š± A millionaire meets a woman with twins at the airportāwhat he discovers knocks him off his feet⦠š²
In a crowded airport lounge, Jack Morel, a wealthy businessman and hotelier, was rushing to his boarding gate when an unexpected scene stopped him in his tracks.
Lying on the floor was a young woman, clutching two babies tightly in her arms. Her bag served as a pillow, and a thin blanket barely protected the children from the chill of the air conditioning.
Jack felt his heart clench. That frail figure, the dark strands of hair, the face heād never forgotten⦠As he approached, he recognized Lisa, the former maid heād lost years agoāunjustly fired after his mother accused her of theft.
Their gazes met: the same blue eyes, but dulled with fear and fatigue. Then Jack looked down at the twins⦠and in that moment, the truth struck him straight in the heart.
What he had just realized made him staggerāhe had to lean against the wall to keep from falling. š²
Jack felt the world crumble around him. The twins⦠they had his eyes. That special blue, inherited from his father. He sank to his knees, trembling.
āLisa⦠These children⦠are they⦠mine?ā
Tears streamed from the young womanās eyes. She looked away, unable to answer. After a long silence, she whispered,
āYou werenāt supposed to know this.ā Your mother did everything she could to separate us⦠She promised me sheād destroy you if I spoke.
Jack remained frozen. Memories flooded back: his mother demanding he break up with the āgirl on staff,ā the resignation letter, Lisaās sudden expulsion. Everything fell into place.
āWhy didnāt you write to me?ā he nearly screamed.
Lisa pulled a crumpled envelope from her bag.
āI tried. Every letter I sent was returned marked āAddress unknown.ā And when I found out I was pregnant, it was too late.ā
Jack picked up the twins, shocked. One of them placed a small hand on his cheekāa gesture heād made as a child in old photographs.
āTheir names are Noah and Liam,ā Lisa said in a trembling voice.
The announcement rang out: āLast call for the Paris-New York flight.ā Jack glanced at the boarding gate, then at Lisa.
He tore up his ticket.
āIām not leaving. This time, no one is taking my family away.ā
Lisa burst into tears. The crowd around them continued to move, indifferentābut for Jack, time stood still.
Now he didnāt need planes or hotels. Everything heād sought his whole life was sleeping there, in his arms.