Two More Weeks of Hurting

Evelyn's POV

The commercial district bustles with afternoon shoppers, couples strolling hand in hand, families with children clutching balloons and ice cream cones. Normal people living normal lives, blissfully unaware that my entire existence is crumbling around me. I watch a couple hold hands, laughing, and I think of Sebastian and I, once upon a time, before the lies, before the betrayal. I miss him so much it hurts.

That's when I see them.

Sebastian and Blair walk out of a high-end baby boutique, her arm looped through his as she chatters excitedly about something. She's glowing with happiness, practically bouncing with each step. My breath catches, and I duck behind a pillar, watching him, drinking in the sight of him—even after everything, he's still the most handsome man I've ever seen. The thought was as automatic as breathing, and just as painful.

“Isn't it a bit early to be shopping for baby things?” Blair asks playfully, swinging a shopping bag decorated with tiny pastel elephants. “I'm not even pregnant yet.”

Sebastian reaches past her, pulling a small white onesie from the display. The embroidery on the chest is familiar — a tiny blue elephant with a crooked ear. My breath catches. I'd held that exact onesie in my hands six years ago, in a different store, with Sophie sleeping in the stroller beside me.

“This one,” he says, turning it over in his hands. His thumb traces the embroidered ear. It's such a small, unconscious gesture. “Sophie had one like this. She wore it until it didn't fit anymore.”

My chest tightens. He remembers.

Blair laughs, light and careless. “You remember what she wore when she was a baby?”

Sebastian doesn't answer right away. He folds the onesie carefully and places it in the bag, his fingers lingering on the fabric a beat longer than necessary. “Some things you don't forget,” he says. His voice is quiet, almost to himself.

Then he turns to Blair, and his tone shifts back to that warm, indulgent register. “Besides, your child deserves nothing but the best from day one.”

That laugh, that warm, deep laugh, used to be for me, for Sophie, for our little family. Now it's for her, for his new life, a life that doesn't include me.

My hands clench at my sides as I watch them together. Blair looks up at Sebastian with pure adoration, and he returns her gaze with the kind of tenderness I've spent years longing to see in his eyes when he looks at me. I look away, my eyes stinging—why can't he look at me like that? What did I do wrong?

They disappear into an exclusive jewelry store, the kind that requires appointments and background checks. I find myself following at a distance, unable to look away, even though it's killing me. I need to see, need to know how far he's gone, even if it breaks my heart.

Through the window, I watch Sebastian guide Blair to a display case filled with diamond jewelry. The salesperson brings out a particular piece — a stunning necklace with stones so brilliant they seem to capture and reflect every light in the store.

I pull out my phone, sending a message to the real estate agent: “Reduce the price by 10%. Sell within 24 hours, cash-payment priority.”

My fingers move swiftly across the screen, with no hesitation, as if I were liquidating a stranger's asset.

But then, my chest tightens as recognition hits me. I remembered him promising Sophie that the most brilliant diamonds were reserved for “the most important woman in his life.” And now, I was watching him place that very promise around another woman's neck.

She turns to look at herself in the mirror, her face radiant with joy. My heart shatters all over again—his promise, his love, his heart, all of it was a lie.

What a short life. A bitter laugh escapes me. A lifetime of promises, broken in the span of a single afternoon.

I sag against the cold wall, tears blurring his silhouette through the glass. Yet I can't bring myself to look away, as if memorizing the shape of him one last time.

I turn away from the window. My phone buzzes. A text from the assistant, confirming that all the paperwork has been processed and the timeline has been accelerated due to the urgency of my request.

I stare at the message.

Two weeks. Two more weeks of being near Sebastian. Two more weeks of loving him. Two more weeks of hurting.

Suddenly, I know what I have to do. If Blair were to have his child, what would Sophie become in this house? An outsider? A constant, inconvenient reminder of a 'practical arrangement' he was desperate to move on from?

