Eira was looking up at her now, hands clasped under her chin. “Mommy, I’ll call you every day. Promise.”“I know, baby.”“And Gramma said we could bake and ride horses and...”“You won’t spoil her too much?” Vera asked Mrs. Fontaine, only half teasing.Mrs. Fontaine's eyes crinkled with warmth. “I’ll return her with only half the sugar she’ll demand, I swear.”Vera gave a soft laugh, but the smile never fully reached her eyes.Dorian stepped closer. “You’ve done more than enough on your own for six years. Let her have this break. Let yourself have one.”“I don’t need a break,” Vera said under her breath.Dorian’s eyes were steady. “Maybe not. But you deserve one anyway.”She looked down at Eira, who was still clutching her hand tightly, her smile full of hope and stars.How could she say no?How could she say I don’t trust the timing without sounding like she was reading too deeply into something?“Alright,” Vera said at last, brushing hair from Eira’s face. “You can go. But only for
Vera met her eyes, unsure if it was meant as a compliment or a calculated observation.“Raising Eira alone, keeping her safe all these years… You gave her a beautiful life. That much is clear.”Vera's defenses lowered slightly. “I did what I had to.”She nodded. “That’s what mothers do. Even when the world doesn’t give us the tools.”Dorian finally spoke. “Eira seems happy.”“She is,” Vera said softly. “She doesn’t know how much the world shifted this past week.”Mrs. Fontaine tilted her head, watching Vera with that knowing gaze that only older women perfected.“You’re in a difficult position,” she said gently. “Two men. One heart.”Vera stiffened. “I didn’t realize this visit came with an interrogation.”Mrs. Fontaine smiled kindly. “It’s not. I promise. Just a woman who’s lived long enough to know the weight of choices.”Vera looked away.Dorian moved to sit across from her, but kept his distance. “My mother wanted to see Eira. That’s all.”That wasn’t all.She could feel it in the
“I had my suspicions the moment Eira was born. She has his eyes.” His throat worked as he looked away again. “I ran a background check years ago. I saw the records. I knew who her father was.”“And yet you never told Vera?” she asked, her tone neutral.“She didn’t owe me an explanation. And I… I didn’t want to push her away.”Mrs. Fontaine's expression softened just a touch. “You’ve always had a generous heart, Dorian. Even when it was breaking.”He gave a quiet laugh with no humor in it. “It’s not just breaking now, Mother. It’s being ripped apart piece by piece.”She said nothing.“I gave her everything,” he whispered. “Space. Support. Love. Eira calls me ‘Daddy’ more than she ever called anyone else that. And now…”He swallowed hard. “Now the man who gave her up is back to take everything I built.”Mrs. Fontaine leaned forward, her tone still calm but threaded with steel. “You’re not just talking about Eira.”“No,” Dorian admitted. “I’m not.”She studied him for a long moment. “And
The jet engines hummed softly beneath the clouds, but Asher couldn’t hear a thing over the storm in his chest.He sat alone in the cabin of his private plane, the city growing smaller beneath him, disappearing in the wake of everything he was leaving behind, and everything he was finally ready to fight for.He had said what he needed to say to his mother.To Sarah.The war had officially begun.But this battle, this next one, it was the one that mattered most.Winning Vera back.Not as an entitled heir who expected forgiveness as a birthright.But as a man who had been broken by his own blindness, reshaped by regret, and who now carried the truth with reverence like a sacred offering.He reached into the breast pocket of his blazer and pulled out a small velvet box.Inside sat a ring.Not a cold diamond soaked in status.No.This one was different.The band was forged from white gold, thin, elegant, simple. The stone in the center wasn’t a diamond, but a yellow sapphire, soft and gold
Sarah tried again, stepping forward. “Please, Asher, let’s talk about this rationally. I was jealous. I made mistakes, but it’s not too late...”He cut her a look that could have frozen bone.“You’re lucky I don’t press charges.”She paled again.Asher turned back toward his mother, his tone final. “I’m going to fix what you broke. I’m going to fight for Vera. And I’m going to raise my daughter away from your poison.”Evelyn's voice was sharp now, brittle like glass. “You’d throw away everything? Your inheritance? Your place in this family, for her?”Asher looked her dead in the eye.“I already did. I just didn’t know it at the time.”Then he turned on his heel and walked out.This time, there was no one to stop him.No lies.No chains.Only the path forward.And for the first time in six years ,he was ready to burn down the world to reach her.The echo of Asher’s footsteps faded down the hallway like distant thunder.Sarah stood frozen in the sun drenched garden room, her heart still
“I’m not afraid of him,” Vera said slowly. “I’m afraid of hoping too much. Of getting hurt again.”Eira leaned into her side, small and warm and full of love. “I think he’s really sorry. And I think he loves you, Mommy.”Tears prickled behind Vera’s eyes.She closed them for a moment and pressed her lips to her daughter’s forehead. “Maybe he does.”“He said he’d come back soon.”“I know.”“And when he does, I’ll ask him to bring flowers for you.”Vera smiled against her daughter’s hair. “That would be nice.”They sat there together, curled up in silence, the weight of a child’s hope pressing against a mother’s cautious heart.Later, when Eira had drifted off to sleep, Vera sat alone by the window, the stars faint and scattered above the city skyline.Would she go with him?If he truly came back, if he fought for them, not just for Eira, but for her, could she open the door again?She’d walked away once because she had to.But now?Now the door was cracked.And she didn’t know if she w