Page 116 of Dearest Protector

She shook her head slowly, like she was trying to shake off her surprise. “I didn’t know he had any family left. I didn’t know I had an uncle.”

She didn’t sound upset in a bad way, which made the tense muscles in my body start to relax.

Ernest smiled. “I have a daughter. So you have a cousin, too. Her name is Olivia. She wanted to meet you, but I thought that might be a little too overwhelming for you today. Sadly, your grandparents are gone now, but I know they would have wanted to know you had that been possible. I have to say that I’m absolutely delighted to get this opportunity myself.”

I’d talked to Ernest several times on the phone, and he’d never shown anything except eagerness to meet his niece.

That was theonlyreason I’d agreed to this meeting.

Ariel’s uncle was successful in his own right. Ernest Hayden was a renowned architect, and had been responsible for designing many iconic buildings in the city over the years.

Ariel’s eyes stayed glued on her uncle. “I-I didn’t know,” she stammered.

“Ah, but you’re here now, and I’ll tell you everything I can about your father,” Ernest said in a quiet, kind tone. “He was a good man who would have been proud to have you as a daughter.”

Much as Ariel had protested that she hadn’t known her father, and that no information about him was going to make her or break her, she was definitely touched that she had family who wanted to know her.

I swallowed the lump in my throat when her lower lip trembled, and tears started to roll down her cheeks.

Ernest held out his arms.

Obviously, the older man was as moved by her tears as I was, because his eyes were a little moist as well.

I wasn’t surprised when she threw herself into the older man’s arms without hesitation.

Generally, I wouldn’t have been able to tolerate seeing her toss herself into another man’s arms, but in this case, I could definitely make an exception.

I grinned as she hugged the older man enthusiastically, and started to ask questions so fast that Ernest couldn’t answer them quickly enough.

I hadn’t been exactly sure where this meeting would go, but maybe my girl would get her closure after all.

Chapter 31

Ariel

“God, this is all so incredible,” I told Ben as we sat in his gorgeous penthouse later that evening. “I’ll probably never really understand why my mother didn’t tell me the truth about my father, but I don’t think it was because he was a horrible person. I’m thinking it was a brief affair that she didn’t want to extend, so she never said anything to him.”

I took a sip of my wine and sighed as I took in the gorgeous view of the city at night. The city lights were breathtaking from the wall of windows in the penthouse.

Of course Ben owned an amazing penthouse in New York, just like he owned fabulous homes in many other cities around the globe.

I was slowly getting used to being the significant other to a man who had an enormous amount of money, power, and influence.

We’d gone to several of Ben’s obligatory swanky events together, and I’d gotten the chance to see that powerful billionaire side of my boyfriend.

Yes, people bowed down to him, and treated him like some kind of American royalty.

Women who were almost green with envy stared daggers at me sometimes, but I wasn’t intimidated by a single one of them.

I was way too secure in the fact that even though I gave others some of Ben’s time at those functions, inevitably, he wasalwaysgoing to go home withme.

There was always a part of Ben that was connected to me, even when his attention was turned toward another conversation at those functions, and he never let me forget that.

It was pretty easy to be gracious to other women when he made it so evident that the only woman he wanted was me.

“Most likely, the relationship between your mother and your father was pretty brief. That’s the only thing that really makes sense,” Ben agreed as he toyed with my hair while we sat on a comfy sofa in the living room. “But it sounds like you got the rest of your answers.”

I had.

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