Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty-Four
ONE MONTH LATER
Brielle
Stella and I were finally settled at Caden’s penthouse. He let her pick out the colors for her room and a new bedroom furniture set. While his piano sat in his study, hers was placed in the living room by the window that overlooked the city. She was happy to be here, and so was I. I had never been happier in my life.
We sat in the bubbly-filled tub. My back was pressed against his body as his arms wrapped around me.
“There’s something I want to talk to you about,” he spoke.
“What is it?” I tilted my head and looked up at him.
“I want to adopt Stella. I want her to have my name, and I want her to be mine.”
“Oh, Caden. I don’t know what to say.”
“It should be easy since Daniel has never acknowledged her or was ever a part of her life. He abandoned both you and her.”
“Yes, definitely. I want you to adopt her; I know she’d love that too. Oh my gosh, she’s going to be so excited.”
“We have to be married first before we can proceed. So, I’m thinking we can move the wedding date up six months from now. I don’t want to wait, Brielle. I already got in touch with the wedding planner, and she’s racing for us. That’s if you agree.”
“Of course, I agree. I can’t wait to marry you.” I smiled. “I’d marry you tomorrow in the courthouse.”
“As much as I’d love that, I want you to have the grandest wedding of all time. After all, this will be your one and only wedding.”
One Month Later
“Eat your breakfast, sunshine, or you’ll be late for school. Caden, stop distracting her.”
“Brielle, please. We’re having an intelligent conversation over here,” he spoke.
I rolled my eyes as I opened the refrigerator and put the milk away. Caden walked over to me and placed his hands firmly on my hips.
“I have to go. I love you. Have a good day.”
“I love you too.” I wrapped my arms around his neck as we passionately kissed.
“Ew. Not in front of the tiny human,” Stella spoke.
“Then close your eyes,” Caden said as he walked over and kissed the top of her head. “Have a good day at school, kiddo. I love you.”
“I love you too, Caden.”
I grabbed Stella’s backpack from the table and headed to the lobby. I froze as we exited the building when I heard a voice from behind.
“Hello, Brielle.”
I slowly turned around and saw Daniel standing there.
“Stella, get in the car.”
“Who is that, Mommy?”
“Ben, get Stella in the car and take her to school. Make sure you walk her in.”
“Of course, Brielle.”
“What do you want, Daniel?”
He looked up at the building and slowly nodded his head.
“Looks like you’ve moved up in the world, Brielle. Is that her? Is that my daughter?”
I stood there, my heart rapidly beating with my hand clutching my purse strap.
“I’ll ask you again: what are you doing here?”
“I saw in an article where Juilliard accepted their youngest student, Stella Winters. I came to meet my daughter.”
“It’s too late for that.”
He glanced down at my finger and saw the three-carat diamond sitting upon it.
“You’re married?”
“Engaged.”
“It’s not too late. I’m her father and have every right to see her.”
“You lost your rights the night you walked out the door and never came back,” I spoke through gritted teeth.
“She’s my kid.”
“She is not your kid.” I pointed my finger at him. “Maybe your sperm helped create her, but you are no more her father than any stranger walking down this street. She is happy and well-adjusted, and she’s thriving. You will not stumble into her life and turn it upside down six years later. She doesn’t want to meet you anyway.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I told her from day one how you abandoned her. She has a father. A man who loves her and wants to spend time with her. He takes care of her and gives her everything she needs. In fact, he’s adopting her as soon as we get married.”
“I don’t think so, Brielle. She’s my kid, and I’m not giving up my rights. I came here because I’ve done a lot of thinking and want to be a part of her life.”
“Why? Because you saw an article, and now you think you’re going to be a part of the limelight? I have news for you, Daniel. I won’t allow you to be in her life, so I suggest you get the fuck back into the hole you crawled out from and leave us alone!”
“This ain’t over, Brielle. You can’t keep me from seeing her. And if you try, you’ll be sorry.” He pointed at me as he walked away.
I was shaking as I hailed a cab and climbed in, taking it to Caden’s office. When I arrived, I immediately took the elevator up, and his secretary, Louise, told me he was in a meeting in the conference room.
“Tell him it’s urgent, Louise. I need to see him now.”
She picked up the phone and dialed the conference room.
“It’s Louise. Can you please tell Mr. Chamberlain that Brielle is here and it’s urgent?”
Within a couple of moments, he was in his office.
“Are you okay? What’s going on?” He lightly grabbed my arm.
I stood in front of him as the tears fell down my face.
“Brielle, what happened?”
I swallowed hard.
“Daniel is back, and he wants to meet Stella. He said he wants to be a part of her life.” I cried as I placed my hands on his chest.
“What? When did you see him?”
“It was right after you left for the office. Stella and I walked out of the building and were walking to the car when he stopped me. I immediately put Stella in the car and made Ben drive her to school. He told me he saw the article about her getting into Juilliard, and now he wants to be in her life. I don’t trust him, Caden, and I don’t want him anywhere near her.”
He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into him, holding my head against his chest.
“It’s going to be okay, darling. I have the best lawyer in New York. I’ll call him right now.”
He broke our embrace, pulled out his phone, and dialed his lawyer. After speaking to him for several minutes, he ended the call.
“We have a meeting with him tomorrow morning at ten o’clock.”
“Okay. Thank you.” I wrapped my arms around his waist.
“I don’t want you to worry about this. Everything is going to work out in our favor.” He kissed the top of my head.