The Billionaire Father Who Came Too Late

1: 1

I was on a video call with my daughter, two months pregnant, when a dying woman who looked exactly like me suddenly appeared on the screen.

Don't believe her husband. Your daughter is not doing well. He beats her, and he's already beaten five babies out of her.

He threatened her, and she was afraid of worrying you, so she never told you a thing.

Tonight she'll try to run, and he'll break her legs, then dump her on the highway. Two lives gone at once. And when you learn the truth, you'll spend the rest of your life eaten alive with guilt for not noticing anything now.

I thought my old eyes were playing tricks on me, or that this was some new kind of AI scam.

After all, my daughter had married into the most charitable family in town.

Her husband was famous for his easy temper, giving her anything she asked for.

He was always asking after me too, checking on my health. Otherwise I'd never have agreed to the marriage.

But the next second, one sentence from the woman on the screen made me believe her completely.

You were carrying Robin Gilbert's child, one of the crown princes of the city's elite circles, when you ran off. He's stayed unmarried all these years searching for you. You have to contact him right now. He's the only one who can save our daughter.

My pupils shrank.

That my daughter was Robin Gilbert's child was something no one knew but me.

The woman on the screen looked frantic.

There isn't much time. I can't explain it all to you. You have only two hours to stop the tragedy from my past life. Remember, you must tell Robin Gilbert

By the time I came back to myself, she was gone.

On the other end of the call, my son-in-law Frederick Delgado was still speaking in that gentle voice of his.

"Mom, don't worry. There's no need to make the trip out here."

"We've hired a nurse to look after the pregnancy this time. She'll take good care of Carly Winfield."

His arm was around Carly's shoulder, the pad of his thumb stroking her arm, the whole pose intimate and easy.

"Isn't that right, sweetheart?"

My daughter smiled and nodded.

"Mom, I'm doing fine."

But once suspicion takes root in a person's heart, you become terribly sensitive.

Like the stiffness at the corners of my daughter's mouth when she smiled, and the dullness in her eyes.

I should have noticed long ago.

She used to video-call me every couple of days, and we'd talk for hours.

Or she'd come back home to visit every few days, saying she missed me.

These past two years the calls had grown scarce, and even when she phoned, she'd hang up after a few words.

At first I'd comforted myself, telling myself she was married now, all grown up, that her focus would slowly shift from her old home to her own little family.

It never once crossed my mind that it was because she wasn't happy.

The words kept echoing in my head.

Five babies she couldn't keep, all of them beaten out of her.

Five.

What had my daughter been through, in all the places I couldn't see?

And here I'd thought her body was just too weak to hold on to the babies.

Every time I faced Frederick, I'd felt so guilty about it.

"Mom, Carly needs her rest. The doctor said she has to get enough sleep now."

"We'll hang up for tonight. We'll come see you another day."

Frederick's voice came through, and I dug my nails into my thigh to keep from screaming out my questions.

"All right. Get some rest, you two."

Just as I was about to hang up, Carly suddenly called out to me.

"Mom!"

My finger froze.

Frederick turned at once to look at her, that same doting expression on his face.

"What is it?"

But if you looked closely at the reflection in his glasses, you could see it: his right hand, hanging at his side, was holding a knife, pressed against my daughter's belly.

My breath caught.

Too many things flickered through my daughter's eyes.

Fear, reluctance, despair and then they went calm.

"It's nothing. I just want you to take care of yourself, Mom."

I swallowed the sting behind my eyes and didn't dare look at her again.

"Mm. Don't you worry about me. Mom's got everything handled."

The instant the call ended, I dialed the number I'd never saved to my contacts but had memorized by heart.

"Kate Winfield?"

Hearing my voice, he sounded like he couldn't believe it.

I had no time for reminiscing. I bit down on my lip and forced the tears back.

"If you don't want to end up looking at your daughter's corpse, come save her right now."

