EIGHT YEARS LATER BEN POV It’s been years since I lost him, and even all this time, his death still lingers. Somehow, I feel guilty, like it’s my fault that he’s not even here. I feel like I robbed Alessia Marie of a father she could have had if I had never tampered with fate that night. But Nolan was always here for me. He came up with a solution, which was giving Alessia Marie a sense of having a family, even if it wasn’t perfect. “Benedykta?” Nolan called, and I snapped out of my daze. I was supposed to work on a presentation, but I lost track of time and got lost in the past. I turned to look at him with a nervous laugh. “Yeah.” He cocked a brow at me. “It’s time for the presentation. Are you ready?” he asked in a worried tone. I stared back at my blank laptop. I can’t believe that this was happening. I groaned deeply, running my fingers through my short blonde hair. Yes, I trimmed it because I almost went mad. “I’m sorry, Nolan… I know that this pr
BEN POV It’s been three months since the baby shower, and everyone has been all hands on deck, ready to help with the baby, especially since I was now nine months pregnant. I felt like I was about to pop. But it wasn’t just my wild imagination; something had changed between Nolan and me. It felt like the lines of our friendship were blurred. He slowly rubbed my swollen feet as I watched him focus on the task. It made me wonder what it would be like if we made it to the altar and actually got married. But those mere thoughts were just a fantasy. I let out a gasp when I felt a warm liquid gush between my legs. My eyes widened in fear. “Nolan?” He looked up, meeting my gaze. “My water just broke…” I whispered. He looked confused. “Now?” I nodded eagerly, pointing to the wet area on the sofa. He went into full panic mode. “What should I do? I’ve never done this before.” I took a deep breath as the first contraction took over my body. I whimpered. “T
**BEN POV**When it finally happened, I was over the moon. Yellow. It was the color that meant a lot of hope for me, and it brought back memories of Ambrose and the plans we had made together. Clay wasn’t completely open about the color of the baby shower being yellow, but either way, he did a terrific job and made it work. Everything looked perfect. I was watching the view from outside my window. “Do you like it?” I turned around and found Nolan watching me. I smiled. “It’s beautiful...” I murmured and turned back to the window, watching Clay and Mom hang some balloons around the gazebo. “Then why do you look sad?” It was my baby shower…which was supposed to be the happiest day of my life, but I was just out of it. I sighed deeply. “I’m sorry; today just feels like a lot for me…I didn’t realize that my happiness has an expiration date.” Nolan placed a comforting hand over my shoulder. “You don’t have to do this whole baby shower if you don’t feel like it,
BEN POV I had taken Nolan’s advice. Maybe it was time to talk to my mother and figure things out. I had given her a call just after Clay left, and she was going to come over so we could talk about the baby shower. Thirty minutes later, I heard the doorbell ring. It was her. I stood up and went to answer the door. She gave me a small smile and embraced me. It felt like we had lost a lot of time. Her embrace felt foreign to me.The last time I saw her, I didn’t want anything to do with her because I had just found out that I was adopted. She pulled back, examining me. “Motherhood looks good on you, my dear. I’m sure Nolan can’t take his eyes off you,” she teased. The mere thought of Nolan checking me out made me wince. “Come in… and have a seat.” She walked in and closed the door. “This house is beautiful.” I nodded quietly, grabbing a quick snack from the kitchen. Marshmallows. I went back to the living room and found my mother looking at a picture of
BEN POV He was too close. Too close for comfort. So I took a step back. “What’s going on, Nolan? I heard someone’s voice.” He looked away, refusing to meet my gaze. “It was Clay; he was just passing by.”“Nolan?” He shook his head in disbelief. “I think I should go to bed before I do something that I’ll regret later.” Before I could utter a word, Nolan had already gone upstairs. Was I missing something? I went upstairs to retrieve my phone. Once I found it, I decided to call Clay, but he wasn’t answering. This only made me feel anxious. Nolan and Clay were hiding something, and I was going to get to the bottom of the issue. I sat in the armchair near the window, watching the stars. It felt like he was watching me. “Are you there? Each passing day only seems to get worse, Ambrose, and most of the time I feel like I’m drowning in quicksand.” A lone tear rolled down my cheek. “Nolan and I are some kind of team… Why did you leave all those shares, Ambr
NOLAN POVSleep wasn’t even an option. Not tonight.I sat at the kitchen counter, staring at the half-empty mug in front of me. The tea I made for her, the same rooibos blend my father used to brew, had gone cold. I hadn’t touched it. Maybe because some twisted part of me felt like I had no right to drink it. Like even now, even after everything, I was trespassing on something that wasn’t mine.It’s funny. You can share a roof with someone, breathe the same air, pass them the sugar over breakfast and still feel like a stranger in your own home.I ran a hand through my hair, pushing back the frustration, the ache, the… whatever this suffocating feeling was. Grief. Guilt. Love. It was all tangled up so tight I couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began.Her voice still echoed in my head.“It can’t, Nolan.”Those three words were a scalpel sharp, precise, unforgiving.She was right. Of course, she was right.This thing between us whatever it was had no future. Not here. Not now.N