Chapter 79

Lila’s POV

Drew’s confession sat heavy between us. His words still echoed in my chest, resounding like they had etched themselves into my bones.

I could hardly breathe. The air in the room felt thick, charged with something far too raw to name.

I stared at him, his face shadowed by grief and fury that had clearly lived in him far too long. He wasn’t the Drew Sinclair the world knew right now, he wasn’t the ruthless CEO or the untouchable tycoon. He was just a man. A man with a wound so deep, I could see it bleeding behind his eyes.

I stood there staring at him, my breath uneven, my fingers digging into the fabric of my sweater as though it could hold me steady. Drew wasn’t looking at me anymore. His elbows rested on his knees, his head bowed, hands clasped so tightly that his knuckles were pale.

I wanted to speak, to ask him what he meant, but the air between us felt fragile, like the slightest movement might shatter it completely.

Still, I forced the words out. My voice trembled.

“Drew… what do you mean by your child being snatched away from you?”

His head lifted slowly, his eyes meeting mine. They were bloodshot, blooming in the shadows. When he spoke, his voice wasn’t sharp or cold like I was used to, it was low, rough, almost broken.

“Kimbereley was my first love and only love, we were together for such a long time and I thought she was mine. I thought… I thought she loved me the same way I loved her.”

The sound of her name on his lips twisted something inside me. He had never spoken it aloud to me before, not like this. Not in a manner that feels like it still hurts to form the syllables.

I swallowed hard and sank onto the chair opposite him, my knees weak.

“You and Kimberley…?”

“Yeah, we were together for a long time.” His eyes drifted somewhere far away, like he was staring at ghosts only he could see. “Long before the world ever cared about my name, long before I had anything or the company. I was nobody, but she swore she didn’t care.

Her parents hated me, they said I wasn’t good enough for her. But she stayed. She told me she loved me. Told me that money didn’t matter and I believed her.”

His laugh was bitter, humorless. “God, I was such a fool. I would have given her everything. I thought… I thought we were forever.”

I felt my chest tighten. His voice wasn’t just telling me facts; it was unraveling years of wounds stitched too tightly shut.

He rubbed at his jaw, exhaling slowly. “Then she got pregnant… I kid you not, it was the happiest moment of my life. I didn’t care what her parents thought anymore. I didn’t care what anyone thought. I was going to marry her for sure.

I was already planning everything, the ring, the house, the life we were going to live together. For the first time, it felt like I wasn’t just fighting to survive anymore. I thought I was building something. A family. My family.”

His hands curled into fists, his throat bobbing as he swallowed. “But then” He stopped, his words catching and his eyes shut tight, as if forcing himself to relive it cost him something he barely had left to give.

I leaned forward, whispering softly. “Then what?”

When his eyes opened again, they were filled with fire, but beneath it… I saw the grief. “Then someone else came along. Someone wealthier with the kind of name and influence her parents approved of. And suddenly, everything started to change. Kimberley… she started pulling away, making excuses and saying she needed space.”

My stomach dropped, dread twisting.

He shook his head, his jaw clenched. “I didn’t want to believe it at first. I told myself I was imagining things. That she was stressed, and maybe the pregnancy was hard on her. But I could see it. The way she looked at me became different and her eyes would light up whenever she thought of him.”

His hand dragged down his face, as though he could wipe away the memory. “I wish it ended at that only, but then she did the worst. She got rid of it. Got rid of our child without telling me or even having a conversation, all because she was trying to hitch this new guy.”

The words hit me like ice water. My breath caught.

“She… what?”

“She aborted my child, Lila.” His voice cracked on the last word, and for a moment, I thought I saw tears in his eyes, but he blinked them back. “She took away the only thing that mattered to me before I even had the chance to hold him in my arms. To see him breathe. To call him mine.”

A shiver ran down my spine, my eyes blurring. “Oh my God…”

He leaned back suddenly, like the weight of it was suffocating him, his hand curling into a fist against his chest. “Do you know what she told me when I confronted her? She said she never wanted to be a mother. That I ruined her by making her pregnant. That it was my fault and that she wanted a life of freedom, wealth and prestige, not a life tied to me and a child.”

My hand flew to my mouth. I wanted to scream, cry or hit something for him. This was cruel and nobody deserved to go through what he went through.

His voice dropped lower, rougher, like shards of glass. “She blamed me, Lila. For loving her enough to dream. For believing in her when no one else did. She took what was mine, ripped it away, and then had the audacity to make me feel like I was the mistake.”

The silence that followed felt unbearable. His shoulders trembled with barely restrained rage, his jaw clenched so tightly I could see the muscle tick.

I couldn’t stop my tears anymore. They slid hot down my cheeks.

“Drew…” I whispered, my voice breaking.

He looked at me then, really looked and the sight of his pain was almost too much to hold. His walls were stripped away. No armour, no sharp edges. Just a man stripped by the cruelty of someone he trusted most.

“I kept that sonogram because it’s all I have left,” he said finally, his voice barely above a whisper. “That tiny image is proof that for a moment, even if it was short lived, I was a father. And no amount of money or success or fame can erase that truth.”

My chest ached so badly I pressed a hand against it.

He had been carrying this wound, silently, for years. Letting it fester, letting it turn him into the man who stood before me now, cold, hard and untouchable. And all this time, I had thought he was just controlling, arrogant, and ruthless. But beneath it… he was broken.

I opened my mouth, but no words came. My throat burned with them, but none of them were enough. I didn't even know the right words to say. Whether to say I’m sorry or that what happened to him was horrible. None of it matched the storm I felt inside.

All I could do was sit there, my tears blurring him until he was nothing but a shadow in the haze.

He leaned forward, his eyes locking onto mine, raw and exposed.

“Now you know why I don’t let anyone close. Why I don’t trust and why silence is easier than opening the door.”

And in that moment, with his pain laid bare, my hands subconsciously moved to my stomach. I had no idea what to say because I felt like I was also betraying him for the second time by keeping his child away from him.