Page 214 of My Dark Prince
My eyes widened to saucers. “You weren’t her only affair?”
For all that fuss Philomena had made over Jason’s constant flings, she never once mentioned hers. But it made sense. At the café, it sounded like my mother had admitted to intentionally getting pregnant through an affair. Jason couldn’t have kids of his own, so she sought them elsewhere. Perhaps to trap him in the unhappy marriage.
Cooper finished off his English tea and set the saucer back on the coffee table. “Not even close.”
“Is that why …” I trailed off, not sure how to pose the question.
He offered me an amused grin. “Why we don’t look the same?”
I nodded but didn’t ask the real question I wanted to.
“You’re my biological daughter if that’s what you’re wondering.” Cooper’s eyes softened, and his voice came out gentler. “Even if I didn’t raise you, even if we don’t share the same last name, even if you choose to walk away and never turn back, you will always be my daughter.”
His words filled up that hollowed-out space in my soul like rain soaking parched earth. I never realized how much I needed to hear them. That, over the years, I’d convinced myself to stop waiting to be seen, claimed,loved. It hit me then, in the empty, towering library – a child’s heart is only as big as the love their parents filled it with.
I cleared my throat, swallowing the sudden lump there. “How are you sure you’re my dad if she had other affairs? We don’t even look alike.”
“I knew Philomena slept around, but when she told me you were mine, I believed her.” His gaze held mine, delivering an unspoken promise. “I wanted you. From the start. Never once did I not want to be your father. Understood?”
“But—”
“I need you to tell me that you understand, Briar.”
I couldn’t fathom the fact that a total stranger – only nineteen at the time – would love me so much that he uprooted his life and chased me across the globe.Me.Why? It was like trying to convince me that the sun loved the shadows.
Still, I gave him the words he wanted, even as they felt too big for my mouth. “I believe you.”
He obviously didn’t believeme. His eyes promised that we’d revisit the subject later, but he tossed me a lifeline and moved on. “I realized after the lawsuit that Phil only strung me along as a backup plan, in case things fell through with Jason.”
“She used you.”
“She did.” He nodded with calm acceptance. Not a lick of resentment clouded his warmth. “First, as a means to provide a child for Jason’s family image. Then, as a backup plan in case his crimes caught up to them.”
“You’re not angry?”
“At first, yes. Philomena is a compulsive liar. After her, it took years for me to trust people again. But I will always be grateful to her for the one truth she told me.”
“What was it?”
“That I have a daughter.”
I swallowed, my heart like sludge in my throat. “Tell me about the lawsuit, please.”
“It happened after I found Phil for the eighth time.” He said it casually, as if people regularly dropped their lives to search for their long-lost daughters. “She and Jason stayed in a flat in Buenos Aires. I cased the place, waiting for you to enter.”
“I was in boarding school.”
“That explains why you never came.” He grinned, clearly amused by his own persistence. “Eventually, I got sick of waiting and approached them.”
“What did they tell you?”
“That you didn’t want to see me.”
“That’s a lie.” A flash of white-hot rage shot through me, like tossing gas onto a bonfire. “They never even told me you exist until I confronted them about it.”
“I know. I knew it then, too. So, when they threatened to call the cops, I ended up filing a lawsuit in Argentina for full custody.”
“How did I not know about this?”
