Chapter 97

Lila’s POV

The fire crackled in front of us, throwing shadows across the room. I stared into the flames until the light blurred, the warmth on my face doing nothing to stop the cold in my chest. My fingers tightened around the mug of hot chocolate.

“I know you’ve been waiting for me to explain,” I whispered again. My voice felt small in the silence. “And I can’t keep it in anymore. You deserve to know everything.”

Neither of them spoke. My father’s gaze stayed steady, his eyes soft but serious. My mother’s hand hovered near mine on the couch, as if she was ready to catch me if my words shattered me.

So I began.

“At first, it didn’t seem so bad,” I said, a bitter laugh escaping me. “When Max came back into my life, I thought it was fate… like maybe someone had been sent to care for me when everything else was falling apart. He was warm, attentive, always saying the right things. For a while, I wanted to believe him.”

I paused, swallowing hard. My throat burned.

“But then… I started noticing a lot of abnormalities. His questions weren’t just casual. He asked too much about Drew’s hotel launch, about my role in it. I didn’t want to believe it, but I found out he was trying to sabotage everything I had been working on with Drew. Every step forward I made it felt like he was there in the shadows, trying to pull me back. So I decided to play him at his own game and told Drew about him trying to sabotage the launch.”

The words spilled faster now, each one cutting me open.

“Drew was obviously a man that could not be played with so he went after Max and his business and ruined things for him instead.” I continued, my hands trembling, “It felt like I was in the middle of a battle between two elephants and when Max found out that Drew was ruining his business, he stormed into the office and almost told Drew about my pregnancy to get back at me.

I was going to tell Drew by myself but he wanted to take that chance away from me and if Drew found out from him things were going to go really bad. It was my secret to share, not his. But Max wanted to take that away from me.”

I lifted my eyes to my parents. Their faces were unreadable, but their silence gave me strength to keep going.

“That same night, he showed up at my apartment,” I whispered, the memory making me shiver. “His voice… his eyes… he wasn’t the Max I remembered. He was angry and threatening. I was terrified he might actually hurt me. I mean he actually did, pushed me across the room not minding the fact that I was pregnant.

I don't know what would have happened if my neighbour didn't intervene and then she called the police and Drew also found out. When Drew stepped in. He asked me to stay with him until the launch, saying it was safer that way. And part of me wanted to believe him, to think maybe he cared…”

The fire popped, echoing the thud of my heartbeat.

“Then the launch day came,” I said, my voice cracking. “Everything was supposed to be perfect. I thought if I got through it, maybe things would start to make sense again. I planned to tell Drew about the pregnancy after the launch, but Max…” I closed my eyes, gripping my knees. “Max abducted me. He took me away like I was nothing but a pawn in his game. And if it wasn’t for Drew…”

My chest tightened painfully. “If it wasn’t for Drew, I don’t know if I would be sitting here right now.”

The images rushed back, the panic, the fear and Drew’s face as he pulled me to safety.

“But even after all that,” I whispered, “it didn’t matter. After everything I passed out and Drew rushed me to the hospital. The doctor said it was too much stress and also because of the chemical Max used to abduct me. That’s when Drew found out, he learned that I was pregnant from the doctor.”

I looked down at my hands, at the tiny tremors running through them.

“And instead of… instead of being relieved, instead of standing with me… he pushed me away. He didn’t trust me. He didn’t believe me. Everything I thought we could’ve had just… fell apart at that moment.”

My voice broke, and I pressed a hand to my mouth, trying to keep the sob inside. But it clawed its way out anyway.

“I came back here because I didn’t feel safe anymore,” I cried. “Not with Max out there, not with Drew’s distrust hanging over me. I came back because this is the only place that’s ever felt safe. Because here, I know I’m not alone.”

The silence that followed was heavy. My words hung in the air, sharp and raw, filling the room with a weight I couldn’t carry anymore.

I risked a glance upward and saw it.

A single tear slid down my father’s cheek, tracing a line through the strength he always wore like armour. My chest constricted at the sight, because I had never seen him cry. Not once. Not for himself, not for anyone.

And now, he was crying for me.

My mother moved before I could speak, setting her mug down on the table. She crossed the small distance between us, her arms wrapping around me with a gentleness that broke me completely.

I crumbled against her, sobbing into her shoulder as her hand stroked my back. Her embrace was everything, soft, steady and unyielding. She didn’t say anything at first, just let me weep, her own tears falling silently into my hair.

When I could finally catch my breath, she whispered, “You’re home now, my love. You’re safe. Whatever comes next, you’re not facing it alone.”

I clung to her, trembling, the firelight flickering over our shadows on the wall. For the first time in a long time, I wasn’t running. I wasn’t pretending. I had laid it all bare.

But even in her arms, with my father watching us through glassy eyes, the ache in my chest didn’t fade. Because deep down, I knew this wasn’t the end of the story.