Standing in front of this wooden door again feels like a Déjà vu. Only, the executive assistant's desk is now occupied by a frowning secretary who gives me a pitying look. Not wanting to give him the idea why I'm here, I just shrug at Andy. If he thinks that I'm in some kind of trouble, then he's not wrong.

Two knocks and the door is pulled open, revealing our CEO who summoned me to his chamber. If I didn't know that there was a camera above my head, I would've been swooned by the thought that he must have been standing behind the door for a good ten minutes, waiting for my arrival. But now I know better.

I smile at him brightly. "Sir."

"Miss Garnett, please, come in." He moves to the side while holding the door open for me.

Once inside, my eyes catch a huge food platter sitting on his coffee table. My mouth waters instantly when I see the mixed sushi rolls, which are enough to feed the whole floor, are arranged in a zig-zag around three small sauce bowls. Coming up here isn't a bad idea after all.

Wait, or is it some kind of a trap?

The clicking sound of the door lock prompts me to stop short and slowly turn around. He never locked the door when he had company before.

Ashton smiles at me, rather eerily. "What are you waiting for?" he says. "Go ahead, eat as much as your stomach can handle. I know you're on the verge of killing yourself because of that hospital food."

I walk to the sofa while eyeing the luxurious lunch my not-so-generous boss has prepared for me. He can't be this nice, can he? What is he up to? Does he want to gain something in return; something I might not like?

"Charlotte." Ashton sighs. "We don't have much time. Go dive in and don't worry, the food isn't...overly spiced up."

Ignoring the dangerous subject he tried to poke, I nod as I grab the small plate and a pair of chopsticks. For now, I will not dwell on my suspicions because what I need is a clear mind for the talk, and I won't get to that state with a growling tummy.

Ashton takes the reading chair across the table, facing me. Crossing his legs, he places both his hands on the armrests. He taps his fingers mindlessly while his emerald green eyes never leave me as I try to enjoy my food.

Feeling the growing discomfort of being watched while eating, I tilt my head to him. "Don't you need to eat, too?"

Ashton brings his hands together, interlaces his fingers, and rests his chin on top of them. He slowly shakes his head. "I'm still full. I had a brunch meeting a couple of hours ago."

"Alright," I mumble as I fill my plate with the next batch of sushi rolls. If he wants to just sit there and watch me eat, then I won't let him stop me from savoring the free food. I know he's not lying when he says he's still full. During the time I was working as his assistant, he would only have his coffee for lunch when he had a brunch meeting.

"That guy in the hospital isn't Ethan Nolan. He is Ethan Watkins," he starts after I finish my third plate. "So, how did he become Chloe's father now?"

I knew he would start the investigation once he left the hospital. If he could figure out the chili sauce prank in one night, he must have had all the information he needs about Ethan by now.

"It's a long story, but I'm going to fix it," I answer quickly.

"That's not an answer to my question, Charlotte."

Resting my plate on my lap, I take a few sips of bottled water. "Chloe kept asking me who his father was and why he wasn't around. I just couldn't tell her that she was conceived in a one-night stand, and that I didn't know who her father was. She was only four. So, I lied. I told her that her father was my college sweetheart who left me after a disagreement. When I found out I was pregnant, he was already out of the radar."

"It doesn't explain the Ethan Watkins part," Ashton says.

"I'm getting to that part. So, I was caught up in the circle of lies about Chloe's father. When she grew bigger and asked me the same question again —she asked about her father's name this time, I still couldn't bring myself to tell her the truth. And I told her her father was Ethan Watkins."

"Ethan was your boyfriend, wasn't he?"

Avoiding his boring eyes, I nod while staring at my plate. "I picked answers that's closest to the truth, just to make the deception less deceiving, you know." When I see the frown on his face, I wave my hand in a dismissive gesture. "Never mind. It's stupid."

"No. Tell me everything."

I sigh, feeling my head become heavy. "Around the time I was pregnant with Chloe, Ethan did leave me. So, I didn't lie about that part. I just left the tiny bit of details that he was not the one who got me pregnant." I wince when I say my last line.

The frown on his face gets deeper every second. His lips twitch but he doesn't interrupt my explanation.

"Basically, I just borrowed my ex's name until I can come up with the truth when she's older. Little did I know that he showed up at a not very favorable time."

