Chapter 28

Selena’s POV

I’d only turned my back for a second.

One second. That’s all it took.

Sisi had been lying on her tummy on the rug, coloring with a broken red crayon and humming under her breath. Her feet were swaying lazily in the air.

And I had gone to grab the folded laundry from the hallway

I was berely gone

It was less than four minutes away.

But by the time I came back… she was gone.

No sound.

No door creak.

Just… gone.

The red crayon was on the rug, it was still rolling vack and forth like it hadn’t realized that she had left.

I strained my eyes to peek at the oage she had been coloring, it was a slightly smudged sketch of what looked like me, her and something that looked like a shadow was holding both our hands.

.

My stomach dropped.

And for the first time since I got kicked out of Zevran’s palace, I felt fear

Real fear

The kind that made my chest knot

“Sisi?” I called out.

Nothing.

I moved fast—too fast. Checked the guest room, the linen closet, the crawlspace under the stairs. Even behind the curtains where she used to hide during storms.

No trace.

“Sis..” my voice gave out. I couldn’t help the crack that happened at the edge of my voice.

Goosebumps had already covered my body, and the pacing of my heartbeat had increased.

I couldn’t seem to think of anything in particular, except where sisi might have gone and what her dad would do to me if he finds out.

.

I rushed to the hallway and caught sight of a maid carrying a tray of dried herbs.

My legs moved before my brain could process it and in less than a second, I was already standing in front of her.

“Have you seen Sisi?” I asked, breathless.

The maid shook her head, startled. “I thought she was with you, Miss Selena…”

I didn’t wait to hear the rest.

I turned and bolted.

Something in my gut already knew exactly where she had gone.

I just hoped that I was right.

**

The sound of metal clashing rang in my ears before the training yard came into view.

This place wasn’t for children.

But then… I saw her.

Sisi.

Curled into his lap, like she’d never left it.

Cassian had his back turned to me, same as sisi.

He had kne hand around her and the other gently tucking a curl behind her ear.

I admired how he looked at her, his eyes were locked on her like she was the only real thing in a world full of noise.

He looked… different.

Not just tired

More like raw. Like something inside him had broken and was slowly being reshaped.

And then I heard his voice

And Gid did I hate how it made my heart skip a beat

“…so what should we do today?”

Sisi’s face lit up. “Family time!”

I stopped moving.

Family time?

My heart skipped.

Again

“You remember that day, Daddy?” she announced eagerly, sitting up straighter on his lap. “The one where Mommy wore the blue dress and you said she looked like a queen?”

Cassian let out a breath of a chuckle. “Yeah. I remember.”

“You were holding hands,” she added proudly. “You didn’t know I saw, but I always see things.”

She said it so simply. Like it wasn’t meant to be heavy.

Like the weight of the world could be carried in her tiny voice and still sound like sunshine.

And then as though some invisible thread pulled her, she turned her head in my direction and she saw me.

“Mommy!” She screamed before I even had the opportunity to regroup and compose myself.

She scrambled down from his lap and ran like she hadn’t seen me in years.

I knelt just in time to catch her in my arms.

“Mommy! Mommy! You’re not gonna believe it!” she gasped excitedly. “We’re doing family time!”

“Family time?” I echoed, acting like I hadn’t overheard a fair oart of their discussion.

“Yes!” Her curls bounced as she spoke. “Me and Daddy made a plan! A whole plan! With flower crowns and painting rocks and the picnic—you know, with the peach juice you like!”

Somehow, her voice faded into the wind

And my eyes danced around in search of something else

Well

Specifically, Someone else

He was bending over, running his hands over his trousers as he dusted them and when he stood

He locked eyes with me.

But he didn’t speak. He just… watched. Like one wrong word might shatter this moment.

Sisi tugged at my hand again, forcing me to break the stare . “Come on, Mommy. Say yes.”

I crouched beside her. “What exactly are we doing?”

She took a deep breath and counted on her fingers. “Picnic, flower crowns, painting rocks, and story time. But this time, you and Daddy have to do the voices. All the voices.”

“Even the silly ones?”

“Especially the silly ones,” she said sternly. “Daddy promised.”

From behind her, I heard a quiet grunt. “I didn’t promise all the voices.”

Sisi turned, eyes narrowed. “You said you’d do the dragon.”

Cassian sighed. “I might’ve said that.”

“You definitely said that,” she protested , spinning back to me triumphantly.

I chuckled softly. Then looked up at him again.

His shirt was slightly rumpled, and there was a smudge of red crayon on his collar. He looked like a man who had been pulled apart and was now trying desperately, to sew himself back together.

“Did you really plan all this?” I asked quietly.

Cassian’s voice was low. “She did most of the planning. I just… said yes.”

I stared at him, unsure what to say. He looked different—but not in the way that people change suddenly. It was slow. Like something softening. Or surrendering.

Sisi tugged me again. “You’ll stay, right?”

I opened my mouth but nothing came out.

So instead, I looked at her. At the hope in her eyes. At the belief she carried like it was armor.

And I realized something.

She was matchmaking us

even when we knew a didnt quite fancy each other.

We weren’t fixed. Not yet.

But maybe… maybe we were ready to try.

I smiled.

“Okay,” I said softly. “Let’s go make flower crowns.”

“Yay!” Sisi squealed, bouncing. “Yellow for Mommy! Green for Daddy!”

“Green?” Cassian raised an eyebrow.

“Because you always wear black,” she said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “And green is happier.”

He chuckled. “Fair enough.”

Sisi twirled in a circle between us, barefoot and giddy. “This is gonna be the best day ever!”

Cassian looked at me then.

Really looked at me.

Not with apology. Not with guilt.

With hope.

Tentatively, he extended his hand.

I stared at it.

Not because I didn’t trust him.

But because I was hoping to know him

The part of him that amazed sisi

And it was because of her that I was willing to try

So, I placed my hand in his.

And maybe, just maybe, that was enough.

For now.