He was silent for a few seconds.

"Send me the location."

2: 2

Even at best speed, New York was three hours away.

I almost regretted picking a town this remote to disappear into, all because I hadn't wanted Robin Gilbert to find me.

I couldn't wait. There was no waiting. I hung up, grabbed the car keys off the coffee table, and ran.

My hands were still shaking when I started the engine. I hit the ignition twice before it caught.

The Delgado village was two hours out by car, and I was terrified I wouldn't be there to catch my daughter the moment she got out.

I floored it, cut down every shortcut I knew, and made it in an hour and a half.

I'd barely stopped the car outside the Delgados' little house when a dull thud came from inside, like something heavy slamming into flesh.

Then Frederick's furious shout.

"You little bitch, were you just trying to run to your mother?"

"So what if she comes? She's a small-town elementary school teacher. My family runs this whole town. You think she can save you?"

I threw the door open, about to charge in. The next second Frederick screamed instead.

"You bitch! You dare cut me? I'll beat you to death tonight!"

Then a figure dropped straight down from the second floor.

My daughter didn't care about her twisted ankle. She gritted her teeth and ran for the yard gate.

I rushed forward to steady her, but she was too far gone with panic. There was still a shard of glass clutched in her fist, and she slashed it at me.

"Get away from me!"

I caught her wrist.

"Carly, it's Mom!"

Her face was bruised and swollen. She stared at me like she couldn't believe it.

"Mom..."

I pried her fingers open and took the glass out of her hand.

"Don't be scared. Come with Mom."

I'd just gotten Carly into the passenger seat, about to start the car.

Then Frederick came charging out with several big men and hemmed the car in.

He stood in front of the car, gripping his wounded right arm, blood seeping between his fingers.

Once he made out that it was me, a smile crept across his sullen face.

"Mom. Where are you taking my wife?"

I gripped the wheel tight, forcing myself to stay calm.

"I've missed Carly. I'm bringing her home for a few days."

Frederick let out a soft snort.

"She married into the Delgado family, so she belongs to the Delgados. Showing up in the middle of the night to take her isn't very appropriate, is it?"

Then he looked at my daughter in the passenger seat.

"Carly, get out of the car now. I'll let tonight go. Don't make me say it twice."

"You don't want anything to happen to your mother because of you, do you?"

Carly shuddered all over.

I pressed down on her hand as it reached for the door lock.

"Mom, go, hurry, don't worry about me..."

"Don't be scared. I'm taking you out of here tonight, no matter what."

I held my daughter's hand and looked at the man outside the window.

"Frederick, I've already called the police. If you don't let us leave now, that's unlawful imprisonment."

I'd thought that would at least make him back off. Instead, Frederick dropped the act entirely.

"I was wondering where she got the nerve tonight. Turns out you're the one who gave it to her."

He waved a hand at the men behind him.

"Smash it!"

Before I could react, all four tires were punctured at once, and the windows shattered in a single second under the glass breakers.

One of the big men drove a fist through the broken passenger window.

I shielded my daughter beneath me. The flying glass cut a few gashes into the back of my hand and the nape of my neck.

Frederick reached in, grabbed Carly's hair, and yanked.

"Get out here!"

I hadn't thought he'd be this insane.

With no one to help us, all I could do was slam the horn and scream.

"Help! Fire! Everybody up, there's a fire!"

Someone tried to clamp a hand over my mouth, but it was already too late.

Lights came on in the houses nearby, and plenty of people came running out of their homes.

Sure enough, Frederick's hands went still.

I seized the chance, shoved the door open, got out, and put my daughter behind me.

"Everybody take a good look. This man, Frederick Delgado, beats my daughter. He's beaten her into five miscarriages."

"I came to take my daughter home, and now he's smashing my car and hurting people, won't let us leave. Is this something a family famous for its charity would do?"

My thinking was simple. The Delgados cared about their reputation. Only in a moment like this could I get my daughter out safely.

