Chapter 3

– The Child Who Shouldn't Exist

The annual International Business Alliance Summit was unlike any other meeting.

The world's most powerful CEOs, investors, government representatives, and corporate chairpersons had gathered in one room.

Outside the conference hall, security was so tight that even world leaders would have struggled to enter without authorization.

Inside...

The atmosphere was freezing.

At one end of the twenty-meter conference table sat Adrian Vance, dressed in a tailored black suit, his expression as cold as ever.

On the opposite end sat Vivian Chater, equally composed, wearing a dark emerald pantsuit that matched her piercing green eyes.

Between them...

The world's most influential executives remained silent.

No one wanted to become collateral damage.

A senior chairman nervously cleared his throat.

"Shall we begin discussing the Horizon Energy merger?"

Before anyone else could speak...

Vivian's icy voice cut through the room.

"There is nothing to discuss."

Every eye turned toward her.

She looked directly at Adrian.

"Withdraw your bid."

Adrian didn't even glance up from the documents in front of him.

"No."

"It belongs to Chater Global."

"It belongs to whoever acquires it."

"You bribed the board."

"You manipulated the shareholders."

"You threatened them."

"I convinced them."

Vivian let out a cold laugh.

"You call blackmail 'convincing' now?"

"And you call corporate sabotage 'competition'?"

The room grew even quieter.

One executive whispered,

"Not again..."

Another silently closed his laptop.

Experience had taught them that once Adrian and Vivian started arguing...

Nothing productive would happen.

Vivian stood.

"I warned you before."

Adrian slowly rose to his feet as well.

"And I ignored your warning."

Their voices remained calm.

Which somehow made everything even more terrifying.

Vivian slammed both hands onto the table.

"You've crossed every line."

Adrian folded his arms.

"I haven't reached the interesting part yet."

"You arrogant bastard."

"You'll have to be more original."

"You think you're untouchable?"

"I know I am."

The tension finally snapped.

In one swift motion...

Vivian drew a black pistol from beneath her blazer.

At the exact same moment...

Adrian pulled out his own pistol.

Click.

Two guns.

Two monsters.

Two cold pairs of eyes.

Both aimed directly at each other's foreheads.

The entire conference hall froze.

Someone gasped.

Another CEO quietly slid beneath the table.

A minister whispered,

"Security..."

But no one dared move.

Everyone knew...

If either Adrian or Vivian fired...

The other would fire as well.

This would become a massacre.

Seconds passed.

Neither lowered their weapon.

Neither blinked.

Adrian spoke first.

"So..."

"This is how it ends."

Vivian's finger rested on the trigger.

"I've been waiting for this day."

Just as both were about to pull the trigger...

Bang!

The conference hall doors suddenly flew open.

Everyone instinctively turned.

A tiny figure stood in the doorway.

A little girl.

Around five years old.

She wore a white dress beneath a small black coat, as though she had wandered in from somewhere completely different from this battlefield.

For a heartbeat...

No one reacted.

Then every face in the room changed to stunned disbelief.

Because the child looked...

Impossible.

She had dark jet-black hair, soft and slightly wavy.

Her skin was as pale as freshly fallen snow.

And her eyes...

Crystal, ruby-like ocean blue.

Exactly like Adrian's.

Not merely similar.

Identical.

It was as though someone had shrunk Adrian Vance into the form of a little girl.

Even Adrian's usually unreadable expression flickered with surprise.

Alen's eyes widened.

"...Boss..."

Vivian stared silently.

The resemblance was undeniable.

The little girl looked around the room with frightened eyes.

When she spotted Adrian...

Relief washed over her tiny face.

"Papa!"

Before anyone could react, she ran across the enormous conference hall.

Her little shoes echoed against the marble floor.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

She reached Adrian...

Wrapped both tiny arms tightly around his waist...

Buried her face against him...

And hugged him with all the strength her little body possessed.

Her small shoulders trembled.

Her voice shook with relief.

"Papa..."

"I'm so relieved you're okay..."

"You don't know how scared I was..."

"I thought..."

"I thought something happened to you..."

She hugged him even tighter.

"Please..."

"Please don't leave me again..."

The room fell into absolute silence.

Even breathing seemed too loud.

Adrian slowly looked down at the little girl clinging to him.

His expression returned to its usual icy calm.

Without softening his voice, he gently but firmly tried to remove her hands.

"Look."

The child looked up.

"I'm not your father."

His voice was cold.

"And I'm certainly not anyone's 'Papa.'"

He stepped back slightly.

