Chapter 2
MY MOTHER'S LAST WISH
"If your mother could see what you've done to her company, she'd be ashamed of you."
The words left Daisy Hart's mouth before she could stop them.
The boardroom fell silent.
Across the polished conference table, Richard Hart's face darkened instantly.
The man had once been a loving father.
At least that's what Daisy used to believe.
Now she wasn't so sure.
Richard slowly set down the financial report he had been reviewing.
"You've become very disrespectful."
Daisy laughed.
A short, bitter sound.
"Disrespectful?"
She pushed a stack of documents toward him.
"The company has lost three major contracts this year."
She pointed at another page.
"Revenue is down."
Another.
"Employees are leaving."
Another.
"And somehow your wife has managed to buy another mansion."
The atmosphere became tense.
Vanessa Hart, seated beside Richard, stiffened immediately.
Her perfectly manicured fingers tightened around her designer handbag.
"Careful, Daisy," she warned.
Daisy turned toward her.
For years she had tried.
Tried being polite.
Tried being understanding.
Tried pretending Vanessa wasn't the reason her parents' marriage had collapsed.
Today she was tired.
"Nobody asked you."
Vanessa gasped.
Richard slammed his hand on the table.
"Enough!"
The sound echoed through the room.
Several board members looked away awkwardly.
Daisy wasn't surprised.
Nobody ever wanted to take sides.
Not when money was involved.
Not when Richard Hart controlled everything.
Everything except one thing.
The shares her mother had left behind.
Shares that legally belonged to Daisy.
Shares she still couldn't access.
Because of a single condition.
A condition that had haunted her for years.
Her mother had always believed family mattered more than money.
Unfortunately, she had taken that belief to the grave.
"Daisy," Richard said through clenched teeth, "you have no authority here."
The statement hurt more than it should have.
Not because it was true.
Because it shouldn't have been.
Hart Corporation had been built by her mother.
Not him.
Every building.
Every contract.
Every employee.
Every success.
All of it had started with her mother's vision.
Yet somehow Richard had turned himself into king.
While Daisy remained locked out.
A visitor in her own inheritance.
She stood from her chair.
"I'm done watching this happen."
"Daisy—"
"No."
Her voice cut through the room.
For a moment everyone froze.
Even Richard.
"I spent years hoping you would do the right thing."
She looked directly at her father.
"You never did."
Then she looked at Vanessa.
"And neither did you."
Without waiting for a response, Daisy grabbed her bag and walked out.
The moment the elevator doors closed behind her, she released a shaky breath.
Her chest hurt.
Not because of the company.
Not because of the money.
Because once upon a time she had loved her father.
Now every conversation felt like a battlefield.
By the time she arrived home, darkness had fallen.
The penthouse overlooked the city skyline.
Most people would have considered it luxurious.
Daisy considered it lonely.
The silence greeted her immediately.
No husband.
No children.
No family.
Just another evening alone.
She kicked off her heels and headed straight for the study.
A large portrait hung on the wall.
Her mother.
Beautiful.
Elegant.
Strong.
Daisy stopped in front of it.
As she always did after a difficult day.
"Hi, Mom."
The room remained silent.
She smiled sadly.
"I got into another fight with Dad."
Still nothing.
The smile faded.
"I miss you."
Her eyes burned.
She hated crying.
Especially over something she couldn't change.
But sometimes the grief still caught her off guard.
Even after all these years.
A few minutes later she opened a drawer.
Inside sat a thick envelope.
The one thing she almost never looked at.
Her mother's will.
Daisy had memorized every word years ago.
Yet she still unfolded the document.
Still read it.
Still hoped the words would somehow change.
They never did.
Her gaze settled on the clause she hated most.
In the event of my death, controlling shares shall transfer to my daughter Daisy Hart upon marriage or upon becoming the legal guardian of a dependent child.
Daisy stared at the sentence.
Marriage.
Or a child.
The condition that had trapped her for years.
She wasn't against love.
She simply refused to marry for money.
Too many people already did.
Including her father.
The thought made her laugh bitterly.
Her mother had probably intended the clause to encourage family.
Instead it had become a prison.
Daisy folded the document and leaned back in her chair.
Marriage was out of the question.
The idea of marrying some random man simply to unlock her inheritance made her skin crawl.
That left only one option.
A child.
The thought lingered.
For the first time, she didn't immediately dismiss it.
She was thirty years old.
Successful.
Financially secure.
Independent.
Why couldn't she become a mother?
Without a husband.
Without waiting for some perfect love story.
Without depending on anyone.
The more she thought about it, the more the idea made sense.
Her pulse quickened.
For years she had viewed the clause as a burden.
Now she was beginning to see it differently.
A child wouldn't simply help her claim the company.
A child would give her something she genuinely wanted.
A family.
A reason to come home.
A future.
A small smile appeared on her face.
The first genuine smile she'd had all day.
She reached for her phone.
Her fingers hovered above the screen.
Then she opened a search page.
Fertility clinics.
Several results appeared immediately.
Daisy stared at them.
Her heart raced.
Maybe.
Just maybe.
This was the answer she'd been searching for.
Little did Daisy know that one simple decision was about to collide with the life of a man she had never met.
And change both their futures forever.
