any of his rival competitors tried to rob or overtake his empire, they would be fooled into believing that his only son is actually a female and try to get an imposter to come forward and take the inherited assets."
"No way!" Elizabitch screeched in shock as she was now held by two officers.
"I'm sure you're all aware, but if not, that's the very reason that as of midnight, all assets were moved to my official name, William De Luca. Roberto was alerted of my suicide, and though I’ll recover, he feared foul play was involved and approved of the move of all of his assets to be in my name. It was the reason why he was still in the office in the wee hours of this morning. And whoever this group is working for, they decided to take advantage and break in."
"Are you saying, Willow, that this group is the one that killed your father?!"
"Well, isn’t it rather obvious?" I inquired back. "Who else would know that my father keeps a fake certificate in his desk, or know of my suicide attempt and assume the worse? In fact, how would they be able to get all the right news reporters here, change the previously selected tabloids for today and get them updated to cover my suicide that wasn't even reported to the authorities, or have knowledge of my father's apparent death?"
"Apparent?" another reporter questioned my statement.
"Well, I say apparent, because if a true body was discovered, would this place be open for a business deal?" My statement left them questioning everything spread through the news this morning, but I noticed the crowd beginning to spread out, revealing the individual standing at the bottom step with Viktor at their side.
My eyes widened as the shock of the sight made me realize Onyx was now standing at my side with my suit coat, while the new arrival, who began to walk up the stairs with Viktor at their left side, was truly Roberto De Luca.
Papa Dearest.
Nothing else moved - or breathed, for that matter. The world was watching and listening to every step my father took up the stairs until he stood before me.
I wasn't expecting him to be here, and the sight of him made a lump form in my throat as his eyes locked onto mine. I braced for some sort of disappointment, for him to portray his disgust as he'd done plenty of times in the past, but instead I saw immense honor while a slight smile formed on his lips as he looked me up and down.
He reached out to gently place a hand on my left cheek, and I fought the urge to flinch at the move, while my heart was clearly trying to give me a heart attack from this man who surely couldn't be my father.
Papa Dearest only showed affection when I was on the verge of death. I was here, alive and somewhat well, in front of the public eye that was all watching this transpire.
Every move he made now would cling to his reputation for the rest of his existence, and yet here he was, showing a glimpse of affection.
"I'm proud of you, Willow," he whispered, but I was sure many heard his words. As much as I'd like to conclude that I was definitely hallucinating, I couldn't deny that I caught onto his statement loud and clear.
He turned around to face the crowd then, his stance purposely blocking me as he stood a bit taller and projected a calm demeanor that would convenience anyone that he was trying to be an amazing father and protect me.
Maybe he was trying to protect me from what I couldn't see in this grand moment.
He didn't wait for the stunned individuals to encourage him to speak the truth.
"It was prematurely announced that I had suffered multiple gunshot wounds due to the crossfire that took place around three in the morning here at my enterprise. Yes, I was indeed in the middle of the crossfire, but thanks to my security and the resources Mr. Moore offered last minute due to the potential concern for my safety, I was transferred over to a safe house until it was deemed safe to return," he elaborated. "It also came to my attention that fraudulent activity was happening on these very steps that I built for my legacy, resulting in my only child revealing something that we've kept private out of respect."
He paused on purpose, as if to make the