Damien's eyes widened in astonishment as he watched Adrian walk toward them. He wondered if he had heard correctly—that the young girl had called Adrian "Dad." But Adrian wasn't even married yet. So, where could the child come from? He wondered if she was Adrian's illegitimate child.

Damien's mind was full of questions that wouldn't quiet down. He asked, "What's going on here?"

Adrian sensed the tension in the air. The moment he noticed Eloise's aggrieved look, his expression turned cold. He fixed his gaze on Damien, his brows furrowing slightly.

"Uncle Adrian, since when did you have a daughter this old? I've never heard anything about this," Damien said, looking perplexed. Then, he turned toward Celeste and gestured in her direction. "Why is Celeste the one taking your daughter to school?"

Celeste tightened her grip on the young girl's hand when she heard this. She hadn't expected Eloise to call Adrian "Dad" so suddenly. As she stood frozen, unsure of what to do, Adrian calmly answered, "Eloise is indeed my daughter. Today is her first day of school. Since I don't have time to take her this morning, I asked Ms. Morin to help out."

The word "daughter" echoed in Celeste's ears, stunning her momentarily. She was sure that the excuse he gave was a cover story. After all, how could Eloise possibly be his daughter?

"But today is Lucian's graduation ceremony. Not only did Celeste refuse to attend, but she's also helping Mr. Adrian drop off his kid," Lucy said, standing in the middle, looking like she was trying to stir the pot.

"What's the matter?" Adrian's eyebrows furrowed slightly as he stared at her. "Do you have a problem with that, Ms. Vale?"

"No! Certainly not!" Lucy instantly backed off, her eyes darting away from his sharp stare. She instinctively reached out to tug on Damien's sleeve, hoping he would speak on her behalf.

But Damien pulled his arm away and turned to look at Celeste, stating, "If you're just helping Uncle Adrian drop off his daughter, we can forget what happened earlier. Once you're done, you can still come to the graduation ceremony—"

Before he could finish, Celeste cut him off sharply, "I told you that I'm not going." Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed Eloise's hand and quickly headed toward the classrooms.

As Damien watched her retreating figure, his gaze became colder. He couldn't believe she dared embarrass him in front of everyone!

Damien instructed, "Lucy, take Lucian to the ceremony first. I need a word with Uncle Adrian."

"Okay,"

Adrian was about to leave, but stopped at Damien's words. He turned to look at Damien and asked, "What else do you want to say to me?"

"Does Grandpa know that you have a daughter? Why haven't you mentioned this before? There hasn't been a single update about it." Curiosity was written in Damien's gaze.

Adrian's expression darkened slightly as he responded, "I don't recall you being the type to gossip."

Upon hearing this, Damien's eyes twinkled with puzzlement. "This isn't gossip. After all, we're family. I just want to learn more about your life. This isn't a small matter, so you should tell Grandpa."

"My life is none of your concern. Just worry about yourself." Adrian's tone was sharply frigid. "Uncle Adrian!" Damien swiftly called after him when he saw Adrian was about to leave. "Your daughter seems to get scared easily. Maybe you might consider taking her to a psychologist."