Chapter 123

Lila’s POV

Daniel’s face went still. I could see the shock on his face.

His brows knit together, his mouth opening and closing once before he pressed it shut again. He stood there, eyes locked on mine, the shock etched so clearly it almost made me look away.

Almost.

But I did not look away. I couldn’t.

I had carried this truth like a stone pressing against my chest for too long. Saying it aloud now, to someone outside of my parents, felt like tearing open a wound I had stitched shut with shaking hands.

For a moment, neither of us breathed. Then Daniel slowly lowered himself onto the bench just outside the shop, his movements stiff, like his body was still catching up to the words I had given him.

I stayed standing, my arms wrapping tightly around myself. The cool midday breeze brushed my skin, but it did nothing to ease the burning heat crawling up my neck.

Finally, his voice broke the silence. Low and careful. “Lila you mean Drew Sinclair, your boss?”

I nodded once, a small, jerky motion.

He rubbed his palm over his jaw, shaking his head slightly as though trying to clear it. “I…I don’t even know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything,” I whispered, my throat raw.

But he did not look away. His gaze was steady and searched mine, pinning me in place. “Help me understand, then. What happened between you two?”

The question sliced deeper than I expected. I sank down onto the bench beside him, my hands trembling in my lap.

“I don’t even know where to begin,” I admitted, my voice so small it barely carried over the hum of passing cars.

“Anywhere,” Daniel said quietly. “Just… tell me.”

So I did.

I told him about how we met at the gala and how I started working at his company. His bossy, demanding, sharp and untouchable character and how it kept hurting me but somehow I still felt attracted to him. Then the one night stand incident that led to the pregnancy.

“We crossed lines we were not supposed to cross and something had sparked in the quiet moments between deadlines and boardrooms, something neither of us planned but both of us felt.”

My voice wavered as I spoke, memories flashing like fragile film reels; Drew’s guarded smiles, the way he had once looked at me like I was not invisible, the fleeting tenderness sometimes that made me forget how cold he could be.

Then came the darker parts.

How he referred me to his past because I kept news of the baby away from me. How he had turned his back on me when I needed him most after Max tried to hurt me. How his silence had felt like knives. How his betrayal, his willingness to believe the worst of me had nearly destroyed me.

“And then…” I pressed a trembling hand against my stomach, grounding myself in the truth of what was left. “Then after everything I was scared and it felt like I was drowning in rejection and fear. He did not trust me. He did not stand by me. He was the one person I thought I could lean on” My voice broke, but I pushed through. “but when I needed him the most he wasn’t there. He did not want to be there.”

Daniel’s jaw tightened, his knuckles whitening as his fists curled against his knees. He didn’t interrupt, though. He just listened, his silence like a steady wall.

“And now…” My laugh was hollow, empty. “Now he shows up here, out of nowhere, saying he misses me. Saying he thinks he is in love with me. And I don’t even know what to do with that.”

The weight of it pressed down on me until I slumped forward, my elbows on my knees, my face buried in my hands.

Daniel was quiet for so long I thought maybe he wouldn’t speak at all. Then, softly, he said, “Lila.”

I lifted my head, blinking through the sting of unshed tears.

His expression was conflicted, shock still lingering in the lines of his face but there was no judgment. Just… compassion.

“I won’t lie. I was not expecting to hear any of that.” He let out a long, shaky breath. “And I don’t know how to react, not really. But what I do know is this: you don’t deserve to feel like you have done something wrong. You are not weak for what happened. You are not less, because of it.”

The kindness in his tone nearly undid me. My throat ached, my chest tightening.

“I feel like everything about me is messy now,” I admitted, my voice barely above a whisper. “Like no matter what I do, I can not crawl out of the chaos he left me in.”

Daniel shook his head firmly. “You are not messy, Lila. What happened to you was unfair and even painful. But it does not define you. And it does not change the fact that you are still here, still standing, still fighting for your child. That is strength.”

The words should have soothed me, but they twisted instead, pulling tears from my eyes. I turned my face away, embarrassed, but Daniel did not push closer. He gave me space, his presence enough.

When I finally found my voice again, it came out ragged. “You think I am strong, but I don’t feel it. Most days I just feel… broken.”

Daniel’s gaze softened, his eyes catching the sunlight. “Sometimes strength does not feel like strength. Sometimes it is just surviving the day, even when it feels impossible. And you have done that, Lila. Again and again.”

Silence fell again, but this one was different, warmer and steadier, like a blanket rather than a weight.

Eventually, Daniel glanced at his watch, then back at me. “I should go. Ethan’s probably waiting, and I don’t want him to think I disappeared on him.”

I nodded, unable to trust my voice.

He stood, smoothing a hand over his jeans, his expression unreadable now, caught between empathy and something heavier. “Thank you for trusting me with this. I know it was not easy.”

I managed a small, fragile smile. “Thank you for not… for not looking at me differently.”

His lips curved faintly, though his eyes were still troubled. “Why would I? You are still you, Lila.”

And with that, he gave me a small hug and turned, walking back down the street.

I sat there long after he left, my hands curled tightly in my lap, my chest hollow.

When I finally gathered myself enough to stand, I returned to Mom’s shop. She glanced at me as I slipped back inside, her sharp eyes taking in the redness around mine, the tremble still in my hands. But she did not ask. She just gave me a quiet nod, as though to say she was there when I was ready.

I busied myself with folding paper bags, smiling faintly at customers who came in, all while my mind spun like a wheel I could not stop.

The truth was out now. At least, part of it. And though Daniel had not condemned me, I still felt unsettled.

Because I stood in the middle of two men who had confessed their love to me on the same day and I did not even think I was ready for such a big step.