A Truth Meant to Stay Hidden

Ashton’s POV

Lily’s shadow haunted me endlessly. The girl was innocent. She had no idea about her father’s dark dealings. But she was the only weapon I could use to bring David Taylor’s life to ruin—or see him rot in prison.

I would never forget how David Taylor tore our family business apart, one piece at a time. He always had a sly way of chasing what he wanted.

There were too many threads that led back to him. He had to be the one responsible for our company’s downfall and the accident that claimed my father and brother. Just a month before it happened, David Taylor won a major project that we had almost secured.

Had that deal gone through, my father and brother wouldn’t have gone out of town to pursue the other tender. They died on that journey.

There were more reasons why David Taylor remained the only person I could suspect. It felt like he had eyes inside our company. Some suspicious transactions were made to our finance staff, who then abruptly resigned after the accident. That staff member vanished without a trace, like dust in the wind.

The car my father and brother were driving raised questions too. It had been checked thoroughly before they left. Yet somehow, the investigation claimed the brakes failed. And the technician who had always handled our vehicles also disappeared.

My father and David Taylor had been business rivals for years. Always competing to dominate the construction and real estate industries. But David played dirty. He once exploded in rage when my father rejected a merger proposal. Since then, their friendship disintegrated.

My biggest regret was not knowing anything about the company at the time. I hadn’t joined the leadership structure yet. So in that moment of crisis, with no official successor to the deceased CEO, the board of directors decided to auction off one of our flagship projects that hadn’t yet been signed by my father. That auction only deepened my suspicion. Everything seemed linked to that fatal accident. David Taylor won the project with uncanny ease, and I doubted the process had been clean.

I wouldn’t accuse someone without reason. All I needed was solid proof to put David Taylor behind bars.

And Lily… I’d be introducing her at a press conference in a few days. I wouldn’t immediately reveal who Lily Parker truly was. But I knew David Taylor would recognize her.

Lily always said her father never cared. That he denied her existence. The poor girl had been poisoned by her mother’s words, believing her father was nothing but a bastard.

Maybe that part was true. Maybe David Taylor was a bastard. But he was a good father to his children, both those from his first marriage and from affairs. Lily had no idea he sent her large sums for her education and living expenses. But fate had been cruel. Her mother squandered it all—gambling, living it up. Lily had nothing.

I knew how David Taylor treated his daughter born out of wedlock. He even asked Lily’s mother to send him photos of her from time to time. A sweet father in his own twisted way. It wasn’t hard for me to gather this information. In many things, money always wins.

I walked to the window of my room, gazing out at the dim lights that framed the garden below.

There are no true friends in this world. One day, they’ll turn into enemies the moment you take a step ahead.

True love doesn’t exist either. I’ll never forget the pain of betrayal. My ex-lover cheated on me with one of David Taylor’s children—Lily’s brother. I’m certain that too was part of David’s plan. Company secrets had been leaking. I despised Alexa with all I had. She didn’t just betray me. She destroyed me from within.

It took time and a grueling process to rebuild what we lost.

I will never trust women again. I will make David Taylor regret everything. His beloved daughter is now in my hands.

---

This morning, I planned to stay at home with Max. He got lonely sometimes, and I felt guilty for leaving him so often.

My poor nephew. His father died in a car crash, and his mother left him to marry the man she once had an affair with. Why does this world seem overrun with women who cheat?

That’s why I’ve remained single. I want no betrayal in marriage. As for marrying Lily, it’s just a contract.

Max wanted to swim in the pool beside the dining room. I sat on a bench at the edge, keeping an eye on him.

Lily walked past without glancing at me. Maybe she wanted to join Max.

“Hi Lily, come swim with me,” Max called, waving at her. They were closer than I expected.

“Sure. I’d love to. The weather’s warm and beautiful this morning.” She smiled wide, removing her bathrobe. The bikini she wore was revealing. Her chest wasn’t as full as the women I used to date, but there was something captivating about her. I looked away. I wouldn’t let myself grow weak from something so trivial.

Lily and Max played in the water together, laughing, splashing.

“Daddy, come swim!” Max waved at me.

“Later, Max.”

“Come on, Daddy. I want to swim with you.” His voice softened, full of hope.

I couldn’t say no. I took off my shirt and jumped into the shallow pool, adjusted to Max’s height.

He splashed water at me, then at Lily. Her laughter echoed. Watching Max smile so brightly warmed something in me. He’d endured so much since his father’s death. His mother barely checked on him. I wanted to be there for him, even though I could never bring his father back.

Lily swam toward the edge of the pool. I followed. She sat at the rim, letting her legs remain dipped in the water.

“I think the three of us look like a family,” I said. “Maybe after the wedding, Max can call you ‘Mom’.”

Lily let out a soft laugh at my teasing.

“Is that what you want?” she asked. “Don’t you want to save that name for the right woman?” Her lips curved into a faint, sideways smile. “Not the one you married in a contract.”

I grinned. “I’ll never get married for real. Once our contract ends, I won’t marry anyone.”

Lily froze. Her gaze sharpened, studying me.

“I used to believe the same thing,” she said. “That I’d never marry—until you came along and proposed a contract.”

I watched her, my face unreadable, though curiosity stirred inside me. “Have you been betrayed?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Betrayed in love, you mean? Or betrayed by friends, by family?”

“By a partner,” I said without hesitation.

“I never had a boyfriend,” Lily answered. “So I don’t know what it feels like to be betrayed by someone like that.” Her smile returned, but it held a quiet ache. “But I’ve been betrayed by too many hopes, even by my own dreams... and by my mother.”

We held each other’s gaze. She didn’t seem as guarded as usual. There was pain in her eyes.