Elena burst through the preschool doors twenty minutes later,
The receptionist looked up, startled.
"Ms. Carter..."
"Where are my children?" Elena demanded.
"They're fine, they're in the playroom with Ms. Karen. This way."
Elena followed her down the hallway, her mind racing. How had Richard found them? How did he even know they existed?
The playroom door opened and Liam came running over.
"Mommy! You're early!"
Elena dropped to her knees and pulled him into a hug, then reached for Lily who was coloring at a table.
"Are you okay? Both of you?"
"We're fine," Liam said, confused.
"Why wouldn't we be?"
Karen Mills, the school director, approached. She was a kind woman in her fifties who'd always been good to Elena.
"Can we talk in my office?"
Elena nodded, kissing both twins.
"Stay here with Miss Sarah, okay? I'll be right back."
In Karen's office, Elena sat down and tried to control her breathing.
"Tell me exactly what happened," she said.
Karen pulled out a visitor log.
"A man came in around eleven this morning. He said he was a family friend and wanted to confirm which children were yours. He specifically asked about twins."
"What did you tell him?"
"Nothing. We have strict policies about student information. But Elena, he was very insistent. He left this." Karen handed her a business card.
Elena stared at the name, it was Richard Blackwood, Chairman, Blackwood Enterprises.
Her hands started shaking.
"Do you know him?" Karen asked gently.
"He's... it's complicated."
"Is there something I should be worried about? Do we need to update your pickup authorization list?"
Elena's mind raced. She needed to protect her children but she couldn't explain why without revealing everything.
"Yes. Please add a note that only I can pick them up. No one else, no exceptions." She said quickly.
"Of course. And Elena? If this man comes back, I'm calling the police."
"Thank you."
Elena collected the twins and practically ran to her car. She kept checking over her shoulder, half expecting to see Richard or worse, Ethan waiting for them.
How much did Richard know? Had he seen the children? Did he tell Ethan?
Her phone rang and Ethan's name flashed on the screen.
Elena's stomach dropped but she let it go to voicemail.
It rang again immediately.
She answered, her voice sharp.
"What?"
"Where are you?" Ethan sounded angry.
"You left the building and then..."
"I had an emergency." She lied.
"What kind of emergency?" He asked.
"None of your business."
"Elena, my father just told me something very interesting," Ethan said, his voice dangerously quiet.
"He said he met you today. He also said he stopped by a preschool in Brooklyn."
Elena's blood turned to ice. She pulled over to the side of the road, her hands shaking too badly to drive.
"Did you send him?" she asked.
"What? No! I didn't even know he was..." Ethan stopped.
"Why would my father go to a preschool?"
Elena couldn't breathe, this was it. Everything was about to come crashing down.
"Elena. Answer me. Why was my father at a preschool?" He asked again
"I have to go." She replied.
"Don't you dare hang up on me. If this is about..."
She ended the call and turned off her phone.
In the back seat, Liam was quiet for once.
"Mommy, who was that man at school?" He finally asked.
"What man, baby?" She asked now looking at him curiously.
"The one who looked at me through the window during recess. Miss Sarah said he was just visiting but he kept staring."
Elena's vision blurred with tears. Richard had seen them. He'd seen Liam.
There was no way he missed those blue eyes.
She drove home in a daze, checking her mirrors constantly. When they finally reached their apartment building, she practically carried both children inside.
Mia was already there, pacing in the living room. "What happened? You said there was a problem and then you disappeared!"
Elena waited until the twins were in their room playing before she told Mia everything. Richard at the school, Ethan's phone call and the business card.
Mia sank onto the couch.
"Oh god. Elena, what are you going to do?"
"I don't know." She said confused
"He knows. Ethan's father knows about the twins."
"Maybe not. Maybe Richard was just..."
"Just what? Randomly visiting preschools in Brooklyn?" Mia shook her head.
"He knows. And he's going to tell Ethan if he hasn't already."
Elena's phone buzzed when she'd turned it back on and now there were seventeen missed calls from Ethan and six text messages.
We need to talk. Elena, answer your phone.
This isn't a game.
My father mentioned twins.
ANSWER ME.
I'm coming to your office. We're having this conversation whether you like it or not.
The last message was sent five minutes ago.
"He's coming to the office," Elena whispered.
Mia stood up.
"Then don't be there. Stay here with the kids. I'll go deal with him."
"No, he'll just..." She was cut short as a knock on the door made them both freeze.
"Elena Carter?" A man's voice called through the door.
"I have a delivery."
Mia looked through the peephole and said.
"It's just a courier."
She opened the door and a man in uniform handed her a large envelope.
"Sign here please."
After he left, Elena opened the envelope with shaking hands. Inside was a legal document. She scanned the first page and felt the room spin.
"What is it?" Mia asked.
"It's a contract amendment." Elena's voice was hollow.
