo again.