Chapter 4: The Billionaire’s Impossible Request
Daniel spent the entire night staring at the ceiling.
He had barely slept.
Every time he closed his eyes, he heard Marcus’s voice.
“Find out everything about him.””
The words kept replaying in his mind.
Before Renee Sterling, Daniel’s biggest worries were simple. Paying bills. Keeping enough work coming in.
Making sure Lily had everything she needed. Making sure his daughter never felt the emptiness that came after losing her mother.
Now, somehow, powerful strangers were investigating him.
He had no idea how to fight people like Marcus and Thomas.
He wasn’t a lawyer.
He wasn’t a businessman.
He wasn’t someone who knew how to manipulate markets or destroy reputations.
He was a man who repaired broken electrical systems.
Yet somehow, he had become the biggest threat to a billion-dollar conspiracy.
At 6:30 in the morning, his phone rang.
He expected it to be his boss.
Instead, it was Renee.
Daniel answered immediately.
“Are you okay?””
There was a pause.
“I’m fine.””
“You called before sunrise. That usually means something’s wrong.””
Renee sighed.
“You’re starting to know me.””
“No. I just know people don’t call strangers at 6:30 in the morning unless something happened.””
Another silence.
Then she said:
“They found your daughter.””
Daniel sat up straight.
“What?””
“Daniel—”
“Who found her?””
“My security team noticed someone watching your apartment building.””
His stomach dropped.
“Lily is at school.””
“I know.””
“Is she safe?””
“Yes. I already sent someone to make sure she gets home safely today.””
Daniel stood up.
“No.””
Renee paused.
“No?””
“I appreciate the help, but my daughter is not part of this.””
“I know.””
“No, you don’t.””
His voice became sharper than he intended.
“She’s the only person in my life who didn’t choose this world. She didn’t ask for billionaires and board members and people trying to destroy each other.””
Renee was quiet.
Then softly:
“You’re right.””
Daniel stopped.
He expected an argument.
Instead, she apologized.
“I’m sorry.””
Those two words surprised him.
Because powerful people rarely apologized.
Not the executives he had met.
Not Marcus.
Not the people who treated Renee’s illness like an opportunity.
But Renee did.
“I should have protected that boundary before you had to say it.””
Daniel sat back down.
“Who is watching me?””
“I don’t know yet.””
“Then find out.””
“I’m trying.””
“No.””
He looked at the morning light coming through his window.
“You’re used to people solving problems for you.””
“That’s not fair.””
“Maybe not.””
He rubbed his face.
“But it’s true.””
Renee didn’t answer.
Daniel regretted the harshness immediately.
Because behind all the money and power, she was still the woman who had been abandoned in a hospital room.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“You don’t have to apologize.””
“Yes, I do.””
A quiet moment passed.
Then Renee said something unexpected.
“My father used to say anger was usually just fear wearing armor.””
Daniel smiled slightly.
“Your father sounds smart.””
“He was.””
“What happened to him?””
“Heart attack.””
“When?””
“Three years ago.””
Daniel lowered his eyes.
“That must have been hard.””
“It was.””
Her voice changed.
“But the hardest part wasn’t losing him.””
“What was?””
“Realizing how many people only respected me because they respected him.””
Daniel understood.
“You spent your whole life being someone’s daughter.””
“Yes.””
“And now you’re fighting to prove you’re your own person.””
For a moment, Renee said nothing.
Then:
“You understand me better than most people who have known me for years.””
Daniel didn’t know what to say.
Because he wasn’t trying to understand a billionaire.
He was trying to understand a person.
That afternoon, Renee asked Daniel to meet her at Sterling Global headquarters.
The building was massive.
Glass walls.
Private elevators.
Security checkpoints.
Thousands of employees moving through the lobby.
Daniel stood there feeling like he had accidentally walked into someone else’s life.
Renee arrived wearing a dark suit.
She looked different.
Stronger.
Not healthier.
But determined.
“You’re staring.””
“I’m trying to understand how many people work here.””
“Almost four thousand.””
“And they all depend on you?””
“Yes.””
Daniel looked around.
“That’s a lot of pressure.””
Renee smiled sadly.
“Now you understand.””
They entered a private elevator.
On the top floor, Renee opened a room Daniel had not seen before.
It wasn’t an office.
It was a small private archive.
Shelves filled with documents.
Old photographs.
Boxes.
“My father kept everything,” Renee said.
Daniel picked up a framed photo.
Arthur Sterling stood beside a young Renee.
She looked about fifteen.
“You were close.””
“Yes.””
“What did he teach you?””
Renee looked at the picture.
“Trust actions, not words.””
Daniel looked at her.
“That sounds familiar.””
She smiled.
“Maybe that’s why I trusted you.””
Then she opened a drawer.
Inside was a small black notebook.
“My father wrote this before he died.””
Daniel noticed her hands shaking.
“What is it?””
“The reason I called you.””
He looked confused.
“What?””
Renee looked up.
“The wrong number wasn’t completely wrong.””
Daniel frowned.
“What does that mean?””
She opened the notebook.
Inside were pages of handwritten notes.
“I wasn’t calling Marcus.””
Daniel froze.
“What?””
Renee took a deep breath.
“I knew Marcus would not answer.””
“Then why call him?””
“I didn’t.””
She looked directly at him.
“I called a number my father left me.””
Daniel stared.
“Your father left you my number?””
“No.””
She turned the notebook around.
Daniel saw a handwritten entry.
A name.
A phone number.
And a note.
“If I ever need someone I can trust, call this man.””
Daniel felt the room become colder.
“Why?””
Renee looked terrified.
“Because my father believed someone inside the company would eventually try to destroy everything.””
Daniel looked at the notebook again.
The name written there was not his.
May you like
But the phone number was.
His phone number.