I can't leave Sophie here, in this fake family, with a father who lies, with a stepmother who will never love her.

But the thought of leaving Sebastian... felt like a physical amputation. I was torn between that need to stay near him and my duty to protect my daughter.

I walk back to the assistant's office with purposeful strides, my decision crystallizing with each step. When she looks up at my return, I can see the question in her eyes.

“I need to add something to the extraction plan,” I say quietly, my voice thick with emotion, thinking of Sophie, thinking of Sebastian, thinking of the life we could have had. “I want to know what would happen if I took the Hawthorne family's daughter with me.”

The thought of leaving my daughter behind was unbearable. Left in a family that wouldn't love her. Forced to live my childhood all over again. I couldn't let that happen. I had to take her with me. But a part of me still hopes that Sebastian will wake up, that he'll realize he loves me, that he'll beg us to stay.

“She is a Hawthorne,” the assistant warns, his face tightening. “The family will never let their bloodline just vanish.”

“Mr. Bennett will need to review this personally when he returns from the facility. The extraction of a high-profile family member requires specialized planning and approval from higher authorities. Can you wait two weeks for his decision?”

Two weeks. I nod.

As soon as I make the decision to take Sophie away, I open my laptop, my fingers flying across the keyboard, and in minutes, I bypass Sophie's kindergarten system.

But as I work, a photo of Sebastian and Sophie sits on my desk—a picture from her fifth birthday, him holding her on his shoulders, both of them laughing. I stare at it for a long time, my finger brushing his face, and I cry.

Back at the hospital, I find Sebastian in Sophie's room, and the sight stops me dead in my tracks.

This powerful CEO, this man who commands boardrooms and makes million-dollar decisions without blinking, is on his hands and knees on the hospital floor, making exaggerated hopping motions while Sophie giggles from her bed.

He's so gentle with her, so loving, and it makes my heart ache—this is the man I love, the man who's a wonderful father, the man who could have been a wonderful husband, if he'd only loved me back.

“And then the mama bunny said, 'Where could my little bunny be?'” Sebastian says in a high-pitched voice, clearly playing a character in whatever game they've invented.

“She's hiding behind the big carrot!” Sophie shrieks with delight, pointing at an imaginary obstacle.

Sebastian gasps dramatically. “Behind the big carrot? How clever!”

His laugh is warm, genuine. I find myself smiling, even though my heart is breaking. I don't know how many more times I'll get to see this. I miss this—miss our little family, miss the man he is with Sophie, the man he used to be with me.

Watching them together, I only think: For Sophie, I must take her away from this fake family. She deserves a genuine life, not a lie built on pretense. But I also think: I love him, I still love him, and I don't want to leave him.

My phone buzzes softly in my pocket. A simple message from Miles: Just checking in. Are you okay? I stare at the screen, my thoughts a million miles away. A faint, wistful smile touches my lips without me realizing it—a smile of reminiscence for a life I once had, a friend I could count on, a love that was real, once upon a time.

“Mama!” Sophie spots me and waves enthusiastically. “Daddy came back early!”

Sebastian turns. The warmth I'd seen on his face moments ago vanishes... His eyes, now cold and sharp, are fixed not on my face, but on the phone in my hand and the ghost of a smile he just saw.

But before he speaks, he seems to remember something. “I tried your private line earlier, it wouldn't connect. Is your phone acting up?” he asks, his tone casual but his eyes searching mine.

My heart skips a beat. I force a nonchalant shrug. “Oh, it must be the network in the building. It's been glitchy lately.”

Just then, my phone buzzes softly in my pocket. My fingers twitch toward it.

Sebastian sees it. The brief moment of calm shatters. His voice is low, a chilling whisper meant only for my ears. “Even for Sophie's sake, Evelyn, try to remember your role,” he murmurs, his gaze like ice. “Keep your mind here, not on whomever you're dreaming about.”

Dreaming about someone? Confusion floods through me. What is he talking about?