But the crowd only listened with contempt written all over their faces.

3: 3

"You couldn't raise your own daughter right, and you still don't know it in your own heart? You've got the nerve to come here and drag her off?"

"Your daughter's out chasing men every single day. Freddie had no choice. That's the only reason he raised a hand to her."

"That's right. Think how good Freddie's been to her, buying her clothes and bags every other day. When did she ever go without a thing to eat or wear? And she still carries on with a whole string of men, even tries to run off with one. That's not knowing when you're well off."

"Those last few times she ran, I'm the one who helped bring her back. Freddie knelt down at the edge of the village and begged her to come home, crying his eyes out."

Listening to all of it, I froze.

A mother knows her own daughter. There was no way she was anything like what came out of their mouths.

I turned to look at her. Her eyes were full of tears, and she didn't say one word to defend herself.

Like she'd lived through scenes like this too many times to count, and knew that saying more wouldn't change a thing.

The voices kept going. Frederick had put away the viciousness from before, and now his face was all forgiveness, all pallor.

"Everyone, don't say that. I was too rough this time, that's why she"

One of the older women sighed like she couldn't knock any sense into him.

"Freddie, you're just too soft-hearted, that's your whole problem. Fine, she ran off before, but this time she hurt you this badly and you're still standing up for her."

The others chimed right in.

"You ask me, this woman just hasn't been beaten enough. Beat her into line and she'll behave. If she were my wife, I'd have broken her legs long ago. See if she'd run then."

"Isn't that the truth. Bad enough she never kept to a wife's place, and today she even pulls a knife. Freddie couldn't take it anymore, that's the only reason he went a little hard on her."

"Some people still have the gall to come here making a scene. If it weren't for the Delgados donating to the village every year, and Freddie putting in a good word for you, we'd have reported you to the school board long ago. Anyone who raises a loose daughter like that has no business being a teacher!"

Only in that moment did I finally understand.

Why the future me had said my daughter tried to run so many times and never got out.

Why she would never breathe a single word to me.

Why Frederick dared smash the car and drag her off so openly.

Because he'd already sealed off every road.

First he'd destroyed Carly's name across the whole village, wrapping every one of his cruelties in a coat of "he had no choice."

Then he'd used my job and my safety to threaten her.

Frederick held out his hand.

"Ma'am, today was my fault. I shouldn't have hit her."

"Let Carly come home with me. I promise I'll treat her right from now on."

He said it with real feeling, but I saw it plain as day. His eyes were full of triumph.

I took a deep breath.

If he wanted to use talk to crush me, then I could use that talk too.

"If my daughter is as worthless as everyone says, then I'll take her home and set her straight."

"The two of you aren't happy together. There's no sense tying yourselves to each other by force. So let's part on good terms."

Frederick's hand stopped.

The others, on the other hand, took my side.

"That's fair enough. A good man like Freddie, why hang himself on one tree?"

"A used-up thing like her is just an eyesore anyway. Freddie, you're still young, no worry about finding someone better."

"Should've divorced her long ago. Freddie, don't waste your life on her"

"No!"

Frederick's voice shot up. He was about to say something when Rosemary Delgado stepped out.

"A divorce is fine. But you talk about parting on good terms, and that isn't something you can settle by just carting my daughter-in-law off like this."

"When our family married her in, we paid a bride price of a hundred and eighty thousand and bought a whole set of gold jewelry. And all these years my son has spent plenty on her too."

"The money, my family's willing to let go. But today she hurt my son, and that can't just be waved away."

I looked at her. She'd lived here a long time. There was no way she didn't know her son beat his wife. She'd probably been egging it on.

I was about to speak when she went on.

"A little squabbling between a husband and wife is perfectly normal. When we elders interfere too much, it only backfires. I'm not like you, ma'am, telling people to divorce at the drop of a hat."

