The Favored Daughter

The shrill ring of the cell phone sliced through the suffocating silence of the expansive office. Desmond snatched the device from the mahogany desk, a sudden flicker of hopeful anticipation sparking in his chest. Maya. It had to be Maya finally reaching out. But as his gaze fell upon the glowing screen, the caller ID instantly dissolved his hope into sharp irritation.

Audrey Monroe.

He swiped the screen, pressing the sleek phone to his ear, his knuckles turning white from the grip.

"Desmond!" Audrey’s sweet, cheerful voice poured through the speaker. "My grandfather's birthday banquet is coming up next weekend. My parents tasked me with delivering the invitations personally. Are you free later? I am actually passing by the Radcliff Group right now. I could drop off your exclusive invitation, and maybe we could grab lunch together?"

Desmond rubbed his temples, staring blankly at the closed oak door of his office, the ambient hum of the city traffic drifting up from the streets below. "Okay."

"Great, see you soon."

He dropped the phone back onto the polished wood. The brief exchange did nothing to soothe his dark mood. Instead, his frustration deepened. His mind remained deeply distracted by Maya’s resolute, impenetrable silence. She had vanished from his immediate orbit, cutting off all contact, and his inability to track her down gnawed relentlessly at his pride. He stared at the crucial quarterly projections spread out in front of him, but the numbers turned into meaningless black smudges.

A sharp knock interrupted his brooding. Nolan burst through the door, clutching a sleek tablet.

"Mr. Radcliff," Nolan said, urgency lacing his professional tone. "We have breaking corporate news. The east city land auction has been moved up unexpectedly. The organizers just sent the official notice."

Desmond stood, his jaw tight. "Notify the project managers and the board members immediately. We hold an emergency strategy meeting in five minutes."

He strode past the desk, leaving the velvet jewelry box sitting near the edge.

Twenty minutes later, the office door clicked open again. Nolan escorted Audrey into the quiet room.

"Ms. Monroe, Mr. Radcliff had to step into an emergency meeting," Nolan explained. "He asked that you wait for him here. Please let me know if you need anything at all."

"Thank you, Nolan," Audrey said, her lips curving into a gentle, practiced smile.

The moment the door clicked shut, her sweet smile faded into a look of calculating curiosity. She paced across the plush carpet, her heels sinking into the expensive fibers. Approaching the massive mahogany desk, she intended to leave the gold-embossed invitation right in the center. Then, a splash of crimson caught her eye.

An elegant red jewelry box rested conspicuously near Desmond's leather chair.

Audrey paused. She glanced back at the closed office door, then down at the velvet container. Her upcoming birthday was only a few days away. Could this be for her?

Her overwhelming curiosity won out over her polished manners. Audrey reached out, her manicured fingers brushing the soft fabric, and flipped the lid open.

She gasped.

Resting on a bed of dark satin was the breathtakingly expensive Tears of the Angel—the famous sapphire and diamond necklace Desmond had secured at the recent Oakhaven auction. The massive blue gemstone gleamed under the recessed lighting. She remembered asking him about it at the venue, and he had brushed her off with a vague non-answer. Now, the truth seemed obvious. He was planning an impending, lavish surprise for her birthday.

A happy, arrogant smile spread across her face. She carefully snapped the box shut and nudged it back to its exact spot, her heart fluttering with smug satisfaction.

An hour dragged by before the heavy oak door swung open. Desmond strode in, loosening his silk tie.

"Sorry for the wait," he said, his tone flat. "Corporate emergency."

Audrey stood gracefully, smoothing her designer skirt. "It is fine. I went ahead and ordered lunch for us. It should arrive shortly."

Desmond nodded, moving behind his desk.

"I left the invitation right there," Audrey continued, pointing a slender finger. "My grandfather's party is next Saturday. We would all love for you to attend."

Desmond glanced at the gold envelope. "I might have a business trip keeping me out of town, but I will try."

Audrey seized the opening. She stepped closer, meticulously etching her features with perfectly feigned sisterly worry. "Have you heard from Maya recently? I keep trying to call her, but she never picks up. Do you know where she is?"

Desmond’s posture went rigid. His eyes narrowed, his voice dropping several degrees. "Why are you looking for her?"

