Claimed by My Bestie's Alpha Daddy novel Chapter 48

Chapter 48

It lingered too long to be casual. There was something behind it, something heavy and unreadable. I wondered if he was thinking about last night too. If he remembered the exact angle of his arm around my waist, the heat of my breath when I stopped pretending to be asleep. If he’d noticed the way I’d tensed-or the way I didn’t move away. I couldn’t be sure. But that look made my skin hum like he had.

I didn’t know what it meant. I wasn’t sure if he did either.

Alone now, I wandered through the remaining folders on the conference table. Some were outdated briefing packets from previous summits-notes and transcripts, a few dog-eared pamphlets. I thumbed through one idly, more out of distraction than curiosity.

Then I saw it.

A photo. Tucked between two pages.

It was an old team photograph from a different summit, taken in a large atrium. Dozens of faces. But one in the

back row made my pulse falter.

She had my eyes. My jawline. The shape of her mouth was unmistakable.

My fingers tightened around the page.

“That’s the same look you had when you saw Jason’s lunch choices last week,” Emma’s voice chirped from

behind me. “You remember? The week-old tuna salad and a hard-boiled egg he peeled with his teeth? I swear

the smell alone could’ve cleared the chamber. I thought you were going to faint.” She grinned. “You actually

clutched your chest like a scandalized Victorian widow. I’m pretty sure I heard someone ask if we needed a

healer.”

I turned slowly. “Emma. Look.”

She took the photo and studied it, her expression shifting from amusement to focus.

“You think that’s your mom?” Emma asked, but her tone had shifted. It wasn’t teasing anymore.

I blinked. I hadn’t said it aloud yet. Not really. I wasn’t even sure I believed it fully myself.

Emma gave me a look that said she saw more than I wanted her to. “You’ve been carrying that locket around

like a question mark for years. You don’t stare at someone’s face like that unless some part of you already

knows.”

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I swallowed hard. “I-maybe. I don’t know.”

“Yeah, you do.” Her voice was softer now. “You’re just scared to say it first.””

“I don’t know. But she looks like the woman in my locket.”

Emma’s eyes flicked between me and the photo. “You need to ask the butler. If anyone’s been around long enough to know, it’s him.”

I nodded slowly, not trusting myself to speak.

Later, after my next set of briefings, I found myself standing by the window at the end of the hallway, photo

still in hand.

Richard found me there.

“Everything okay?” he asked, voice soft.

I turned the photo toward him. “She might be my mother.”

He studied the image, his brow furrowing. He didn’t say anything right away.

When he finally spoke, his voice was low. “If you want to keep looking, I’ll make sure no one stops you.”

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