I Saved His Daughter And The Mafia Boss Won’t Let Me Leave Chapter 17
Derek’s eyes go wide. He stares at Roman’s legs.
“You — you can—”
Roman looks at him like he’s nothing.
“Sorry to disappoint.”
He pushes me and Lily behind him. His legs are barely holding, but his voice is steady as steel.
“Sera. You’ve been protecting us this whole time.”
“My turn.”
Sirens. Getting closer. Getting loud.
Victoria spins for the door. I tackle her and pin her to the ground before she makes it three steps.
Derek doesn’t even get that far. The cops pour in and have him facedown in seconds.
But Lily isn’t moving.
She’s standing in the middle of the room, staring at Roman. Tears rolling down her face one by one.
“I’m not… I’m not your real daughter…”
The DNA results come back fast.
No biological relation. None.
The police pull the rest of it together. Victoria used a private clinic to forge a birth certificate. She adopted a random child and passed her off as Roman’s.
Lily hears the results.
She doesn’t speak for the rest of the day. Not one word.
That night, I come downstairs and find her sitting by the front door. Her little backpack is packed. Shoes on. Hands folded in her lap.
I crouch down in front of her.
“Where you going, baby?”
She won’t look at me.
“I’m not Daddy’s kid.”
“I can’t live here anymore.”
Behind me, I hear the tap of a cane. Slow. One step at a time.
Roman comes down the hallway. Every step costs him. I can see it in his jaw, in his white knuckles on the cane.
He stops in front of Lily. And then — God, his legs are barely holding — he lowers himself down until he’s kneeling in front of her.
“Who told you you’re not my kid?”
Lily’s tears spill over.
“The bad lady said I’m not real. She said I was just some random baby she picked up.”
Roman reaches out and wipes her cheeks with his thumb.
“The first time you got sick, I held you all night in that hospital. Didn’t sleep once.”
“The first time you called me Daddy, I was so happy I couldn’t sleep either.”
“Your first day of school. I’m the one who walked you in.”
“Blood just tells you where someone came from, Lily.”
“It doesn’t get to decide whose daughter you are.”
Her chin is shaking so hard she can barely get the words out.
“But do you still… do you still want me?”
Roman’s eyes go red. His voice cracks right down the middle.
“Always. I will always want you.”
Lily breaks.
“DADDY!”
She throws herself at him so hard he rocks backward. But he catches her. Holds on tight. Doesn’t let go.
I drop down beside them and wrap my arms around them both.
She cries for a long time.
But this time, it’s different.
She doesn’t shut down. She doesn’t go silent. She tells us she’s scared. She asks if we’re leaving. She reaches for us first.
Her therapist says it’s the biggest breakthrough she’s ever seen in Lily. She’s finally starting to believe that even if she says the scary thing out loud, someone will still be there to catch her.
That night, Roman holds me in bed. Out of nowhere, he says:
“Sera. Thank you.”
I yawn. “Mr. Ashford. You don’t thank your wife.”
He laughs. Low. Pulls me tighter.
“Fast learner.”
His hands find my waist. His lips find my neck…
A month later, the adoption is finalized.
Legally, officially, on paper — Lily is ours. Both of ours.
We walk out of the courthouse and Lily grabs one of my hands and one of Roman’s. She looks up at us.
“Mommy. Daddy. When are you having a real wedding?”
I poke her nose. “We’re already married, silly.”
Lily shakes her head. Dead serious.
“I knew the whole time. That one in the garden was fake. You were just pretending.”
“Daddy still owes Mommy a real one!”
Roman lets go of his cane.
It clatters to the ground.
He lowers himself to one knee, right there on the courthouse steps. Pulls out a ring. Bigger. Brighter. The kind that catches every bit of light in the sky.
He takes my hand.
“Sera.”
“Will you marry me again?”
“This time not for Lily. Not for paperwork. Not for anyone else.”
“Just for me.”
I’m crying and laughing at the same time and I don’t care who sees it.
“Yes.”