"For the gala. It says I have to work directly with Ethan. Daily meetings and also full access to his schedule."
"That's insane. You can't..." Mia was saying before Elena interrupted.
"There's more." Elena flipped to the next page.
"It says if I breach the contract, I owe them triple the advance payment." She read.
"That's over two hundred thousand dollars!"
"I know."
"He's trapping you."
"I know."
Another knock on the door, harder this time and more insistent. Both women froze.
"Elena." Ethan's voice came through the door.
"I know you're in there. Open the door."
Mia's eyes went wide.
"How did he find your address?"
Elena didn't answer. She was too busy panicking about ger children who were twenty feet away in their bedroom. If Ethan came inside, if he saw them...
"Please," Ethan said, his voice softer now.
"I just want to talk."
Elena walked to the door slowly. She opened it just a crack, keeping her body blocking the entrance.
Ethan looked furious. His hair was messy like he'd been running his hands through it. His tie was loosened and his eyes were wild.
"What are you doing here?" Elena asked.
"What am I doing here? You hung up on me. You won't answer my calls. My father is acting strange and making comments about twins and preschools." He pushed against the door.
"Let me in." He said gently.
"No." She replied maintaining her stance.
"Elena..."
"You need to leave."
"Not until you tell me what the hell is going on."
"There's nothing to tell. Your father is paranoid. He probably investigated me like you did and found out I have.." She stopped herself just in time.
Ethan's eyes narrowed.
"Found out you have what?" He asked curiously.
"Responsibilities and a life. Things that don't concern you."
"Everything about you concerns me." He said and that really disgusted Elena.
"It's been five years, Ethan. You don't get to show up at my home and demand answers."
"My father saw children today," Ethan said slowly, watching her face.
"At a preschool in Brooklyn. They were twin children and he said one of them had blue eyes."
Elena's heart stopped.
"Lots of children have blue eyes," she said, but her voice shook.
"Elena." Ethan's voice dropped to a whisper.
"Are they mine?" He asked all of a sudden.
Before Elena could answer, Liam's voice called from inside the apartment.
"Mommy? Who's at the door?"
Time froze and Ethan's expression changed from anger to shock to something Elena couldn't name.
"You have a child," he said.
"Here. Right now."
Elena tried to close the door but Ethan pushed it open, stepping inside before she could stop him.
Liam came running out of the bedroom and stopped when he saw a stranger in their apartment.
"Who are you?" Liam asked.
Ethan stared at the little boy, at his blue eyes and at his dark hair. At the way he tilted his head, exactly the way Ethan did when he was curious about something.
"Oh my god," Ethan breathed.
Lily appeared in the doorway, shyer than her brother. She held her stuffed rabbit and looked at Ethan with wide hazel eyes.
"Twins," Ethan said, his voice breaking.
"You have twins."
Elena stepped between Ethan and her children. She ordered him out of her house but he had only persistentlyvasked him how old they were until she was forced to tell him they're four years old.
Ethan did the math in his head. She could see it happening.
"Four years old," he said quietly.
"You've been back in New York for three months. You've been raising my children for four years and you never told me."
"They're not..."
"Don't." His voice was hard as steel. "Don't you dare lie to me right now. Look at him and look at his eyes. He's mine."
Liam looked confused. "Mommy?"
"Go to your room, baby," Elena said, trying to keep her voice calm.
"Both of you. Now."
Lily took Liam's hand and they disappeared into the bedroom, but Elena knew they were listening.
The moment they were gone, Ethan turned on her.
"Four years," he said, his voice shaking with rage.
"You kept my children from me for four years."
"You didn't want me! You threw me away!"
"I didn't know you were pregnant!"
"I tried to tell you!" Elena's voice rose.
"I called. I came to your office. Your security threw me out! Your assistant said you never wanted to see me again!"
"Because my father told them to! I never said that!"
"How was I supposed to know?"
Ethan ran his hands through his hair, pacing the small space like a caged animal. "You should have tried harder. You should have..."
"I was twenty-one years old, pregnant and alone! I had nothing! You had everything!" Elena's voice broke.
"You think I wanted to raise them alone? You think I wanted them to grow up without a father?"
"So you just decided I didn't deserve to know?"
"You made your choice five years ago."
"I made that choice to protect you!"
"And I made mine to protect them!"
They stared at each other, both breathing hard, years of pain and anger between them.
Ethan spoke first, his voice deadly calm. "I want a paternity test."
"No."
"It wasn't a request."
"You're not taking my children's DNA without my permission."
"Our children," Ethan corrected. "
And I don't need your permission. I have lawyers, eesources. I can get a court order by tomorrow morning."
Elena felt her world crumbling.
"Please don't do this."
"You did this," Ethan said coldly.
"You kept them from me. You lied and you made me miss four years of their lives."
"Ethan..."
"I'll have my lawyer contact you in the morning. We'll discuss custody arrangements after the paternity test confirms what we both already know."
