“You’re too handsome to be alone,” my six-year-old daughter announced in the middle of the executive hallway, staring straight at the coldest billionaire in Manhattan. “I think you should be my daddy.” Every person around us froze, while I stood there absolutely certain my career had just ended.

Mia tilted her head, her hand tightening around Gerald the stuffed elephant. She looked up at Adrian with the absolute, devastating sincerity that only a six-year-old could manage.

"Because Mommy cries at night when she thinks I'm asleep," Mia said softly. "She holds a picture of a man who left before I was born, and she tells Gerald that she's scared of being alone forever."

The silence in the executive corridor became so absolute that I could hear the faint hum of the fluorescent lights overhead.

My blood turned to liquid ice. Every defense mechanism I had built over six years of single motherhood crumbled in front of my boss, his executive team, and half a dozen junior associates standing frozen by the glass conference doors.

"Mia..." I whispered, my voice trembling as a burning blush swept up my neck. "Sweetheart, please... that's enough."

Adrian didn't look back at the gaping staff. His gray-blue eyes remained fixed on Mia, his sharp, intimidating features softening into an expression I had never seen on his face before: profound, quiet reverence.

Slowly, Adrian dropped to one knee on the polished marble floor. He didn't care that his five-thousand-dollar bespoke suit trousers were touching the ground. He looked Mia directly in the eyes.

"Your mommy is very brave, Mia," Adrian said, his voice dropping into a low, velvet rumble that sent a tremor straight down my spine. "And she is never going to be alone. I promise you that."

Mia smiled, her cheeks dimpling. "So you'll think about being my daddy?"

A faint, handsome smirk touched the corner of Adrian’s lips. "I think that's a decision your mommy and I need to discuss over dinner."

He stood up smoothly, adjusting his cuffs, and turned his gaze onto me. The cold, impenetrable billionaire who had ruled Blackwell & Reed with an iron fist for five years looked at me as if I were the only person in the Manhattan sky tower.

"Clara," Adrian said, using my first name for the very first time since I had joined the company. "Bring Mia into my office. Now."

My knees shook as I stepped forward, taking Mia’s small hand in mine. "Mr. Kane, I am so sorry... I can explain—"

"Office, Clara," he repeated gently, holding the heavy glass door open for us.

As the door closed behind us, cutting off the suffocating stares of the entire floor, I pulled Mia against my side. My heart was hammering like a trapped bird.

Adrian walked over to his massive mahogany desk, but he didn't sit in his executive chair. Instead, he walked to the velvet sofa in the corner, sat down, and pointed to the seat beside him.

"Sit," he commanded softly.

I sat down nervously, keeping Mia tucked against my side. Mia, completely unbothered by the gravity of the billionaire's presence, reached into her pocket and offered Adrian a half-eaten bag of Goldfish crackers.

"Do you want one?" Mia asked. "They're cheddar."

To my absolute shock, Adrian took a cracker, popped it into his mouth, and chewed solemnly. "Delicious. Thank you, Mia."

He looked at me, his intense gray-blue eyes locking onto the bruise-like shadows beneath my eyes that makeup could no longer hide.

"Why didn't you tell me you were struggling, Clara?" Adrian asked quietly. "You've taken on the entire workload for the European launch by yourself. You've been working eighty-hour weeks."

"Because this is my job, Mr. Kane," I replied, holding my head high despite the tears threatening to spill. "I don't bring my personal life to work. Today was an emergency... my nanny's apartment flooded, and—"

"I don't care about the child care, Clara," Adrian interrupted, leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "I care that you're burning yourself alive trying to prove you don't need help."

He reached into his breast pocket, pulled out his personal phone, and tapped the screen before placing it on the glass table.

"My driver, Thomas, is downstairs," Adrian said. "He is taking you and Mia home right now. You are taking the rest of the week off."

"Mr. Kane, the board presentation is tomorrow—"

"The board can wait," Adrian said, his tone shifting into that absolute, unyielding authority that made men crumble in boardrooms. "And if anyone has a problem with it, they can take it up with the owner of the firm."

He stood up, walking toward us. He stopped directly in front of Mia, reaching out a long finger to gently tap the nose of her stuffed elephant.

"Go home, Mia," Adrian whispered, his eyes flicking up to meet mine. "I'll see your mother tonight at seven."