Chapter Two

CHAPTER TWO

Sophia’s POV

Before I could even take a step back, he was already in front of me.

His hand landed against the wall beside my head, not touching me, but he was  close enough to trap me completely, leaving only a narrow space between us that made it hard to breathe properly.

My heart jumped immediately, as though it had been waiting for this moment to betray me.

Five years and yet the first thing I was met with was this.

“You,” his voice came low, sharp, carrying something between anger and disbelief. “You think you can walk in here after five years and stand in front of me like nothing happened?”

I swallowed hard, forcing air into lungs that suddenly felt too tight. “I searched everywhere for you,” he continued, his eyes locked on mine without blinking. “Every place I could think of. And then you just appear here, standing in front of me like I was the one who disappeared, like I was the one who left without an explanation.”

I tried to move away again, but there was no space left for me to  escape.

My palm pressed lightly against his chest, more out of instinct than strength, trying to create even a small distance between us.

“And what exactly do you want from me?” I asked, though my voice betrayed me slightly.

He tightened his .., and for a moment it looked like he was holding back more than just anger.

“What do I want?” he repeated coldly. “Do you hear yourself right now? You vanished for five years, and now you are standing here asking me what I want.”

My chest started  rising and fell faster, fear and anger twisting together in a way I could not even separate anymore.

“Of course,” I said quietly, forcing myself to meet his eyes properly. “Of course I am the one you choose to blame. That is always easier, isn’t it?”

His expression got  shifted, something in his face faltering for a brief second as if my words had struck somewhere unexpected.

“You think this is about blame?” he asked, voice lower now, more controlled but sharper in a different way. “You disappear without a word, and I am supposed to feel nothing?”

I laughed once, but there was no sound of amusement in it.

“You are acting like I had a choice,” I said, my voice breaking slightly despite my effort to keep it steady.

That sentence seemed to catch him off guard.

For the first time, he  narrowed his eyes  slightly, as if he was trying to read something deeper in my face, something he could not immediately understand.

Before he could respond, the door behind him opened suddenly.

A small voice cut through our conversation.

“Daddy!”

We had to stop our conversation and before I knew it my entire body went cold.

Ethan turned sharply, his expression shifting instantly from anger to shock.

A little boy ran into the office without hesitation, as if he had done it many times before.

He stopped only when he reached Ethan and wrapped his arms tightly around his leg.

“I was looking for you,” the child said brightly, looking up at him with complete trust.

Ethan froze, then slowly, he bent down, his hands hovering for a second before resting lightly on the child’s shoulders.

“Willy,” he said under his breath, almost as if he was testing the name. “What are you doing here?”

The name hit me before I even understood why.

Willy? The  company name?  Willy Company? 

My breath caught sharply as my eyes moved between them. The child looked completely at ease, like he belonged there more than anyone else in the room.

And Ethan… Ethan was looking at him differently now, not with confusion anymore but  with something deeper, something  protective, something  that made my chest tighten painfully.

No…

The thought formed before I could stop it, it  could not be, I took a slow step back, my hand slipping away from the wall as my strength finally gave out.

“No…” I whispered, though I did not even realize I had spoken.

Ethan looked up at me again, still holding the child gently, as if afraid he might disappear if he let go but  I could not stay there anymore, nor  with what I had just seen. Not with what I was starting to understand, I don't need to explain to him, I don't need to tell him anything, I don't need to.

I turned abruptly and walked out of the office, my steps unsteady, my heart pounding so loudly it drowned everything else out.

And I did not look back.