LOGINCHAPTER SEVENTY-SIXKatelyn wished there was a way she could rewind time, just for a few seconds she could take the back entrance and this run in with Kevin wouldn’t happen. He raised one brow slowly while folding his arms across his chest.He knew she had been avoiding him.Before coming into work that morning, she had literally confirmed that Kevin was supposed to be off duty today. But it was clearly wrong, and she walked straight into this trap completely unprepared.Fantastic.Kevin tilted his head slightly. “Good morning.” Katelyn blinked quickly before forcing herself to smile. “Morning.”His eyebrow lifted higher. The silence stretched suspiciously.Katelyn suddenly became deeply interested in adjusting the strap of her bag.“You disappeared,” Kevin finally said.“I did not disappear.”Kevin stared at her. Then very deliberately, he pulled his phone from his pocket.“I called you four times.” Katelyn cleared her throat.“And texted you eleven times.”“That sounds excessive
CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVEWHAT EIGHT YEARS FEELS LIKE**********“Where did the banana go?”Katelyn stood, in her hospital scrubs, in the middle of her kitchen holding an open lunch box while staring at it with visible confusion. Two minutes ago, she was absolutely certain she had placed a banana inside.But it had completely vanished and she would have missed it if she hadn’t cross checked the lunch box to make sure she didn’t miss anything. Katelyn slowly narrowed her eyes. Then she sighed.“Avery.”No response.Katelyn closed the lunch box slowly before calling louder in the exact tone every mother mastered eventually.“Avery!”Immediately, tiny footsteps padded toward the kitchen.A few seconds later, Avery appeared, fully dressed in her school uniform and looking suspiciously innocent.Katelyn crossed her arms slowly. Honestly, it was terrifying how adorable the child looked while clearly guilty. Avery blinked up at her mother with wide eyes. “Yes?”Katelyn lifted an eyebrow. “Have yo
CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOURFIVE MONTHS LATERThe first few weeks after discovering the pregnancy had felt unreal.Like living inside somebody else’s life.Even now, five months later, Katelyn still had moments where she would randomly stop whatever she was doing just to stare down at her stomach in complete disbelief.There was truly a tiny life growing inside her. A baby. Her baby. Even after months had passed, the realization still overwhelmed her constantly.A lot had changed during those five months. Katelyn eventually decided to accept the estate Alana had left behind for her. At first, she honestly didn’t even know what to do with it, all of it. The massive property, and her own trust fund. The resources suddenly placed in her hands.It all felt too big. Too overwhelming.But eventually, after endless conversations with lawyers and advisors Stella helped her find, she realized something important. For the first time in her life…She had security. Real security.Not the kind attached to
CHAPTER SEVENTY-THREESarah slowly lowered the phone from her ear after the call ended. Her expression hardened immediately.For several seconds, she simply stared at the screen in visible annoyance before finally tossing the phone onto the couch beside her with far less grace than a woman like her normally carried herself with.Honestly.The boy had become unbearable lately.She was still speaking and he hung up on her without a second thought. Sarah exhaled sharply through her nose before reaching for the porcelain teacup resting untouched on the table in front of her.The living room around her looked exactly how a Winchester home should look.Elegant.Expensive.Every single piece of furniture had been handpicked by the same interior designer that designed the Winchester estate. Massive crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling while sunlight poured through the towering windows overlooking the gardens outside.Luxury dripped from every corner of the room.And at the center of it al
CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWOThe atmosphere inside Winchester Enterprise had been miserable for days. Nobody said it directly of course.That would require a level of courage none of the employees possessed.But the tension lingered everywhere. In the hallways, inside the elevators and between whispered conversations that immediately died the second Damon appeared.Everybody knew something was wrong with the CEO.Very wrong.Damon Winchester had always been difficult, demanding and cold. Which CEO wasn’t anyway? But this was different. The past week had been absolute hell for everybody unfortunate enough to work directly under him.Presentation after presentation had been rejected mercilessly. Projects ripped apart, literally and figuratively. Executives humiliated.One employee had apparently almost cried in a meeting three days ago after Damon criticized an entire month’s worth of work in under two minutes. Rumors had naturally spread throughout the company.Some claimed he was dealing with f
CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONEKatelyn couldn’t breathe properly.The words hung in the air like something physical. Heavy. Suffocating. Unreal. Her entire body had gone completely still.The hospital room suddenly sounded distant somehow. The soft beeping of machines. The faint sound of movement outside the hallway. Stella’s uneven breathing beside her.Everything felt far away.Katelyn just stared.Three weeks. The number repeated itself over and over inside her head but refused to make sense.Pregnant.No, that didn’t make sense either. Not when Damon never gave her a chance to be. Katelyn blinked slowly, but even that felt delayed somehow, like her brain had disconnected from the rest of her body completely.Shock crawled through her entire system in painful waves. Cold and overwhelming. So intense she almost felt numb.Stella finally spoke carefully into the silence.“The doctor told me this morning,” she said softly, gripping Katelyn’s hand. Katelyn didn’t look at her. She couldn’t. Her ey