Audrey sighed, pressing her hands together. "You know how strained her relationship with our family is. It just keeps getting worse. I thought it might be a good chance for her to come home to mend things with the family." She kept her gaze soft, hiding her true desire to drag Maya into a public space where she could humiliate her.

Desmond stared at her, his expression giving nothing away. "I'll talk to her about it," he replied coldly.

Across the city, inside her sleek Vellora Group office, Maya stared blankly at her glowing computer screen. The heavy silence was shattered by the harsh buzz of her phone vibrating against the desk.

She glanced at the caller ID. Warren Monroe. Her biological father.

Maya picked up the device, her face an unreadable mask. "Yes?"

"Next Saturday is your grandfather's birthday," Warren barked through the receiver, skipping any polite pleasantries. "You need to come home."

Maya leaned back in her chair, staring out the floor-to-ceiling window. "I recently started a new job. I am very busy. I am not sure I will have the time."

"What could possibly be more important than your grandfather's birthday?" Warren demanded aggressively, his tone harsh and commanding. "No matter what, you must come next Saturday. And it is best if you bring Desmond along."

Maya scoffed quietly. Warren’s true motive was transparent. The Monroe family’s influence had been waning for months. Warren desperately hoped to parade Desmond Radcliff around the estate, using his son-in-law's immense status to intimidate his own business rivals and secure wavering partnerships.

She remained silent, her mind spinning with cold detachment. The Monroe family had never treated her as a daughter. But as she thought about the looming divorce, a sharp realization settled over her. If she just disappeared, the Monroes would endlessly harass her. She desperately needed to announce her impending divorce face-to-face, publicly severing all ties to prevent their future complications.

"Fine," Maya said, her voice dripping with formal detachment. "I will make time for the banquet."

Warren grunted a clipped acknowledgment and hung up the phone.

Inside the opulent living room of the Monroe family estate, Warren tossed his phone onto the glass coffee table.

Evelyn Monroe sat on the adjacent leather sofa, openly expressing her intense disgust. "You already sent Audie to deliver the invitation directly to Desmond. Why bother asking her to mention it to him?"

Warren poured himself a drink, the amber liquid splashing against the crystal tumbler. "Desmond is her husband. Having her there ensures he shows up."

Evelyn sneered viciously, her face contorting with malice. The dark secret of the Monroe family remained a raw nerve between them, an ugly stain hidden beneath their wealth. Decades ago, immediately after Evelyn gave birth to twin girls, a trusted psychic delivered a terrifying omen: the infant Maya would bring ruin and disaster to the family. Driven by superstition, they deliberately abandoned Maya at a squalid rural orphanage.

They lived content without her, ignoring her existence, only bothering to drag Maya back to the sprawling estate at the age of sixteen for one gruesome reason: Audrey had fallen desperately ill. The family harvested Maya's bone marrow for a life-saving transplant to cure Audrey. Since the surgery, the family's treatment of Maya remained freezing cold, fueled by the lingering dread of the psychic's prophecy.

"If Audie hadn't gone abroad, would Maya have ever had the chance to marry Desmond?" Evelyn hissed. "It is much better for everyone if they divorce quickly and Desmond marries Audie."

Warren paused, letting the heavy crystal glass hover near his lips. His eyes narrowed in deep calculation. Desmond marrying the compliant Audrey instead of the stubborn Maya offered an immense political and financial advantage.

He set his glass down. "We will talk about this later. But tread carefully, Evelyn. Be kinder to Maya in the interim. We still owe that girl a massive debt."

Evelyn stubbornly refused to yield. "Kind to her? I only acknowledge Audie as my daughter. Have you forgotten the psychic's prophecy of doom?"

"Evelyn," Warren interrupted sharply. His voice boomed through the room, his eyes filling with unbridled rage. "If I hear you mention this again, do not blame me for being ruthless."

Terrified by her husband's rare threat, Evelyn forcefully bit her tongue, internally blaming Maya for all the family's discord.

Later that evening, the heavy corporate atmosphere at Vellora Group finally began to wind down. The relentless hum of office machinery softened as employees trickled out for the night.

Maya sat at her desk, organizing a stack of complex market proposals. She neatly aligned the corners of the folders, switching off her monitors. The physical exhaustion of the day settled into her shoulders.

As she was packing up her final documents and preparing to leave work for the day, the glass office door swung open.

Sienna hurried into the room, a mischievous glint sparkling in her eye.

"Maya, do you have plans tonight?"