The Price of a Diamond – Part 7.1

The Name That Shouldn't Be Spoken

Ava tried searching for Daniel's family name.

But the moment she did, everything shut down.

The government didn't just refuse to help her—they blocked her at every turn. The more she searched, the more she realized just how deep his name was tied to something bigger than her.

This wasn't just about Daniel anymore. His last name held power. A power that could either destroy her… or bring her to him.

For the first time, she realized that if she wanted to reach him, she needed power, too.

Not for herself.

Not for revenge.

For her daughter.

Daniel had kept his distance, but her little girl needed a father. And not just any father—her real father.

Before, she might have lied. She might have told her daughter that Liam, her affair partner, was her father.

But now?

The thought of Liam made her sick. She was disgusted by the idea of letting his name stain her child's life.

No.

She wouldn't just forget Liam.

She would ruin him.

She wanted to torment him. To make him feel the same betrayal, the same emptiness that he left her with.

But then, she stopped.

Because she remembered something.

Daniel never did that to her.

She had betrayed him in the worst way possible. She had broken him, humiliated him, abandoned him for someone like Liam.

And what did Daniel do?

Nothing.

He didn't take revenge. He didn't destroy her when he had the chance. He simply walked away.

That was the difference between them.

Liam betrayed her, and so had she. But Daniel?

Daniel was different.

Daniel was the one person who had always stood by her.

Ava found herself drowning in memories.

She remembered their first meeting in high school, when she was nothing more than a bullied, broken girl.

She remembered how he had protected her.

How he had never abandoned her.

How every success, every rise in her life, had been because of him.

Daniel had never asked for anything. He had never sought the spotlight, never demanded credit.

But behind every achievement, behind every moment she thought she had made it on her own—he had been there. Silently helping. Silently supporting.

Daniel was kind, but he was also quiet.

No one could break his secrecy.

And now, she was desperate to find the man she had lost.

Not just for her daughter.

But because, after all this time… she finally understood his worth.