Marriage with my daughter's father: Darling please be gentle - Chapter 218

Chapter 218: Chapter 218: None of this would’ve happened

It had started to rain just moments after Sylvester left, a slow drizzle pattering against the windows of the penthouse. Winter stood silently by the glass, a warm coffee cup nestled between her palms, its heat a small comfort against the chill creeping into her bones.

Kalix entered quietly and joined her, his gaze following hers out the window. Neither spoke, the weight of the past few days thick in the air between them. Only the rhythmic sound of raindrops tapping against the glass broke the silence.

A knock at the door pulled them from their stillness.

“Master, Sean is here,” James announced from the hallway.

Without a word, Kalix and Winter exchanged a glance before following him downstairs.

Sean stood in the foyer, his posture sharp and eyes serious as he held a sealed file in one hand. His coat was damp from the rain, but the focus in his expression remained unshaken.

“We found something,” he began, his voice steady. “Niko traced movement from a security camera two blocks from J&K International. It caught the woman heading into an alley nearby. I went there myself with a team.”

He opened the file and handed it to Kalix, who immediately flipped through the contents.

“We recovered a knife wrapped in a black jacket and mask hidden behind a dumpster. The forensic team confirmed the blood on the blade belongs to Dianna. The clothing and mask had traces of the same female DNA we found under Dianna’s nails. No doubt—it’s hers.”

Winter moved closer, her eyes scanning the report as Kalix turned the pages.

“I’ve already instructed forensics to begin running the DNA through databases to try and identify her,” Sean continued. “They’re working on it now. She was careful, but not careful enough.”

Kalix closed the file slowly, his jaw tight. “Good work.”

Winter’s voice was quiet but resolute. “We’re getting closer.”

Sean nodded. “And when we find her… there won’t be anywhere left for her to hide.”

The rain outside continued to fall, but inside, the storm had already begun to shift direction—toward justice.

And then in that stillness, Winter got a call from Sylvester.

***

[Blackrock Memorial Hospital]

The scent of antiseptic hung in the air as Winter stepped into the hospital room. The walls were a pale, sterile white, and the faint beeping of monitors was the only sound aside from the rain tapping faintly against the window.

Beatrix lay propped up against a pile of pillows, a light blanket drawn up to her waist. Her face was pale, older than Winter remembered, with heavy bags under her eyes and a gauntness that hadn’t been there before. But her eyes—sharp, shrewd—still held the same steel.

“You came,” Beatrix said, her voice hoarse but unmistakably laced with surprise.

Winter stepped inside, her expression unreadable. “I had questions.”

Beatrix let out a bitter chuckle that dissolved into a cough. “Of course you do.”

There was a pause. Winter didn’t move closer, keeping herself near the door, cautious yet composed.

“I need to know the truth,” Winter said, her tone firm but not unkind. “Whatever it is. Why Dianna was at J&K. Why she came after me.”

Beatrix stared at her for a long beat, and for the first time, something cracked in her composure. A flicker of regret. A mother who had buried her daughter under lies, then lost her in the fallout.

“She wanted leverage over David after he refused to help us get Rita out,” Beatrix confessed, her voice brittle, like a glass on the edge of shattering. “He ignored her calls. Left us stranded, as if we meant nothing—after everything Dianna did for him.”

There was a flicker of guilt in her eyes, but the anger in her voice overpowered it, spilling out like venom. Resentment. Betrayal. Desperation.

“She felt used,” Beatrix went on, her fingers curling tightly into the hospital sheet. “David bled her dry, let her clean up his messes, and when she needed him most, he abandoned her. She wanted to make him pay. She wanted to remind him she wasn’t disposable.”

Winter’s brows pulled together. Her heart ached with a strange mix of pity and disbelief. “Did David know what Dianna was planning behind his back?”

Beatrix let out a hollow, humorless chuckle. It echoed through the sterile hospital room, colder than laughter had any right to be.

“I doubt he knew… but then again…” Her voice trailed off, caught between disbelief and regret. “None of this would’ve happened. And my Dianna… she…”

Her words broke. A sharp inhale trembled from her lips before she lowered her gaze, tears finally spilling down her cheeks. The weight of reality had crashed in—Dianna was gone.

The grief hit her all at once, raw and ugly.

Winter instinctively stepped forward, her heart twisting at the sight. A part of her wanted to reach out, offer some small comfort to the mother mourning her child. But she paused. Not because she didn’t care, but because she knew—nothing she said or did could change what had already been lost.

