เข้าสู่ระบบAurora’s brows knit, her heart twisting at the sight. “Jaxon,” she said softly, stepping out and closing the door behind her. “What are you doing here?”The boy flinched as though caught doing something forbidden. He dropped his gaze immediately, his shoulders hunching. “I..I’m sorry ma’am,” he stammered in his British accent. His voice cracked, the words tumbling over themselves. “I didn’t mean to… I just—” He bit his lip, fists tightening at his sides. “I’m sorry.”Aurora’s expression softened. She crouched slightly, trying to meet his downturned gaze. Up close, she could see the nervous twitch in his jaw, the way his chest rose and fell too fast. This wasn’t defiance…it was fear.“It’s okay,” she said gently, her tone calm, steady. “You don’t have to apologize. You can tell me. Why were you here?”Jaxon swallowed hard, still refusing to look up. His voice was a whisper, fragile and raw. “I just… I wanted to hear the story too.”Aurora’s chest tightened. For a moment, she had no wor
Aurora stepped out onto the balcony, the cool night air brushing against her skin like a quiet reminder that the world outside her tangled life was still moving, still breathing. Her phone buzzed again in her hand. She didn’t even need to look at the screen…she already knew who it was. Cole.Her heart raced. She pressed the answer button and lifted the phone to her ear.“Aurora?” Cole’s voice was low, hurried. There was a muffled noise in the background, like people talking and machines beeping.“I’m here,” she said quickly, leaning against the railing. “Are you okay? You sound rushed.”“I don’t have much time,” he admitted. “I’m on a short break. But I needed to call you, because I spoke to Dr. Halvorsen.”Aurora’s breath caught. For weeks, his name had been hovering in her thoughts like a locked door she couldn’t open. “And?” She whispered, afraid to hope.Cole sighed. “At first, he didn’t even want to hear your name. He’s… still bitter about everything that happened. But in the mid
The morning light filtered into the kitchen, pale and gentle, as Aurora spread peanut butter across a slice of bread. Her hands moved automatically, but her mind was elsewhere. Sleep had evaded her again. She had spent most of the night tossing and turning, her stomach knotted with anticipation for Cole’s call later that evening. Every hour that ticked by had reminded her of the risk she was taking…. the risk of hoping again.Behind her, Elara padded into the kitchen, still in her pajamas, rubbing her eyes. “Mommy?”“Yes, baby?” Aurora turned, forcing a small smile.The little girl leaned against the counter, watching as her mother folded the sandwich neatly into her lunchbox. “Are you still coming for the ‘Bring Your Parents to School Day’ today?”Aurora glanced up, blinking at the question. “It’s today?”Elara nodded quickly, her voice uncertain. “Yes. At twelve.”Aurora set down the knife and crouched to her daughter’s height. “Of course I’ll be there,” she said softly, brushing E
Xavier hadn’t been home for two days.Aurora noticed the silence first. The absence of footsteps in the hall, the untouched side of the bed, the lack of his cologne lingering in the air. But what shocked her most was how little it hurt. She hadn’t called to demand an explanation. She hadn’t cried into her pillow. She hadn’t even rehearsed excuses in her head for Elara.And to her quiet relief, Elara hadn’t asked about him either.For once, Aurora was grateful for her daughter’s silence. It saved her from having to lie. From twisting Xavier’s absence into something less heartbreaking than it was.That night, after Xavier had walked out on her, she had made a decision. No more waiting around for a man who would never put her first. No more shrinking herself into a wife who had nothing beyond him. She needed to go back… not to the past, but to the part of herself she had abandoned.The research world.Her heart still clenched when she thought about it. She remembered the day she walked a
The sterile white walls of the hospital blurred before Xavier’s eyes as he paced the hallway, the sharp click of his shoes echoing like a restless drumbeat. He raked a hand through his hair, his chest tight, his mind torn between fury, fear, and bone-deep guilt.Beside him, Jaxon sat slumped on one of the hospital chairs, small fists clutching at the hem of his shirt. His cheeks were blotchy from crying, his little body trembling as though the ground beneath him had shifted.Xavier stopped pacing and knelt in front of him, trying to steady his own shaking voice. “Hey, buddy,” he murmured, forcing a calmness he didn’t feel. He cupped Jaxon’s tear-streaked face, his thumb brushing gently at the dampness. “It’s okay. Your mom’s going to be fine. You hear me? She’s in good hands now.”Jaxon hiccuped through his sobs. “But she…she wouldn’t wake up, Daddy. I tried. I shook her, and she just… she just lay there.” His small body shuddered with the memory. “I thought she left me.”The words st
For that day, Xavier was nothing but sweet. He surprised Aurora by insisting on drawing her a bath himself, though she told him several times that he didn’t need to. He tested the water, adjusting it with careful patience until it was the perfect warmth, and even set out a towel for her.When she slipped into the bath, sinking into the steam, he sat on the edge of the counter, watching her with quiet eyes. It was the kind of tenderness that felt almost foreign now, like something stolen from the past, and Aurora didn’t know what to do with it.After her bath, when she expected him to retreat into his world again, he instead grabbed his keys and told her he was coming with her to pick Elara up from school.Aurora blinked in surprise but said nothing. She only nodded, secretly wondering if this was his way of proving something, if not to her, then to himself.When Elara spotted them both waiting at the gate, her face lit up briefly, but her excitement dimmed almost as quickly when she n







