My New Boss, My Babies' Secret Daddy

Five years later...

Miami International Airport.

Among the crowd spilling from the airport, one man stood apart, seemingly untouched by the noisy, hurried world around him.

Tall, with a lean but imposing build, he wore an immaculate black dress shirt and matching trousers. A pair of sunglasses shielded his eyes, his expression as cold as steel.

Edward Campbell strode forward, his presence alone enough to make people instinctively part ways for him.

He had just spent five days at a business summit in Asia. And while everything had gone according to plan, his mood was anything but good.

As if sensing his foul mood, his personal assistant, Saul, hurried over, luggage in tow.

"Sir, little Lucas hasn't eaten anything all day... Should we go back to the mansion first?" he asked cautiously, his tone careful as if he were treading on broken glass.

Edward stopped short, slowly turning his head toward his assistant.

"And you're only telling me this now?"

His voice was a low, grim rumble. Saul felt a chill shoot down his spine, and his legs began to tremble.

Everyone on the Campbell household staff knew that the young heir, Lucas, was Mr. Campbell's most precious treasure.

He'd raised the boy with a devotion that bordered on obsession, shielding him from the world. Even Edward himself softened when he spoke to the boy.

And now... he was on a "hunger strike."

"I-I'm sorry, sir... Since this trip was for important business, I was afraid of distracting you, so I didn't get in touch... I didn't expect little Lucas to refuse to eat all day..." Saul stammered, his voice trembling.

Edward removed his sunglasses with deliberate slowness.

His eyes, a pale green just moments before, darkened to the color of a stormy sea. It was as if a tempest were gathering behind them. The tension was so thick that nearby passengers instinctively faltered, sensing danger.

Saul paled. He was sure he had just lost his job... and possibly something more.

"When did I give you permission to make decisions on my behalf?" Edward's jaw clenched. "Hmm?" The sound was barely a word, more a low, threatening vibration. His voice, low and loaded with threat, was enough to make several people shrink back.

"I-I... I'm sorry..." Saul whispered, lowering his head.

At that moment, a small, foil-wrapped chocolate ball rolled through the crowd and stopped right in front of Edward's perfectly polished leather shoe.

He frowned, looking down, and then bent to pick it up.

The wrapper was metallic pink with tiny gold stars, clearly a child's candy.

Before he could straighten, a small, soft voice broke the tension.

"Mister! That's my chocolate!"

A little girl called out, running toward him with her dark curls bouncing at every step.

She looked to be four or five, small for her age but radiating a bright, fearless energy. She stopped in front of him, cheeks flushed from her run and eyes shining with curiosity.

Edward remained crouched, studying her closely.

The little girl tilted her head up to look at him.

And in that instant, something inside Edward stilled.

Those eyes.

Those green eyes, identical to his own.

Her eyes were large, round, and impossibly clear.

They shone like polished jade in the light, possessing an innocence so pure it seemed to belong to a world before cruelty was ever known.

Edward froze.

For a moment, he forgot the trembling assistant beside him, his luggage, the crowded airport, and his own pent-up rage.

The little girl, head tilted and dark curls tousled from her run, watched him with complete ease. There was no fear in her gaze. Only curiosity... and a disarming sweetness that sent a jolt through his chest.

It was the first time he had ever seen this child. He was completely sure of it.

And yet...

Why did he feel as if he already knew her?

"Sir," she said, her voice soft but clear as she held out a tiny hand, "you can't have that one. If you want chocolate, you have to get your own."

Edward blinked, still crouched, processing her words.

"I only have three," she continued with solemn, childish gravity, "so I can't share."

Her words were sweet, soft, and utterly innocent, yet they struck a chord deep inside him.

It was a feeling he didn't understand.

Something that had never happened to him before.

Edward, the coldest, most feared man in Miami, felt his expression soften, unable to stop it. A strange warmth spread through his chest, melting the icy armor around his heart as if her innocent words had found the one unguarded seam.

What was wrong with him? Why... did he feel this way?

"Do you like this brand of chocolate?" he asked, his voice unusually soft as he handed back the metallic-pink ball with its tiny gold stars.

The little girl nodded eagerly. Her eyes lit up even more, and when she smiled, she revealed two tiny canines that made her look like a mischievous little angel.

"Yes! I love it!" she exclaimed. "Do you like it, too?"

Edward was surprised to catch himself smiling.

His assistant, Saul, watching from a couple of steps behind, was utterly stunned.

Mr. Campbell... crouching?

Mr. Campbell... talking softly to a child who wasn't Lucas?

It was simply absurd.

Edward hated children. Except for Lucas, he had never gotten close to any other. He didn't even look at them. But now... he seemed hypnotized by this unknown little girl.

"Maybe I do..." Edward replied with an involuntary sigh, his gaze fixed on her face.

A strange sensation pulsed in his chest. It wasn't pain. It was something deeper... something that felt unsettlingly like a memory trying to surface.

The little girl's eyes... they were his own.

An exact match.

And that, in Edward's world, was an alarm.