Chapter 187

The night went by too quickly, and it was time for me to leave the best and most loving home I’ve ever had.

Except for the overnight bag, my belongings had been taken to my new home on Third Avenue in the city. Jennifer and some of the other maids had unpacked my things there last night. The apartment was ready for me.

After going downstairs with the overnight bag, I found Alex in the living room. He was silently crying.

My tears began to flow, too, as I went to him and sat down.

He took my hand and raised it to his lips. “It doesn’t matter if we are connected by blood or not, sweetheart. You will always be my daughter. I want you to continue using my last name and stay in touch.”

I nodded. “You have been so good to me.”

“I will continue to be there for you for as long as possible,” he vowed.

His arms went around me, and we held each other tightly. “I love you, Daisy, he said.

“And I love you, Alex,” I said. “Thank you for making my life better. I don’t regret a moment I spent here with you.”

Alex’s shoulders shook with emotion as he cried. “You must go now, but remember you are not alone.”

This was it. I kissed his cheek, left the room, and walked out of the mansion.

Joe was waiting for me by the car. He placed the overnight bag in the limousine and held the backdoor until I climbed inside.

“I’m sorry to see you go, Miss,” he said before closing the door.

I settled into the seat and was surprised to see Benson sitting in the front passenger seat.

“I want to make sure everything is perfect in your apartment,” he said. “And I want to help you get settled in.”

Relief flooded me. “I’m glad you're going with me to the apartment, Benson. It makes it much easier. I’m not even sure where it is.”

“Alex has given you a unit in his new luxury apartment building on Third Avenue. It’s in the best part of downtown Denhurst,” Benson explained. “Your apartment is on the seventy-second floor.”

“That’s as high as my office is … was.” I forgot it wasn’t my office anymore.

Benson chatted about the apartment building, the neighborhood, and other important information during the entire trip into the city.

I tried to listen to his every word. What he was saying about my new home was important. But my mind kept wandering despite my attempts to concentrate on his voice.

Joe drove into the heart of the city and pulled in front of a building a few blocks west of the office building where I had worked for Wilson, Inc.

The apartment building was newer than the office building, and it was meticulously maintained. There wasn’t even a cigarette butt on the sidewalk.

I looked up at the looming buildings around me as we climbed out of the car. It might be fun to live so high in the air, but I would miss seeing the open skies of the country.

Joe took my bag, and Benson led the way inside the building.

“Your key fob will get you inside the lobby even though you shouldn’t need it much. Mr. Wilson employs doormen around the clock,” he said as we were let inside by the young, uniformed doorman with a name tag that read Seth Alton.

Seth nodded at us and led the way to the elevators, where he summoned one with the push of a button.

We boarded the elevator, and Seth pushed the button for the seventy-second floor before backing out into the lobby. The doors closed behind him, and we rocketed upwards.

The doormen will call you if you receive a guest and ask if you want to see them before sending them upstairs to you. The building is very secure, and you’ll be safe.

The doors opened again, and we stepped out of the shiny, metal elevator and onto the spotlessly clean carpeting of the seventy-second-floor hallway.

“There are chandeliers in the hall,” I said. “And artwork on the walls.” I examined a charming watercolor near the first apartment door. “Landry Jacobs painted this!”

He was a nineteenth-century artist known for his watercolors and sculptures.

“Alex wanted the best for this building,” Benson explained and moved down the hall to apartment 72C. “Hold your fob near this plate to the left of the door, and it opens your door, too.”

Benson held the fob to the metal plate, and I heard a buzzing sound and a click. He then pushed the door open, and we stepped inside a gigantic apartment.”

“This is too big for one person,” I said and gawked at the luxury surrounding me. It was just as lovely as Alex’s mansion.

The hardwood floors had strategically placed expensive carpets and lined drapes that covered the floor-to-ceiling windows made of rose-brown silk. They matched the rose tones in the carpets and furniture.

An intriguing painting hung over the fireplace that I would examine later. Next, Benson showed me the chef’s kitchen, pantry, powder room, full guest bathroom, guest bedroom, and the master suite with a bathroom larger than mine at the mansion.

I stood in the master bedroom, staring in awe around the room. The king-size bed faced another set of glass doors that led to a private balcony. It was too high for Diana to leap to the ground, but the view was breathtaking.

Benson interrupted my thoughts, “Your housekeeper, Mrs. Carson, will be here later this morning.”

A housekeeper and a luxury apartment! There wasn’t much difference from how I was treated at the mansion. I felt good knowing Alex, Benson, and the others still cared about me.

If only I had heard something from Victor before now. But I feared he didn’t have any use for me anymore, and I didn’t want his pity or to make him feel any obligation to me.

However, after Benson left, the fact that I was living alone in an apartment, miles from the mansion, set in.

I occupied myself by checking out my new surroundings. The walk-in closet held the extensive wardrobe Alex bought me. In the bathroom, all my cosmetics and hygiene products were stored neatly in a special cabinet.

There was everything I would need in the bathrooms, and the kitchen was stocked with anything I could want to eat.

For my entertainment, there were three enormous TVs with all the cable and movie channels.

I pushed the off button on a remote to turn off the living room TV a second before my phone vibrated.

William sent me a text, asking me if I was okay. I sent him a smiley face with both thumbs up. But I wasn’t okay.

If William knew I wasn’t really Alberta, that meant everyone knew.

How will the kids at school respond to me now? I was worried that some would take the opportunity to be cruel. It happened before.

William sent another text. “Are you sure? I heard Alex kicked you out of his mansion.”

I had to answer him. He still cared. “Don’t worry. I’m far from homeless. But I need some time to adjust. Thanks for checking on me. TTYL.”

I sat back on the plush, deep-rose-colored sofa and was about to lie down when the sound of my phone ringing echoed throughout the apartment.

“William, I don’t want to talk,” I grumbled before looking at the screen.

It wasn’t William calling. It was a strange number with ‘Doorman’ where a name belonged on my screen.

Curiosity made me answer the call.

“Hello,” I said into my phone.

“Miss Wilson,” a male voice said. This is Seth, the doorman on duty.”

Oh, yeah. Benson said they would call me if anyone came to see me. Who was here? I hoped William hadn’t tracked me down. I wasn’t ready to talk about it yet.

“Hello, Seth,” I said. “What’s up?”

“Victor Klein here to see you,” Seth replied. “Should I send him up?”

Why was Victor here? My hands began to shake.

“Send him up, please,” I said. “Thank you, Seth.” I hung up and went to the door.

Victor must have been waiting for the past two days until he could talk to me alone.

He had seemed shocked and angry when Alex broke the news that I was not his daughter and Victor could only become the leader of the Association by marrying his daughter.

“He wants to announce our engagement is broken,” I whispered to myself. That way, he can pursue Olivia and get what he wanted all along.

“You made a deal with him, remember?” I reminded myself. “Let Victor go gracefully. Don’t stand in his way no matter how much it hurts.”