Chapter 208: Chapter 209: He Could Oppose Our Relationship
Damien stood in the hallway for another moment, collecting himself. His mind was racing through scenarios, through every possible way this situation could develop and how to prepare for each one.
Alexander Wei had made several mistakes. Coming to New York without announcing himself. Surveilling Aria without her knowledge or consent. Frightening Mei badly enough that she’d finally reached out for help.
But his biggest mistake was assuming that because he was Aria’s biological father, that gave him some kind of claim or right that superseded everything else.
Damien had learned over the past year that Aria didn’t respond well to claims of ownership or control. She’d run from him once when he’d tried to control her life without her consent. She’d hacked Harold Ashford’s entire company when he’d tried to sabotage her career.
Alexander Wei was about to learn the same lesson Damien and Harold had both learned: Aria Chen couldn’t be controlled, couldn’t be owned, couldn’t be managed by powerful men who thought they knew what was best for her.
She made her own choices. And anyone who tried to take that agency away from her....father or not.....was going to regret it.
Damien took a breath, let the cold calculation settle into something calmer, and opened the apartment door.
***
The scene had shifted slightly in the few minutes he’d been outside. Mei had apparently exhausted herself emotionally because she was now sleeping in her chair, a soft throw blanket tucked around her shoulders. Aria was kneeling beside the chair still, one hand resting gently on her mother’s arm, watching her sleep with an expression that was tender and worried in equal measure.
Damien moved quietly across the room and stood behind Aria, his hand coming to rest on her shoulder. She leaned back into him immediately, accepting the comfort without words.
"She fell asleep," Aria said quietly.
Damien nodded, looking at Mei’s sleeping face. Even in sleep, she didn’t look entirely peaceful. There was tension around her eyes, a small furrow between her brows that suggested her dreams weren’t entirely restful.
"I don’t know what kind of person my father is," Aria continued, her voice barely above a whisper, "for her to be shaken about him like this."
Damien said nothing. Just kept his hand steady on her shoulder, his presence solid at her back.
Aria looked up at him, her expression conflicted...fear and curiosity and determination all mixed together. "I think I should stay with her. At least tonight. Until she stabilizes. I’ll go to work from here tomorrow morning."
Damien leaned down and kissed the top of her head, his lips lingering against her hair. "No problem. Stay with her. I’ll come and pick you up tomorrow morning and take you to work."
"You don’t have to...."
"I want to." His voice left no room for argument. "Besides, until we know more about your father’s intentions and his security team’s movements, I’d prefer to personally ensure you get to and from the hospital safely."
Aria twisted to look up at him more fully. "You’re worried about him."
"I’m cautious about him," Damien corrected. "There’s a difference. Worried implies I think he’s more capable than we are of handling this situation. Cautious means I’m not underestimating him."
"Marcus found something."
It wasn’t a question. Aria knew him well enough now to read the subtle shift in his posture, the way his eyes had gone slightly distant with the kind of focus that meant he was processing new information.
"Marcus found several things," Damien confirmed. "Your father arrived four days ago with a professional security detail. Former military or intelligence, based on their movement patterns. They’ve been conducting surveillance on you since they arrived."
Aria absorbed this information with remarkable calm. "So he’s been watching me for four days, not three."
"Apparently."
"And he has professional security." She considered this. "That’s either because he’s genuinely concerned about his own safety, or because he’s the kind of man who needs that level of control over his environment."
"Or both."
Aria stood up carefully, making sure not to disturb her mother, and moved to the window. The evening had deepened into full night, and Chinatown glowed with neon signs and streetlights below.
"What kind of man spends twenty-four years searching for a daughter he knew for two months?" she asked quietly. "What does that say about him?"
"It could say several things," Damien replied, coming to stand beside her. "It could say he genuinely loves you and regrets losing you. It could say he’s obsessive and can’t tolerate not having something he considers his. It could say he’s built up an idealized version of you in his head over twenty-four years and now wants to meet that idealized version."
"Or all of those things at once."
"Or all of those things at once," Damien agreed.
Aria was quiet for a moment, her arms wrapped around herself. "Part of me wants to meet him just to understand. To see what he’s like. To know where half of me comes from."
"That’s reasonable."
"And part of me is terrified that he’ll be exactly what my mother ran from. That I’ll look at him and see the kind of controlling obsession that she couldn’t live with. That I’ll understand why she had to disappear with a two-month-old baby in the middle of the night."
"That’s also reasonable."
Aria turned to look at him. "You’re being very neutral about all this."
"I’m trying to be supportive without influencing your decision." Damien reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "This is your choice, Aria. Your father. Your decision about whether and how to have him in your life. I can’t make that choice for you, and I wouldn’t try to."
"But you have opinions."
"I have many opinions." His slight smile took some of the intensity from his expression. "But they’re not what matters here. What matters is what you want. What you need. What feels right to you."
Aria studied his face for a long moment. "You’re worried he’ll try to take me away from you."
It wasn’t a question, and Damien didn’t deny it.
"The thought has occurred to me," he said carefully. "Alexander Wei is worth billion of dollars. He has resources that rival mine, connections that span multiple continents, influence in places I have none. If he decided he didn’t approve of our relationship, he could make things... complicated."
"He doesn’t get a vote," Aria said firmly.
"I know. But that doesn’t mean he won’t try to have one."