Some wounds weren’t meant to be healed with words.

“Dianna’s funeral will be held tomorrow,” Winter said softly, her voice carrying both resolution and sorrow. “She may have wronged me… but every person deserves a respectful goodbye.”

Beatrix nodded slowly, brokenly. Her lips trembled, but she said nothing. Just clung to the silence like it was all she had left.

***

[J&K International]

It had been three days since Lilac last spoke to Stanley.

The chaos at the company had consumed her. With Kalix working from home, she’d taken it upon herself to hold the fort in his absence—no time to think, no space to breathe.

But today was different.

The workload had finally lightened, granting her a moment of stillness. And in that moment, her thoughts drifted back to him.

Stanley.

Leaning back in her chair, Lilac stared at her phone, her fingers hovering uncertainly above the screen. An ache built quietly in her chest—the kind that only came with regret.

She had meant to talk to him, especially after the conversation with Winter. She’d built up the courage to confront him, to ask the questions that had been gnawing at her… But then Dianna’s murder had thrown everything into chaos. Even Stanley had been swept into the mess, helping Kalix in every way he could.

Still, the silence between them lingered like an unfinished sentence.

Before she could overthink it again, Lilac tapped his contact and hit call.

She listened as it rang once… twice… then straight to voicemail.

The rejection stung more than she expected.

Her shoulders slumped as she set the phone down, a deep breath leaving her in a heavy sigh. Maybe he doesn’t want to talk to me anymore. That thought—cold and uninvited—cut through her.

She hadn’t just avoided him. She’d shut him out. Pushed him away when he was trying to explain. And now, when she was finally ready to listen, he wasn’t there.

“Why do I always have to be this stupid?” she whispered to herself, the words laced with frustration and guilt.

Lilac pressed a palm to her forehead and leaned into her desk, the silence of the office pressing in around her like a reminder of everything she might’ve already lost.

Just as Lilac reached for her coffee—long gone cold—a soft knock echoed from her office door.

She didn’t bother looking up. “Come in,” she called absently, expecting it to be one of the interns.

But it wasn’t.

When the door opened and Stanley stepped in, Lilac froze.

Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of him—tall, composed, and yet visibly tired, like he hadn’t slept well in days. His usual polished look was slightly rumpled, and his eyes, warm and stormy all at once, locked on her the moment he stepped in.

“You called,” he said, voice low.

Lilac’s heart stuttered. She stood up slowly, unsure what to say, suddenly nervous now that he was right in front of her.

“I… I didn’t think you’d come,” she murmured.

Stanley walked in fully, shutting the door behind him. “I wasn’t going to,” he admitted. “But then I realized I’d be a bigger fool to ignore the one call I’d been hoping to get.”

Lilac swallowed, guilt tightening her throat. “I should’ve listened to you. That day… I jumped to conclusions. I shut you out.”

“I should’ve explained things sooner,” Stanley replied gently, closing the distance between them. “But I didn’t want to push. I thought I’d give you space, but maybe I gave you too much.”

The tension between them crackled—hurt, regret, but something deeper too. Something that hadn’t gone away, no matter the silence.

“I missed you,” Lilac admitted softly.

Stanley’s expression shifted, the hurt melting into something far more vulnerable. “Then why did it feel like you were slipping away from me?”

“I got scared,” she confessed. “You were being distant. I thought I wasn’t enough. That I was just… convenient.”

“You’re never just anything, Lilac.” His voice deepened. “You’re everything.”

That was all it took.

Lilac stepped forward, and Stanley pulled her into his arms without hesitation. She melted into him, gripping the fabric of his shirt as if anchoring herself. His hand slid to the back of her head, holding her close, like he’d been waiting for this moment just as much.

For a few beats, they simply held each other. No titles. No responsibilities. Just two people who had nearly let something precious slip away.

“I’m sorry for how I handled things,” Stanley murmured against her hair.

“I’m sorry I didn’t trust you,” she replied quietly.

He leaned back just enough to look into her eyes. “We’ll be okay. As long as we don’t keep shutting each other out.”

Lilac nodded, tears pricking her eyes. “Promise?”

“Promise.”

They shared a small, quiet smile before he leaned in and kissed her—soft, slow, and full of the words they hadn’t said aloud. A promise. A restart.

Outside, the rain continued to fall—but inside her office, the storm between them had finally calmed.