Ashton squints his eyes at me. "So, Watkins left because you were pregnant with Chloe?"

"Yeah."

It takes him almost thirty seconds before he carefully asks, "Are you two...getting back together?"

I bite my inner cheek, wondering about these two men asking the same darn question. "I don't think this is relevant to our topic."

Ashton raises one eyebrow. "It is. I'd like to know who is in Chloe's life if I'm going to bond with her."

"Why?"

"I want to know if she has another father figure at the moment, considering she hates her biological father. I need to see what I can do and what I can't do."

I purse my lips, deciding how far I'm going to tell him about me and Ethan. "It's always been just me and Chloe. Men came and went but I never let them get too close to Chloe."

"I disagree. Watkins seems close with Chloe." If a tone could cut, the sushi in front of us would've been in a million pieces by now.

"Ethan adores Chloe, true, but he's not trying to fill in a father figure or anything." It's quite the opposite if I may add, but I keep the last part to myself.

The scowl is growing more prominent on Ashton's face. "And he doesn't mind about his name being borrowed?"

"Of course he does. I know this is such a mess. I'm going to fix this. I promise."

Silence permeates the air between us. Ashton seems to take his time processing the information I just told him. Not wanting to intrude on his train of thought, I revert my attention to the sushi and carefully pick up the salmon nigiri with my chopsticks. As the mix of the soft salmon, the rice, the ginger, and the sauce melts on my tongue, a moan escapes my lips.

"Please, can you not make that sound? It's distracting."

"Sorry," I reply quickly, adjusting my posture and sitting straight before resuming eating. I just can't get enough of this. The caterer must be the one from the day I brought Chloe to work. I'm in the middle of contemplating asking him if I can bring the rest home when I hear his deep voice again.

"So, Chloe hates me."

"No. She hates the character I made up. And I'm going to make this right once the DNA result is out."

"About that, I want to do it this week, if you don't mind. My family doctor will take care of this. He will be contacting you about the details."

"Sure. No problem."

"Once it's proven that she is mine, we will be having more discussion about how we're going to do this. The serious one."

"I wouldn't expect any less than that, sir," I reply as I nod. I know it's going to be a long journey from that point onward. But I'm ready for it. For Chloe.

The DNA result has come back and it confirmed that Ashton Knight is Chloe's biological father. I'm not surprised, yet knowing that Chloe now officially found her daddy makes me feel sentimental in a way.

Ashton is no different. The first thing he manages to say when he gets a hold of me is "I'm her dad. I'm Chloe's father" with an amount of emotion I've never heard from him before.

I know he's been trying to deal with the possible reality that he has a kid, something he never planned to have, but when the test result confirmed it, it has become real now.

"I know this isn't easy for you," I say, thinking back about the day I found out I was pregnant with Chloe. "I've been there, and trust me, it will get easier. Take your time and let this sink in first. Meanwhile, I'm going to fix the mess I made. I need to talk to her about who her dad is."

"Okay, thanks."

I sigh, feeling my stomach churn. "She might take this badly though. Maybe she's going to hate me once she learns I've been lying to her."

"Do you need me to be there when you do it?"

"No. It's between me and her. Thanks for the offer," I mumble, glancing at the time on my GPS screen. I'm on my way home, but I had to pull over to pick up his call. "I need to hang up now or I will be late getting her from Sophie's house."

Chloe has been home for almost a week now. She's getting stronger and more mobile every day, but she still needs to wait for school. Since I need to start working full-time again, I drop her off every morning at Sophie's house if it's not Mom's turn to watch over her.

After picking her up, we head home and start with dinner. By 7 PM, we're done with our evening meal, and I let Chloe watch TV while I clean up. She helps me with the dishes on normal days, even though I hardly call it help. She tends to rearrange everything I've put in the dishwasher. It bugs her when things aren't put in their proper group of cooking and eating utensils.

When I join her in the living room, Chloe is busy drawing an astronaut on her gypsum that is almost full of her gravity work. She will miss it when they take it off next week. I plop down next to her and take the remote control from the table.

"Why did you turn it off?" she protests when I press the power button. "It's not bedtime yet."

"No, it's not. But I need to talk to you."

"About what? Is it about Mr. and Mrs. Donegal? I haven't spied on them again, Mama."

"No, it's not about Mr. and Mrs. Donegal. It's about your father."

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