?Chapter 115:


    Caiden didn’t hesitate to jump in, his voice dripping with self-importance.


    “Dani, listen to me—you have to realize that everything I do is for your benefit.


    You’re my…


    “If I don’t look out for you, who else will? When you mentioned cutting ties yesterday, do you even understand how deeply that cut me?”


    He stared at Dani’s unfeeling, distant expression, then quickly shut his eyes for a moment, cursing her silently in his mind.


    He reached out to her, his insincere smile growing wider as he spoke.


    “Come here, sweetheart. Did I hurt you too much yesterday? Let me check.”


    Dani took a step back. That look—intense and unforgiving—made a knot form in Caiden’s gut.


    It was a look he recognized instantly. The same one her mother had given him years ago.


    Cold. Unforgiving. Relentless. A headache. Just like herte mother.


    Caiden knew Dani wouldn’t fall for threats orpliments. But did it really matter? With all the reporters here, what could she do?


    He’d already pretended to regret his actions. If Dani dared to challenge him, the next day’s headlines would be shouting, “Dani Harper: The Ungrateful Daughter.”


    Once thatbel stuck, not even the top PR team at Elite Lux would be able to fix her reputation.


    Reputation was the core of any business. No one would back apany led by a CEO used of being cold-hearted toward her own family.


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    A surge of triumph rushed through Caiden. Being her father gave him the upper hand.


    He straightened his jacket, his chest puffing out with newfound confidence.


    And Cedric? Who cared? He was just another man. Sure, Cedric might scare some people, but not Caiden. Cedric wasn’t invincible, and today’s little showdown made that crystal clear.


    A self-satisfied grin crept across Caiden’s face.


    Katrina, noticing his smug expression, gave his arm a gentle tug, a reminder to tone it down. Caiden quickly wiped the smugness off his face and reced it with a mask of warmth and concern. He turned back to Dani and said, “Sweetheart, can you just forgive me?”


    Dani stood motionless, her cold, unflinching stare locked on Caiden. It was the first time Caiden had used that word in years, not since she was five. Sweetheart.


    For years, she had convinced herself that she wasn’t worthy—like she hadn’t done enough to deserve his love.


    She believed that if she worked harder, achieved more, and made herself irreceable, maybe, just maybe, she would finally hear him say “sweetheart.”


    She had waited for that word endlessly. Even when she topped her ss, it never came.


    When she skipped grades and joined the elite gifted program, still nothing.


    And when she passed her exams at fifteen, bing the youngest doctoral candidate in her field, it remained absent.


    She had finally epted that, no matter what she achieved, she would never hear that worde from her father, not in this lifetime. And now, there it was. Caiden, with a forced grin, had finally said it.


    The irony was almost too much to bear.


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