"And I don't want to see my son wronged either. Since she hurt him, she can stay and care for him until he's healed. Let the young couple work things out a little more. Who knows, they fight at the head of the bed and make up at the foot of it."

It was a pretty speech.

It made her son's behavior sound reasonable, hinted that I was meddling in the younger ones' affairs, and showed off how magnanimous the Delgados were, all at once.

And her reason for keeping my daughter there sounded, somehow, fair and right.

4: 4

But only I knew that if my daughter stayed today, the next time I saw her, it would be her corpse.

The standoff broke when the officers showed up.

"Who called this in?"

"I did."

The words were barely out of my mouth before Frederick was already holding out a cigarette.

"Officers, I'm sorry. Dragging you all out here again."

If I'd held any hope in the police before, now all I wanted was for them to buy me a little more time.

I didn't know what had happened before, but after what I'd just seen, it was clear.

If calling the police did any good, my daughter wouldn't have ended up the way she did in the last life.

The me from the last life wouldn't have told me only Robin Gilbert could save her, either.

Just as I'd thought.

The officer in charge didn't take the cigarette, but his tone was plainly impatient.

"All right, all right. What are you two fighting about this time?"

Before Frederick could answer, the people around us were already chiming in over each other on his behalf.

"It's this woman. She's loose, tried to run off to chase after some other man. Freddie hit her, sure, but she hurt his arm too."

"Officer, you don't need to bother with this. A woman like that deserves a beating!"

"Right, and she's got the nerve to call the cops. Isn't that a waste of your time?"

The officer glanced at my daughter, frowned, and turned to Frederick.

"How many times do I have to say it? No matter how wrong she is, you don't hit people."

"If you can't make it work, get divorced. Was that written statement of yours for nothing?"

Then he turned to me.

"This is a domestic matter. All we can do is mediate. In a case like today's, where both parties are injured, if you insist on pursuing it, I'd suggest you get a forensic exam and file suit."

I refused to go to the Delgado house to talk it out and said I wanted to ride in the patrol car to the hospital to have the injuries documented.

The officer had barely nodded when the radio on his shoulder crackled.

"All units near Chandler Hollow, be advised. Wildfire at Highcrest Ridge. Emergency backup requested!"

First things first. As they left, one of them was still muttering.

"How is it that every time we come out here, there's always another call nearby that needs backup"

My heart dropped hard. How could it be this convenient?

Before I could think it through, Rosemary shot the thugs a look.

"What are you standing around for? No divorce means she's still a Delgado. Get your brother's wife back in the house!"

The two big men crossed over in two strides, grabbed my daughter's arms, and started dragging her toward the door.

She struggled.

"I won't go. I'm not going back!"

"Don't touch my daughter!"

I threw myself in to pull that hand off her, and someone caught me by the back of the collar and flung me backward.

I hit the broken glass, and my palms were cut open with fresh gashes.

"Mom!"

Watching my daughter about to be dragged inside, I pushed up on my elbows and got off the ground.

"Frederick, you'd better let go of my daughter right now. If anything happens to her, your whole Delgado family is finished!"

He came over with a sneer and dropped his voice against my ear.

"Every school in this town was built with Delgado money. Every road in every village was paved by the Delgados. The whole town's economy runs on us."

"When I, Frederick Delgado, want someone, she should die at my side if she dies at all. A woman who had a child out of wedlock, what have you got to bring the Delgados down?"

He patted my cheek.

"Old thing, you'd better worry about yourself. Remember to lock your door tonight."

"Come on, see my dear mother-in-law home!"

His smug face in front of me, my daughter's hopeless cries in my ears.

I gripped the broken glass in my hand, ready to take him down with me.

Beams of harsh light poured over us, and more than a dozen cars stopped outside the Delgado house.

Dozens of bodyguards in black surrounded the place, and Robin Gilbert stepped out of the first Maybach, cold radiating off him.

"Let them go!"