The Secret Heir Of the Billionaire

The next morning dawned gray and heavy, as if the city itself sensed the storm brewing between them.

Vivian sat in the Ashford Tower conference room, her fingers drumming softly on the table. The revised contract sat unopened before her sleek, precise, and somehow more threatening than the first draft.

Liam entered, alone this time. No lawyers. No entourage. Just him, his expression unreadable.

"I thought we'd settle this without an audience," he said quietly.

Vivian didn't answer. She opened the document, scanning the pages, her heart thudding in her chest. Line by line, clause by clause, she searched for the traps she knew might lurk beneath the polished legal language.

Her breath eased slightly. The joint custody was clear. Travel restrictions removed. Her independence secured.

But at the end of the document a single addition.

Her eyes narrowed. "A five-year term?"

Liam's gaze met hers. "Daniel needs stability. I won't have him used as a pawn in an arrangement that ends the moment it becomes inconvenient for you."

Vivian bristled. "You mean for you."

His jaw tightened. "For him. I don't care what it costs me."

For a moment, silence stretched between them, thick with old wounds and new uncertainties.

"Five years," she said at last, voice low. "Then we walk away. No fight. No strings."

Liam nodded slowly. "If that's what you want."

Vivian signed first, her hand steady even as her heart raced. Liam followed, his signature bold across the page, sealing a deal that would bind them together not by love, but by duty.

But before they could even stand, Liam's phone buzzed, the shrill tone cutting through the room like a blade.

He answered mm and his face darkened.

"What is it?" Vivian asked, dread coiling in her stomach.

He ended the call, his knuckles white around the phone. "The press. Someone leaked the story. Daniel, the marriage it's out."

Vivian's blood ran cold. "Who?"

"I don't know." Liam's voice was steel. "But I will find out. And when I do "

The air seemed to crackle with the weight of what was coming.

Vivian rose, lifting her chin. "Then let's show them we're stronger together."

For the first time, Liam smiled sharp, dangerous, determined. "Let the world come. We're ready."

But as the words left his mouth, his mind raced. Ready? The truth was, he'd spent years building walls to keep chaos out. Now, with one leak, those walls were cracking. He turned toward the window, jaw clenched as he took in the city below. Even from this height, he could see the first signs of the storm: news vans pulling up, reporters spilling onto the sidewalk, cameras lifted, lenses pointed like weapons at Ashford Tower.

Who?

The question throbbed at his temples.

His board? Too many of them stood to gain from his downfall.

A bitter ex-employee? A rival like Grant Holdings, eager to sink their hooks into Ashford weaknesses?

Or... someone closer? Someone who'd heard whispers in these very halls?

Beside him, Vivian had gone still, her breath shallow as she watched the scene unfold. A microphone rose on the newsfeed streaming live on Liam's screen.

"Sources confirm Liam Ashford's secret marriage and heir. What does this mean for the Ashford empire? And who is the mysterious mother of his child?"

Vivian's stomach knotted. Daniel. She pictured him wide-eyed, confused, cornered by flashing cameras. The image chilled her.

"No," she whispered fiercely. "They won't touch him."

Her voice pulled Liam from his thoughts. He turned to her, seeing the fire in her eyes a mother's fury, raw and unshakable.

"They won't," Liam vowed. He strode to his desk, hitting a button on the intercom.

"Darren, get up here. Now."

Moments later, his head of security burst in, already breathless.

"Lock down the building," Liam ordered. "No reporters near Daniel. No photos. Get him somewhere safe low profile, no one follows."

"Yes, sir." Darren nodded and was gone.

Vivian stepped closer, arms folded, her voice low but firm. "I want to be with him. I'm not going to hide behind you, Liam. I'll fight for him too."

Liam's gaze softened for the briefest second. "I know. That's why we'll do this together."

Together. The word tasted strange. Once, it had meant passion and promise. Now, it meant war against enemies they couldn't yet see.

Outside, the reporters grew bolder, their voices rising in a chorus of questions.

"Mr. Ashford! Is it true?"

"Who is your wife?"

"Will your son inherit the company?"

Vivian flinched at the sound of Daniel's name on their lips.

"They'll devour us if we let them," she said.

Liam's mouth set in a grim line.

"Then we won't let them. From now on, we control the story."

A plan began to take shape press statements, public appearances, calculated moves to shift the narrative. But beneath the strategy, Liam's mind stayed fixed on one truth:

Someone inside had betrayed them.

And when he found out who there would be hell to pay.

Vivian touched the window, watching the city pulse with hunger for their downfall.

"They think they've cornered us," she murmured.

Liam stepped beside her, his voice low, lethal.

"Let them think it. We'll remind them who we are."

Vivian drew in a breath, her reflection faint in the glass, eyes hardened by everything she'd survived.

"I don't want Daniel to remember this as the day his world fell apart. I want him to remember it as the day we stood our ground."

Liam looked at her truly looked and for a heartbeat, the woman he'd once loved, fierce and unyielding, eclipsed the enemy he'd made of her.

"You have my word," he said quietly. "We'll shield him. No matter the cost."

A knock came at the door sharp, urgent. Darren reappeared, his face tense.

"Sir, ma'am the lobby's flooded. Security's holding them back for now, but we can't guarantee how long."

Liam nodded, already moving.

"Get a car ready underground exit. I want Daniel out of here. No mistakes."

Vivian grabbed her bag, determination fueling her steps.

"I'm coming with him. Don't try to stop me."

"I wouldn't dare." There was almost a flicker of admiration in Liam's tone.

Together, they swept from the room, striding down the private corridor as chaos rumbled through the building. Every corner felt watched, every shadow a threat.

When they reached the elevator, Vivian caught Liam's arm.

"Whoever did this... it wasn't random. Someone's playing a dangerous game."

Liam met her gaze, steel meeting fire.

"And they just made it personal."

The elevator doors slid open, swallowing them in cold steel and mirrored walls. As they descended, the weight of what awaited pressed down on them.

In that silent descent, Vivian made herself a promise

They won't break me. They won't break us.

And Liam? His mind was already turning over every name, every motive. When he found the leak, retribution would be swift. Ruthless. Ashford-style.

The car waited in the garage, engine purring like a beast ready to run. Vivian slipped inside beside Daniel, pulling him close as he blinked sleepily up at her.

"Mama?"

"It's okay, baby. We're going somewhere safe."

Above them, the storm raged louder but in that moment, the car sped into the shadows, carrying with it two people who were no longer just survivors.

They were fighters.