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Chapter 395
Madison
Twenty minutes in, his laughter grew quieter. Thirty minutes, and his breathing slowed to the steady rhythm of sleep.
“Out like a light,” Mom whispered from her chair, glancing over with a soft smile.
I looked down at Ethan, his face peaceful, one hand clutching my sleeve.
“I’ll take him to his room,” I murmured, carefully extracting myself from the couch.
Ethan stirred slightly as I lifted him, his arms instinctively wrapping around my neck. He wasn’t heavy yet, but he was getting there. Growing faster than I wanted him to.
“Sweet dreams, baby,” I whispered.
I navigated the minefield of toys and settled him into bed, pulling the covers up to his chin.
He mumbled something unintelligible, rolled onto his side, and went still again.
I stood there for a moment, watching him sleep. His hair fell across his forehead, his features relaxed and innocent.
Alexander’s eyes stared back at me from Ethan’s face.
I pressed a kiss to his forehead and backed out of the room, closing the door with a soft click.
Back in my bedroom, I collapsed onto my bed, staring at the ceiling. The events of the day crashed over me like waves. Alexander at the restaurant. Alexander’s text. Tomorrow’s meeting.
What could he possibly want to talk about?
Five years of silence, and suddenly he shows up wanting conversation. What had changed? Why now?
I rolled onto my side, grabbing my phone from the nightstand. No new messages. I stared at our last exchange.
Me: There’s a park on Riverside Drive. Near the waterfront. 2pm.
Alexander: I’ll be there.
Short. Direct. No explanation. Classic Alexander.
I tossed the phone aside and hugged a pillow to my chest.
Why hadn’t he responded to that message?
The pregnancy message I sent five years ago remained unanswered, ignored, and dismissed.
I’d waited. God, I’d waited for weeks. Checking my phone obsessively, jumping at every notification, convincing myself he’d call, text, and demanding to talk.
Nothing.
Radio silence from Alexander Knight, the man who always had an answer for everything.
That silence told me everything I needed to know. He didn’t care about me, about the baby, about any of it. He’d gotten engaged
to Katherine and moved on with his life while I was spiraling in panic about being pregnant and alone.
So why now? What made him drive to Connecticut after five years of absolutely nothing?
And Katherine. They were still engaged but not married. Five years of engagement. What kind of couple stayed engaged for five years without setting a date?
Maybe they had an arrangement too. Maybe their entire relationship was as fake as ours had been.
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Or maybe they were just busy. Important people with important lives, too occupied with empires and fashion lines to bother with something as mundane as actually getting married.
Unlike me, who’d been too occupied with morning sickness and crying in bathroom stalls to think about anything except survival.
“Stop thinking about him,” I muttered into the pillow. “He’s a jerk A complete and total jerk who doesn’t deserve one more second of your time.”
But even as I said it, my chest tightened with something uncomfortably close to longing.
I hated that I still reacted to him. Hated the way my pulse had jumped when our eyes met. Hated the traitorous part of my brain that noticed how good he looked, all expensive suit and controlled power.
Five years, and he still affected me like I was that shy assistant who’d agreed to his ridiculous arrangement.
I punched the pillow in frustration.
Tomorrow. Two o’clock. He’d said he’d be there, and knowing Alexander, he meant it. The man was nothing if not stubborn.
Well, two could play that game. I’d show up, tell him to leave me alone, and be done with it. Clean break. Final goodbye. Move on
with my life.
Even if part of me didn’t want to.
“You’re pathetic,” I told myself.
The next morning arrived too fast. I went through my routine on autopilot: shower, coffee, wake Ethan, breakfast, drive him to school.
“Love you, baby,” I called as he scrambled out of the car.
“Love you too, Mom!”
He raced toward his classroom, backpack bouncing, without looking back. My heart squeezed watching him go.
The café was already busy when I arrived, the morning rush in full swing. I threw myself into work, making drinks, taking orders, anything to avoid thinking about two o’clock.
“Your usual?” I asked, fingers already reaching for the oat milk.
“You read my mind, dear.”
I smiled and moved through the motions. Steaming milk. Pulling shots. Wiping counters. The familiar rhythm usually calmed me. Not today.
By one thirty, my stomach churned. I wiped down the espresso machine for the third time, scrubbing spots that didn’t exist.
The drive to Riverside Park took ten minutes. I parked in the lot, gripping the steering wheel as I watched joggers pass by and families spread picnic blankets on the grass.
My hands were slick with sweat. I wiped them on my jeans and checked the time on my phone. One fifty–seven. Three minutes until I’d have to face Alexander.
If he even showed up.
Part of me hoped he wouldn’t. That he’d realize this conversation was pointless and just leave me alone. But another part, the stupid part that still remembered how his eyes had looked at Ethan last night, needed answers.
I pulled out my compact mirror and checked my reflection.
“You can do this,” I whispered to my reflection.
Two o’clock came and went. No Alexander.
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“Of course,” I muttered, shoving the mirror back in my purse. “Why would he show up? He’s probably at some business lunch with Katherine, planning their wedding cake or whatever billionaires do.”
I started the car. This was stupid. Waiting around like some pathetic ex who couldn’t take a hint. Alexander had made his position clear with five years of silence.
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
