Chapter 2
Carol's POV
"Sir, there are eight million people in New York. Feeling familiar is perfectly normal."
I tried to keep my voice calm, but my heart was beating frantically.
He stared at me, confusion flickering in his eyes. "I really do feel... very familiar. Are you sure we haven't met before?"
Looking at this face that had haunted my dreams for four years, all the pain I'd buried deep in my heart suddenly surged up. How can he not remember at all? Was that stormy night... so insignificant to him?
"No." I answered quickly. "I'm certain we've never met."
Just then, Orion suddenly jumped up and patted the man's leg with his small hands. "Mommy, this is Daddy, right? The man from Aria's dreams!"
My blood froze instantly.
"I'm sorry, sir," I frantically pulled Orion toward me. "The children have mistaken you for someone else... they don't have a father."
But I noticed that when I said "don't have a father," something like... anger flashed in this man's eyes.
Kai and Aria also instinctively moved closer to him, as if drawn by some invisible force.
"Kai! Aria! Come here!" My voice was sharper than intended. "We need to go back inside!"
"Don't go..." Aria said softly, her small hand gripping the man's sleeve tightly. "Mister, could you please not leave?"
I watched him crouch down and gently stroke Aria's hair. "I won't leave, little princess."
NO! This will expose everything!
"Children, come inside with Mommy RIGHT NOW!" My tone was almost commanding as I forcibly pulled the three children toward the shop.
As I turned at the doorway, I saw him still standing there. The setting sun cast shadows across his sharp nose, and those deep eyes gazed at me as if trying to see through my soul.
At eleven o'clock at night, the small apartment was quiet except for my racing heartbeat.
I discovered that none of the three children were in their own beds. Instead, they were huddled around my laptop, having fallen asleep.
What were they searching for?
I tiptoed over and when I saw what was displayed on the screen, the entire world spun around me.
"Ronald Sterling - Sterling Group CEO - Net Worth $8 Billion"
So his name is Ronald...
Photo after photo filled the screen: him in a tailored suit at business galas, standing in front of Wall Street headquarters, his focused profile during a Forbes interview... Each photo showcased his undeniable success and power.
Wall Street financial emperor, New York's youngest billionaire, business legend...
A billionaire...
I kept scrolling and then saw the news that shattered my heart:
"Sterling Group Heir and Morrison Financial Heiress Laura's Union to be Announced..."
In the photo, a perfectly elegant woman was holding Ronald's arm, and they looked so well-matched.
So he's getting married...
Sharp pain shot through my chest, as if someone was tearing at my heart. For four years, I'd been telling myself I'd forgotten him, but seeing this news, I realized how much I'd been lying to myself.
If he discovers the children's identity... if he wants to take my children away...
A poor coffee shop owner against a business emperor worth billions? This wasn't even the same league!
"Daddy... don't go..."
Aria murmured in her sleep, her little hands clawing at the air as if trying to grab something.
Tears streamed down my face. My children... they long for their father, but I can't lose them...
The following week was pure nightmare.
Every morning at eight o'clock sharp, Ronald Sterling appeared at my coffee shop. Not by chance, not passing by, but deliberately.
"Good morning." He always greeted politely, then ordered a black coffee and sat by the window.
"Uncle!" Kai was always the first to rush over. "Let me get your newspaper!"
"The Wall Street Journal or The New York Times today?" This four-year-old actually knew about financial newspapers!
"Uncle, this is a picture I drew for you!" Aria would shyly offer her doodles, always drawing happy families of five holding hands.
And Orion was even more direct: "Uncle, when are you taking us to see your big house? Mommy says you have lots and lots of money!"
Every time the children said things like this, I wanted to crawl into a hole.
"Stay calm, Carol. He's just a regular customer..." I kept telling myself.
But the feeling of being watched by him... like prey being stalked by a predator. Whenever I looked up, I'd meet those deep eyes, filled with complex emotions I couldn't read.
"Mommy, why do you always avoid Uncle?" Orion asked innocently. "He's a good person!"
"I'm not avoiding him," I lied.
But I was definitely avoiding him. I kept the children in the back kitchen as much as possible and avoided any interaction with him myself.
Yet the children were drawn to him like magnets, always gravitating toward him unconsciously.
Is this blood connection... truly irresistible?
On the seventh afternoon, the inevitable finally happened.
"Ms. Smith, we're running low on coffee beans in the storage room," my part-time employee Mia said.
I nodded and headed to the storage room in the back. It was cramped and dim, filled with heavy sacks, with only an old lightbulb providing weak illumination.
As I struggled to move a fifty-pound bag of coffee beans, I suddenly heard footsteps behind me.
"Let me help you with that."
That familiar deep voice made me shiver all over. I turned around to see Ronald standing in the storage room doorway, his tall figure blocking almost all the light.
"No need, I can manage..." My voice was trembling. "This is an employee-only area. Customers aren't allowed back here."
But he'd already walked in and easily lifted the coffee bag as if it weighed nothing.
In this cramped space, his presence was overwhelming. I could smell his light cologne mixed with something... wild, and feel the heat radiating from his body.
"Where should I put this?" he asked.
"Over there... on that shelf in the corner," I stammered, pointing.
When he turned to place the coffee beans, I tried to squeeze past him to escape the space, but it was too narrow.
Our bodies inevitably collided.
In that instant, the entire world stood still.
An electric sensation spread from the point of contact throughout my entire body. I felt something I'd never experienced before... hunger? Longing? The feeling was so intense I nearly couldn't stand.
I heard him sharp intake of breath, then witnessed something that shocked me—his eyes instantly changed from deep blue to bright gold, just like Kai's when he was angry!
But the next moment when I blinked and looked again, those eyes had returned to their normal deep blue, as if everything I'd just seen was an illusion.
"Your hands are shaking." His gaze became dangerous and intense.
I quickly pulled my hands back and stepped away, bumping into the shelf.
"I... I'm fine." I tried to stay calm, but my body betrayed me. "Please leave. I have work to do."
He didn't move. Instead, he stepped forward, his tall frame almost trapping me between the shelf and his chest. I could feel the blazing heat from his body, that oppressive feeling making it hard to breathe.
"Carol..." He suddenly called my name, then gradually moved closer to me.
My heart nearly stopped beating. No... this can't happen!
"I don't know who you are." I shook my head desperately, tears welling in my eyes. "Please leave my shop and stop bothering us!"
I pushed him away forcefully and fled the storage room.
