Chapter 125
The silence was driving me insane.
He was my son.
My son.
And I wasn’t even allowed to see him.
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I’d left Barbados because I had no choice. Moonstone had taken over his care, and they’d made it clear I wasn’t welcome. Logan hadn’t said a word to me during that entire final hour at the hospital. Mason barely acknowledged me. Elena…
Elena didn’t fight them.
And that stung more thanT wanted to admit.
I leaned my hands on the edge of the counter, trying to steady myself. But the pressure was building again–grief, rage, helplessness–all of it boiling beneath the surface like magna.
The sound of heels clicking on marble echoed down the hall
I didn’t turn around. I didn’t want company. Not even Joe. Not even my Beta.
“Derek?” a soft, female voice said.
I tensed. Cassandra,
She stepped into the kitchen, dressed flawlessly, her dark hair swept into a twist at the nape of her neck. She held
a small tray with a cup of coffee and a pastry, but I didn’t touch it
“I heard you were home,” she said. “Caroline was worried. She thought maybe I could cheer you up.”
I gave a humorless laugh. “Not really in the mood for cheering.”
She came closer. “I know. Everyone’s talking about it. About… the boy.”
I didn’t respond.
Cassandra set the tray down on the counter with careful grace, as though even the clink of the ceramic cup might shatter what was left of me. She glanced around the kitchen before turning her attention back to me, a practiced softness in her gaze.
“You haven’t been eating,” she said quietly. “Joe told Caroline, and she told me. I thought maybe I could bring you something. Just… sit with you.”
I didn’t answer. My hands were still braced against the edge of the counter, like I needed the support just to stay upright
“I know you probably don’t want to see anyone right now,” she continued, her voice gentle. “But I couldn’t stay away. Not when you’re like this.”
“Like what?” I muttered.
She took a careful step closer. “Hurting.”
That word sank into the room like a stone dropped in water. She was right. I was hurting. Badly.
Chapter 125
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my son again.
I’d spent every second since that hospital room choking on the fear that I might never get to see my That That I’d found him just to lose him.
see how much this is tearing you apart,” she said. “And hate it. I hate seeing you like this.”
1 exhaled slowly, jaw clenched. “You don’t know what it’s like.‘
“No,” she admitted, reaching out to touch my arm. “I don‘ Not exactly. But I know what it’s like to want something–someone–so badly, and feel like they’re being kept from you. I know what it’s like to feel
powerless.”
That got my attention. I glanced at her, unsure what game she was playing.
She looked down at the floor, then back up at me with something almost shy in her eyes. “I just… I want you to know that I would never do that to you. What Elena’s doing–cutting you off from your own child–it’s cruel, Derek. And unfair. But I would never make you feel that kind of pain.”
I pulled my arm back, gently but firmly. “Cassandra-”
But she stepped forward, catching my hand before I could retreat further.
Her fingers were warm, trembling just slightly as she brought my hand between us.
And then… she laid it against her stomach.
The breath caught in my throat.
“What are you-
“I’m pregnant,” she said, her voice hushed, like she was telling me a secret meant for just the two of us. “You’re going to be a father again.”
The words didn’t make sense at first. They floated in the airlike smoke–visible, but impossible to hold.
“What did you just say?” My voice came out hoarse, foreign
“I’m pregnant,” she repeated. And this time, the corners of her mouth lifted into something that wasn’t quite a smile. There were tears in her eyes–real ones, maybe. Or maybe not. But behind them…
Behind them was something else.
Something sharp.
A flicker of triumph.
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