"So you've mistaken me for someone else."

"Now leave."

The words struck the child like a physical blow.

Her ruby-blue eyes widened.

Confusion filled her tiny face.

"...Papa?"

She blinked several times.

Then, instead of crying...

She smiled brightly.

"Oh!"

"I know!"

She nodded confidently.

"You forgot again!"

She placed both tiny hands on her hips exactly the way Adrian often did when annoyed.

"It's okay."

"I forgive you."

Everyone noticed it.

That gesture...

That posture...

It was frighteningly similar to Adrian's.

She beamed.

"My name is Adria."

She proudly pointed to herself.

"Adria Adrian Vance."

Then she giggled.

"But Papa and Mama always call me..."

"'Addy.'"

Silence.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three.

No one moved.

No one spoke.

The words echoed through the hall.

Adria Adrian Vance.

Alen almost dropped the files in his hands.

One elderly chairman actually fainted.

Adrian's gaze hardened.

"I've never seen you before."

"I have no daughter."

The little girl's smile slowly faded.

She looked genuinely confused.

"But..."

"You named me yourself..."

She tilted her head.

"Papa..."

"Why aren't you believing me?"

She thought for a moment.

Then her little face brightened again.

"I know!"

"You can check my left shoulder!"

She pointed toward it.

"The Phoenix!"

"You always said I inherited it from you."

Everyone's attention shifted to Adrian.

His eyes narrowed.

Very slowly...

He reached forward.

With great care, he moved aside the fabric covering her left shoulder.

The room collectively held its breath.

There...

Perfectly visible against her pale skin...

Was a crimson Phoenix-shaped birthmark.

Its shape.

Its size.

Its position.

Everything...

Exactly matched Adrian's own birthmark on his left shoulder.

Not similar.

Identical.

Adrian instinctively touched his own shoulder.

For the first time in years...

His expression showed genuine shock.

Alen whispered under his breath,

"Impossible..."

Before anyone could process it...

The little girl suddenly noticed something else.

Vivian was still holding her pistol.

Pointed toward Adrian.

Fear instantly filled Addy's eyes.

"No!"

She rushed back to Adrian.

She threw her tiny arms around him protectively.

Standing in front of him as much as her small body allowed, she looked at Vivian with pleading eyes.

"Mama!"

Her little voice trembled.

"Please don't fight Papa!"

"Please..."

"Don't worry..."

"When Papa calms down..."

"He'll apologize to you..."

"He always does..."

"But please..."

"Don't fight..."

Her lower lip quivered.

"I don't like it when Mama and Papa fight..."

The conference hall erupted into shocked murmurs.

"Mama...?"

"Did she just call Miss Chater... Mama?"

Vivian herself stood frozen.

She stared at the child as though trying to solve an impossible equation.

Addy turned toward Vivian again.

Seeing that Vivian still looked unconvinced, she quickly wiped her tears with the back of her tiny hand.

"Mama..."

"If you don't believe me either..."

She stretched out her right leg.

"You can check my right ankle."

"The blue rose."

"You always kiss it before bedtime because you say it's Grandma's family mark."

Vivian remained motionless.

Before she could react...

Alen glanced at Adrian, who gave the slightest nod.

Carefully, respectfully, Alen knelt in front of the child.

He gently lifted the hem of her dress just enough to reveal her right ankle.

The moment he saw it...

His eyes widened.

A beautifully shaped blue rose birthmark rested just above her ankle.

Alen slowly stood.

His voice was unusually quiet.

"Miss Vivian..."

"I believe..."

"This is your family's birthmark."

He swallowed.

"It's exactly as you've described it in your family's records."

Vivian's fingers loosened around her gun.

For the first time in years...

Her composure cracked.

The executives looked from Adrian...

To Vivian...

Then to the child standing between them.

The resemblance wasn't limited to appearance.

Even the way Addy crossed her arms when waiting for an answer...

The way she tilted her head...

The calm confidence in her voice despite the tense situation...

It all echoed Adrian's mannerisms.

Yet every now and then, when she frowned in concern or gently pleaded, there was something unmistakably Vivian-like in her expressions.

It was as if the child carried pieces of them both.

No one in that room could explain what they were witnessing.

But one terrifying question echoed in every mind:

How could a five-year-old girl bear Adrian Vance's name, Adrian's birthmark, Vivian's family mark... and call the two most bitter enemies in the world "Papa" and "Mama"?

And perhaps the most unsettling truth of all...

Neither Adrian nor Vivian had any memory of ever having a daughter.

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