Chapter Three: A Stranger To My Son

Elisa’s POV

I stayed at the window longer than I should have.

Marcus, Sophia, and Eli disappeared through the main entrance, still looking like a picture of a happy family. The courtyard emptied. The light outside shifted towards late afternoon, growing softer and cooler. My reflection in the glass looked pale and unfamiliar. I barely recognised the woman staring back at me.

Julian didn’t rush me. He waited a few steps behind me, saying nothing, until the shaking in my hands finally stopped.

“I can’t stay here,” I said.

He didn’t ask why. He already knew.

“I’ll speak to the doctor,” he answered. “If they clear you, we can leave tonight.”

I turned from the window. The room suddenly felt smaller, the walls closer, every corner carrying memories of Marcus standing there with his careful smile and easy lies. The thought of spending another night under this roof made my stomach turn.

Julian stepped out into the corridor. I heard the low murmur of his voice as he spoke with the nurse, then the doctor. When he returned, he carried a small stack of discharge papers and a paper bag containing the few personal items that had been left for me. The clothes inside still smelled faintly of a life I no longer recognized.

“You’re clear to go,” he said. “Mild concussion precautions, rest, no driving for a few days. Nothing that requires you to remain here.”

I nodded, already reaching for the bag. My fingers brushed the soft fabric of a sweater I didn’t remember owning. The small contact made something in my chest tighten again.

Julian noticed. He didn’t comment. Instead, he simply said, “I’ll wait outside while you change.”

I dressed slowly, every movement deliberate, as if I needed to prove to myself that my body still belonged to me. The clothes fit, but they felt like costumes. When I stepped into the corridor, Julian was leaning against the opposite wall, phone in hand. He straightened the moment he saw me and slipped the phone away.

“Ready?”

“Yes.”

We left through a side exit. Julian had chosen it to avoid the main entrance, where Marcus, Sophia, and Eli might still be. I wasn't ready to see them just yet, not after everything I had learned.

The evening air hit my face as we stepped outside. It felt good after hours in the hospital. Julian’s car was waiting nearby, a dark sedan. He opened the passenger door for me and waited until I got in before closing it and walking around to the driver’s side.

Neither of us spoke as we drove away. Julian started the engine and pulled into traffic. I watched the buildings pass, wondering where he was taking me. I had nowhere else to go. I couldn't return to the house Marcus and I had shared, not while he and Sophia were there.

Traffic moved slowly, and the lights from passing cars swept across the windows. I rested my head against the seat, but I couldn't get the sight of Eli out of my mind. He had leaned against Sophia so easily. He had looked so comfortable with her.

“Where are we going?” I asked after several minutes.

“My place,” Julian said. “It’s quiet. No one will look for you there tonight.”

I looked at him. I barely knew this man, and now he was taking me to his apartment. I should have asked him to drop me at a hotel. But the thought of finding somewhere to stay, checking in and spending the night alone was more than I could manage. So I turned back to the window and said nothing.

His apartment was on a high floor of a building that overlooked the river. The elevator ride was silent. When the doors opened into his apartment, I followed him inside. The living room was spacious, with a large sofa facing the floor-to-ceiling windows. Beyond them, the river stretched into the distance, dotted with lights from buildings along the opposite bank. The place was neat and quiet. It didn't look as though anyone else lived there.

Julian set my bag down near the sofa and shrugged out of his coat.

“You should sit,” he said. “I’ll make tea.”

I didn't answer. Instead, I walked over to the windows and looked out at the river. Behind me, I heard Julian in the kitchen, filling the kettle and taking mugs from a cupboard. It was strange to hear someone going about an ordinary evening while mine had fallen apart.

When he returned, he carried two mugs. He handed one to me and kept the other for himself, then stood a little way from me.

“Thank you,” I said.

He nodded and took a sip of his tea. I did the same, though I barely tasted it. For a while, neither of us spoke.

“I keep seeing them,” I said eventually. “The way Eli looked at her. The way Marcus looked at both of them. Like I had already been written out of the picture long before the accident.”

Julian’s voice was quiet. “You don’t have to explain it to me.”

“I know.” I wrapped both hands around the mug, staring down into it. “But I need to say it out loud. I was his wife. I was Eli’s mother. And the moment I became inconvenient, they erased me. Just like that.”

I turned to face him fully. The light from the kitchen fell across his face, making his grey eyes look darker.

“I’m not his wife anymore,” I said. The words came out clearer than I expected. “Whatever papers still say, whatever the law still recognizes, I’m done. He ended it the second he chose to lie to my face and hand my son to someone else.”

Julian held my gaze. He was quiet for a few seconds before he spoke.

“You’re sure?”

“Yes.”

For a few seconds, it was quiet again. I became aware of how close we were standing. Julian's cologne was faint, but I could smell it whenever I turned towards him. I shifted my grip on the mug and took a step back.

Julian set his mug down on the low table beside him.

“Then we proceed from that truth. You’re free to decide what comes next. I’ll help however you need, on your terms.”

I studied him. A few hours ago, he had been a stranger who walked into my hospital room and told me my husband had been lying to me. Now I was standing in his apartment, listening to him offer me help. I still didn't know why he was doing all this, or how much I could trust him.

I looked down at the mug in my hands, then back up at him.

“I don’t know how to do this yet,” I admitted. “Any of it.”

“You don’t have to know tonight.”

He reached out, then seemed to think better of it and lowered his hand. He gestured towards the hallway instead.

“There’s a guest room at the end of the corridor. Clean sheets, private bathroom. Get some rest. We’ll talk more in the morning.”

I nodded. I was exhausted. All I wanted was to lie down and have a few hours without thinking about Marcus, Sophia or what had happened to my family.

I picked up my mug and set it beside his before heading towards the hallway.

At the guest room door, I turned around. Julian was still standing by the windows.

“Goodnight, Elisa.”

“Goodnight.”

He gave me a small nod, then turned back towards the river. I went inside and closed the door.

For the first time since waking up in the hospital, I could lie down without wondering who might walk through the door.