Chapter 6: The Voice That Wasn't Mine
The recording continued.
Damon sat frozen.
The sound coming from the speakers was impossible.
His voice.
His exact voice.
"Sarah, I never loved you.""
The words echoed through the room.
Sarah looked at him.
Not with anger.
With pain.
Because she had heard them before.
Damon shook his head.
"No.""
He leaned closer to the computer.
"That's not me.""
The recording continued.
Elisa’s voice followed.
"You understand now, don't you?""
Sarah's younger voice trembled.
"You forged this?""
Damon stopped.
Elisa laughed.
The sound was unmistakable.
"I didn't forge anything.""
"You changed his words.""
"I made sure you heard what you needed to hear.""
The recording became clearer.
Elisa continued:
"Damon Cross will never choose you over his family name.""
Sarah’s voice broke.
"What are you doing?""
"I'm saving him.""
"No.""
"I'm saving myself.""
The audio stopped.
Nobody spoke.
Damon stared at the screen.
The room felt smaller.
Sarah covered her face.
"I told you.""
Damon looked at her.
"What?""
"She wasn't just trying to separate us.""
Sarah whispered.
"She wanted me gone completely.""
Damon stood slowly.
"Why?""
Sarah looked at him.
"You really don't know?""
"No.""
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Because of your father.""
The name hit him like a punch.
"My father?""
Sarah nodded.
"Elisa was working with him.""
Damon went silent.
His father had died six years earlier.
A powerful man who built the Cross empire through ruthless decisions.
A man Damon spent years trying not to become.
"What does my father have to do with this?""
Sarah hesitated.
"He knew about Lily.""
Damon’s face changed.
"What?""
Sarah looked toward their daughter.
"He knew before she was born.""
The silence that followed felt unbearable.
Damon sat down.
"My father knew I had a child?""
Sarah nodded.
"He told Elisa to make sure you never found out.""
Damon stared at the floor.
Memories rushed back.
His father's warnings.
The arguments before the wedding.
The way his father suddenly changed after Sarah disappeared.
Everything he ignored.
Everything he missed.
"Why?""
Sarah whispered:
"Because your father believed I would destroy your future.""
Damon laughed once.
But there was no humor in it.
"My future.""
He looked around.
At the daughter he never knew.
At the woman he lost.
"He destroyed my life to protect my future.""
Sarah reached toward him.
"Damon...""
He stood.
Not angry.
Not shouting.
Something colder.
Determined.
"Where is Elisa now?""
Sarah looked worried.
"Damon, don't do anything reckless.""
"I won't.""
He looked at the recording.
"I'll do something legal.""
A faint smile appeared on his face.
The same smile people feared in business meetings.
The smile that meant he had made a decision.
He called his attorney.
"Prepare everything.""
The attorney answered immediately.
"Mr. Cross?""
"I need a full investigation into Elisa Rochefort.""
A pause.
"On what grounds?""
Damon looked at Lily.
She was sitting quietly, eating the cake she had saved.
Then he said:
"Fraud. Extortion. Threats.""
He paused.
"And attempted concealment of my daughter.""
After hanging up, Damon noticed Lily staring at him.
"What is it, sweetheart?""
She held up the cake.
"It's not very good anymore.""
Damon smiled despite everything.
"Why?""
"Because I saved it too long.""
He sat beside her.
"Sometimes things get damaged when we wait too long.""
Lily looked at him.
"Can they still be fixed?""
Damon looked at Sarah.
Then back at his daughter.
"Yes.""
He gently touched her hand.
"Some things are worth fixing.""
That night, Damon thought the truth had finally come out.
He thought Elisa was the enemy.
He thought his father’s secret was the last piece of the puzzle.
But at midnight, his attorney called.
And the first words he heard were:
"Mr. Cross, we found something in Sarah Bennett's old medical records.""
Damon sat up.
"What?""
The attorney hesitated.
"There is a second child listed in the file.""
Damon froze.
"That's impossible.""
A long silence.
Then the attorney said:
"Sir... Sarah didn't give birth to one baby.""
May you like
Damon felt the world stop.
"She gave birth to twins.""
