Chapter 112: Whose Child Is She?

Then Logan remembered. He could no longer tease Asher the way he used to.

Because after that day, after that accident.

Asher had changed.

The carefree playboy disappeared.

In his place was someone colder.

Quieter.

Someone who kept people at a distance… as if getting close to anyone again might break something that had never fully healed.

…

“What did you say?” Scarlet finally blurted out, unable to contain herself any longer. “Who is Shay’s father?”

Her voice cut through the room, sharp and demanding.

The question landed like a stone dropped into still water.

Lara stiffened. She glanced down at Shay.

The little girl was swinging her legs from the chair, humming softly to herself, completely unaware of the tension that had suddenly filled the room.

Lara studied her carefully.

Was she listening?

Did she understand what was being said?

Children often heard more than adults realized.

Only after confirming that Shay seemed blissfully distracted did Lara slowly lift her head.

Her eyes landed on Scarlet.

The look she gave her was cool—borderline annoyed.

For someone studying psychology, Scarlet’s question had been careless and reckless.

Who asked something like that in front of a child?

Lara said nothing. Instead, her gaze shifted across the room and settled on Ares. It lingered there.

Quiet. Expectant. As if she were waiting for him to say something.

For a moment, Ares remained silent.

But it was Asher who finally spoke.

“It was an accident,” he said calmly.

All eyes turned to him.

He leaned slightly back in his chair, though there was a faint tightness in his expression.

“Between Moira and me.”

His voice remained steady, but the room had grown so quiet that every word seemed heavier than the last.

“We were young then,” he continued. “Still students.”

His gaze briefly flickered toward Shay.

“So my brother adopted her under his name.”

Silence followed.

The words settled heavily in the room.

Lara didn’t move.

Her mind repeated the sentence slowly, as if trying to confirm she had heard it correctly.

Asher was Shay’s biological father.

Her fingers tightened slightly on the back of Shay’s chair.

Shay continued swinging her legs happily, humming to herself, unaware that something important had just shifted in the room.

Lara watched her for a moment.

The child’s bright eyes. The shape of her smile.

The stubborn little tilt of her chin when she was being playful.

Then, almost unconsciously, Lara’s gaze lifted toward Asher again.

This time, she looked at him more carefully.

Not as a stranger. But as someone connected to the child beside her.

Something flickered through her mind.

The resemblance. It was subtle. But now that she knew, she could see it. In Shay’s eyes. In the way her brows knit together when she was curious.

But then, Ares and Asher resembled each other closely.

Lara quickly looked away.

Her expression returned to its usual calm composure before anyone could study it too closely.

Across the room, Scarlet released a quiet breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding.

Relief softened her shoulders.

So the little brat wasn’t Ares’ biological daughter.

That meant if she married Ares someday, their children would be the true heirs to the Zuvel fortune.

Her lips curved faintly before she could stop herself.

Just then, a servant stepped into the room and bowed respectfully.

Before anyone else could speak, a servant entered the room and bowed respectfully.

“Sir Ares,” the servant announced, “dinner is ready.”

Ares nodded once.

But his gaze lingered briefly on Lara.

Because he had noticed something the others had not.

The moment—however small—when she looked at Asher differently.

As if she were seeing him for the first time.

…

The dining room was already glowing with warm light when they entered.

A long mahogany table stood at the center, set with polished silverware and crystal glasses. The aroma of roasted meat and herbs filled the air.

Servants moved silently, placing dishes along the table.

Ares took his seat at the head. The others followed.

Shay climbed onto her chair with Lara’s help, still chatting happily about something only she seemed to understand.

Then she paused. Her eyes wandered across the table. They landed on Asher.

For a moment, she simply stared.

Then she tilted her head slightly, studying him with open curiosity.

Asher noticed.

Children always stared at him like that sometimes—curious about the unfamiliar adult—but this felt different.

Shay suddenly slid off her chair.

Before Lara could stop her, the little girl padded across the floor and stopped beside Asher.

“Daddy Asher,” she said brightly.

Asher blinked.

“Yes?”

Shay leaned closer, squinting slightly as if examining his face.

“Are you going to leave me again?”

The table went still.

Across the table, Lara’s hand tightened slowly around her fork.

’Why would Shay ask something like that? Was it the reason why she felt so insecure?’

“No, this time, I am staying,” Asher said, but he was not looking at Shay, but at Lara.

“Yay! Daddy Asher will not leave me.” Shay squealed in delight.

Then she leaned closer, squinting slightly as if examining his face.

“You look like me.”

The table went still.

Scarlet nearly choked on her water.

Logan coughed into his fist, trying—and failing—to hide a grin.

Now that she knew the truth, the resemblance was impossible to ignore.

Shay’s eyes. The shape of her nose. Even the way she studied people so seriously. She looked more like Asher than Ares.

Asher stared at the child in front of him, unsure whether to laugh or correct her.

“Do I?” he said carefully.

Shay nodded with absolute certainty.

“Mhm.”

She placed her small hands on the table and leaned even closer, inspecting him again.

Then she grinned.

“You have the same grumpy face.”

Logan burst out laughing.

“Asher, that’s brutal.”

Even Ares hid a smile behind his glass.

Asher sighed quietly.

“Thank you for that observation.”

Shay giggled and climbed onto the empty chair beside him as if she had always intended to sit there.

Lara watched the entire interaction without speaking.

Her gaze moved between them.

The way Shay spoke to him so easily.

The way Asher, despite his usual cold demeanor, didn’t push her away.

In fact—

He had instinctively moved the hot dish farther from her reach.

A small, protective gesture.

So natural he probably didn’t even realize he had done it.

Lara looked down at her plate.

Something unsettled stirred quietly in her chest.

She wasn’t sure what it was.

Across the table, Asher suddenly became aware of her gaze.

He looked up.

For a brief moment, their eyes met.

This time, Lara didn’t immediately look away.

There was something thoughtful in her expression now.

Almost searching.

Ares watched from the head table.

He felt a strange tension tighten in his chest.

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