My Child and I Married a Billionaire

The little girl had woken up at some point, and Damien had no idea how much of their conversation she had overheard.

When he saw her staring at him with wide, glistening eyes and a look of innocent confusion, Damien Vaughn’s heart melted all over again.

He cradled Candy’s head in his hands and pressed his cheek tightly against hers.

"I swear to you, Candy. Ever since I got to know you, every single word I’ve said to you has been the truth."

"I’m so sorry about what happened before. Daddy wasn’t in Veridia then, and you had to suffer so much."

Thinking about the time she was abandoned at an orphanage and almost sold, Candy felt a wave of bitterness wash over her.

Over the past few months, she had wanted to call or text Damien Vaughn countless times to ask him why he had treated her that way. But whenever she saw her mother’s weary face, she knew her mom wouldn’t want her to, so she resisted the urge.

But today, now that she was seeing him again, Candy couldn’t help but ask.

"If you care about me so much, why didn’t you come looking for me? Why haven’t you contacted me all this time?"

Damien Vaughn’s heart ached.

Candy was right.

He hadn’t looked for her or visited her for so long. After all his earnest promises, he had failed her.

"I know no explanation can make up for the pain I’ve caused, but I still need to tell you this, Candy. Daddy never, ever wanted to abandon you, or hated you, or thought of throwing you away. In my heart, you’re the most beautiful, adorable angel in the world. You and your mom are the people I want to protect forever... You can hold all my past mistakes against me. Let’s just look to the future, okay? If your mom is willing to marry me, I promise I’ll make it up to you both, a hundred times over."

"You want to marry my mommy? For real?"

Damien Vaughn no longer knew how to prove how sincere he was.

If he could tear out his heart to show her, he would do it without a second thought.

"Candy, what can I do? What can I say to make you believe me?"

Candy blinked her big eyes.

"It’s not that I don’t believe you. It’s just that things are a little complicated now. Uncle Grant really likes Mommy too, and he wants to marry her. I used to be on your side, but after spending so much time with Uncle Grant, I’ve realized he’s a really, really good person. I couldn’t bear to hurt him."

Damien Vaughn was speechless.

Candy continued, "I can’t get involved in you grown-ups’ business. All I can say is, if you truly like my mommy, then you should pursue her properly and compete fairly with Uncle Grant."

Damien Vaughn knew that his past arrogance and stubborn refusal to admit his feelings had led to this complicated mess.

That was why he was now so desperate to fix things.

He didn’t care about anything else anymore. Nothing else mattered.

As long as Cecelia Archer and Shane Grant hadn’t gone public, as long as they hadn’t registered their marriage, he would do everything in his power to win her back!

"Okay. I’ll do my best to pursue your mommy. I’m going to marry her as soon as possible."

Candy’s eyes darted toward Cecelia Archer. Seeing that her mother’s back was turned, pretending not to hear, she lowered her voice and leaned in close to Damien Vaughn’s ear.

"Don’t worry. My mommy and Uncle Grant just have a very pure friendship right now. They haven’t held hands or hugged, and they definitely don’t live together. Uncle Grant is a true, true gentleman."

An overjoyed Damien Vaughn couldn’t stop himself from planting several more big kisses on Candy’s cheeks.

"You’re my little angel sent from heaven, Candy!"

With Damien Vaughn and Cecelia Archer by her side the whole time, Candy finally finished her blood transfusion and began to recover her strength.

The doctor examined Candy, confirmed her vital signs were stable, and cleared her for discharge.

Damien Vaughn was about to take them home when his second uncle called.

"Damien, where are you? Your grandfather’s not going to make it! Get over here, now!"

’What? Grandpa’s dying?’ Damien Vaughn immediately turned to run upstairs.

But then he had another thought. "You two, come with me!"

Carrying Candy, with Cecelia Archer at his side, Damien Vaughn raced upstairs.

The moment they stepped out of the elevator, they saw his second uncle’s anxious face.

"Damien!"

His second uncle was about to speak when he noticed Cecelia Archer and the child in Damien’s arms.

"This... They... You..."

Damien Vaughn had already made up his mind. From the moment he confessed his love to Cecelia Archer, she and Candy were his family. He wasn’t afraid of anyone seeing them together.

"This is my personal business. It has nothing to do with you. Where’s Grandfather right now?"

His second uncle stared at Cecelia Archer and then at Candy as if he were seeing ghosts. After a two-second hesitation, he pointed Damien Vaughn toward the old man’s room.

Damien Vaughn rushed in, still holding Candy.

On the bed, the old man’s face was ashen, his eyes shut tight. Damien didn’t know if he had fallen into a coma again, or if...

"Why isn’t there a doctor here? What’s going on?"

"The doctor has already been here. Right now... Damien, I’m afraid we have to face reality."

’So Grandfather is already...’

Damien Vaughn couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

He had known since childhood that everyone dies eventually, and his grandfather’s health had been poor for a long time. But this was too sudden. He couldn’t believe it had actually happened.

"Impossible! How can this be? This morning he was still... Get a doctor in here! Get me a doctor right now!"

His second and third uncles exchanged a look. After a moment of speechless frustration, they ran off to find a doctor.

A moment later, the doctor came running, his steps unsteady.

"President Vaughn..."

"Why aren’t you trying to save him? What are you standing there for? Get him to emergency, now!"

"But President Vaughn, he’s already... he..."

"You must not have tried hard enough! Go back and save him! If you don’t bring him back to life today, you’re all fired!"

The doctor’s knees buckled, and he nearly collapsed on the spot before the second and third uncles caught him.

"Damien, stop losing your mind! What’s done is done. What good would it do even if you killed the doctor? We need to discuss what to do next."

’Discuss the arrangements?’

Damien Vaughn hadn’t even begun to process the shock of his grandfather’s death, and they were already talking about making arrangements?

Even with the sweet little girl in his arms, nothing could conceal the furious storm raging around him.

"Make arrangements? So eager to start carving up the inheritance? Second Uncle, Third Uncle, don’t tell me you’ve been waiting for this day for a long time?"

"You..."

Although his grandfather’s death was indeed their doing, being called out so bluntly by Damien Vaughn still left them deeply chagrined.

"Damien Vaughn, watch your tone and remember your place! Now that your grandfather and your mother are gone, we are the heads of the Vaughn Family. How dare you speak to us like that? What do you mean we’ve been waiting for this day? We haven’t even had a chance to question you! What’s the deal with this woman? Isn’t she supposed to be dead? And wasn’t this bastard child already sold off? Why are they here now?"

"So, while your grandfather was suffering, you were off with this bastard and her mother? What a filial grandson you are! You knew your grandfather despised them both... I get it now. No wonder he was fine a few days ago and then suddenly got so angry he coughed up blood and had to be hospitalized. It was all you, wasn’t it?"

"You murdered your own grandfather by angering him to death, and now you’re trying to pin the blame on us? You bastard!"

Damien Vaughn’s eyes were bloodshot. He stared coldly at his glib-tongued second uncle for a long moment before turning his gaze to his third uncle.

"So, Grandfather isn’t even cold yet, and we’re already going to start infighting? Pointing fingers at each other? Is the grand drama of fighting over the inheritance next? Third Uncle, is what Second Uncle said what you wanted to say, too?"