Chapter 2

Back in the cramped five-hundred-square-foot rental after work, Renata started digging through drawers and closets for something to wear.

Most of her clothes were black, gray, or blue, and all of them were years out of style.

Jackson was in the kitchen making dinner. Ever since he'd started college, he took over every chore whenever he came home on break, never letting Renata lift a finger.

"Mom, stop looking." Jackson came out carrying a steaming plate of pepper steak. "Just wear that cream cashmere coat. I bought it for your birthday last year, and you've never once let yourself wear it."

Renata looked at her son, her eyes stinging. "You paid for that with your tutoring money. I couldn't bear to."

"Clothes are meant to be worn." Jackson came over and pressed his hand over hers. "Mom, I know they give you a hard time at work. People like Kate Lambert only pick on the ones who won't fight back. At this gala, I'm going to make sure everyone knows Renata Fox has a good son, so no one dares treat you like that again."

Renata looked at his handsome face, and her heart filled with both comfort and worry.

This boy had grown up too good-looking.

So good-looking that sometimes, waking in the middle of the night and watching him sleep, she felt afraid.

Because as he got older, the lines of Jackson's brow and eyes looked more and more like that man's.

The man who, twenty years ago, had left a bold, indelible mark on her life and then vanished without a trace.

"Jackson, at the gala, let's keep as low a profile as we can. We'll eat and leave, all right?" Renata said. "Especially… if you happen to see the company's top boss, try to stay out of his way."

"Why?" Jackson looked puzzled. "Mom, are you afraid I'll embarrass you?"

"No!" Renata denied it in a rush. "It's just that… important men like that have strange tempers. They're not people we can afford to cross."

Jackson smiled and dished her out a bowl of rice. "Don't worry, Mom, I know my limits. I'm just going for a good meal, and I'll enter a raffle ticket for you while I'm at it. If we hit the grand prize, we'll have a car, and on weekends I can take you out for a drive."

Watching her son's cheerful expression, the weight on Renata's chest eased a little.

Maybe she was overthinking it.

Delgado Group was enormous, thousands of employees. The gala would be packed wall to wall, the lights dim. Chairman Keith Delgado sat far above it all. How could he possibly notice one small employee and her son tucked away in some corner?

And twenty years had passed.

Keith was old now. His memory had probably long since blurred.

Besides, no one but her knew the truth about what had happened back then.

As long as she never admitted it, what could anyone do to them?

At that thought, Renata gave herself a quiet push of courage.

That night she slept badly. Her dreams were full of that night of thunder and rain, the mansion, the shouting, the unyielding backs turned to her, and the rain pouring down, mixing with her tears, soaking her young face.

She dreamed she was clutching Jackson, still a swaddled infant, running through the wind and rain, and behind her it felt as if countless eyes were fixed on her, the eyes of the Delgado family, cold, merciless, judging.

"Leave the child…"

"He doesn't belong to you…"

The voices in the dream were like a curse.

Renata jerked awake and found the pillow soaked through under her head.

By then, day had already broken.

Sunlight poured in from outside, and Jackson was on the balcony hanging up the laundry, the light spilling over him and edging him in gold.

"Mom, you're up?" Jackson turned, his smile bright. "Hurry and eat breakfast. It's the gala today. We've got to look sharp!"

Looking at her son's smiling face, Renata drew a deep breath and pushed the fear back down.

For her son, she had to be brave.