In the secluded, top-secret meeting room, Lucas sipped his tea lightly, lost in thought. It took him a long while to gather his focus. The most pressing matter now was finding a way for Ella to willingly acknowledge him as her father.
"Father, don't overthink it. Miss Davis is still your daughter. No matter how much she resents you, that fact won't change," Luke said softly, trying to comfort him.
Lucas nodded, his eyes glistening faintly with unshed tears. "Isabella's been gone for so many years, yet I've never stopped regretting. If only I'd been more decisive back then—if I'd forced her to come back with me, how different things might have been. But I didn't. I thought she'd fallen for someone else. I didn't even have the courage to confront her. I was so afraid… afraid that my love for her was too intense and that I might lose control and hurt her."