He Thought We Would Always Wait

The custody order would not be signed until Friday. Until then, Damian still had the power to stop us at the airport.

I only needed to keep our plans hidden for five more days.

Noah finally woke after midnight.

“Mom, don’t tell Dad I’m in the hospital. I’m scared he’ll think I’m trying to compete with Luca again.”

The door opened just then.

Damian had heard him.

He walked to the bed, his voice softer than before.

“Noah. Dad’s here.”

Noah watched him, then shifted closer to me.

“Sir.”

Damian froze.

“What did you call me?”

Noah didn’t answer. He only held on to my sleeve.

Before Damian could speak again, his phone rang. Sofia’s frightened voice filled the room.

“Damian, Luca just threw up. I don’t know if it’s the medicine. Can you come over?”

Damian looked at Noah, then at his phone. After a few seconds, he tucked the blanket around him.

“Wait for me. I’ll be back soon. Dad will bring you strawberry cake.”

Noah said nothing.

Only after Damian’s footsteps disappeared did he ask quietly, “Mom, does he not like me?”

I stroked his hair.

“He does. He just always thinks you can wait a little longer.”

Before dawn, Sofia posted an update.

With you here, I’m not afraid of anything.

The photo showed Damian sitting beside Luca’s bed, feeding him medicine with the same focused expression I remembered from years ago.

I looked at it for a few seconds and tapped Like.

Two days later, Damian didn’t come to pick us up when Noah was discharged.

When we returned to the Valdieri estate, I learned that he had already given the master bedroom to Sofia and Luca.

My things and Noah’s had been packed into two suitcases and left outside another suite.

A maid was taking down our wedding portrait. It had hung there for eight years, leaving a pale rectangle on the wall when it came down.

Damian happened to walk by. He took the frame, wiped the dust from its edge, and handed it to the butler.

“Put it somewhere safe. Don’t damage it.”

Then he looked at me.

“Sofia’s husband only died a few months ago. Seeing wedding photos brings everything back for her. Be generous.”

I had heard those words for eight years.

I had given up dresses and jewelry. Now even our bedroom.

“Damian, if I keep giving things up, what will I have left?”

He actually thought about it.

“You still have me.”

That evening, he cooked mushroom risotto, one of the first dishes he had ever learned to make for me.

I had barely picked up my spoon when Sofia came downstairs with Luca. The boy smelled the food and said he was hungry.

Without hesitation, Damian slid my plate across the table.

“Eat this.”

There wasn’t another serving.

Luca ate quickly while Damian told him to slow down because no one was going to take it away.

I said nothing and went upstairs.

Noah was waiting in our room. When I came in, he pulled a slightly stale piece of bread from his schoolbag.

“They gave us this at school. I saved it for you.”

I ate it slowly with warm water.

That night, Damian came into the room and wrapped his arms around me from behind.

“Stop being angry with me. Once Sofia and Luca settle down, I’ll arrange for them to move out. Then we can go back to the way we were.”

His voice was soft, almost like it used to be.

I didn’t pull away. I only nodded.

“Okay.”

Damian had no idea that Noah and I had already stopped waiting for him.