登入Chapter 78I kept both hands on the wheel even though I could not feel them anymore. The sting in my palm was still there, sharp and immediate and every time I tried to push it away, it came back harder. I had slapped my own daughter. I had raised my hand to my child.The road ahead blurred for a moment and I blinked fast, forcing myself to focus. I would not cry. Not yet. Not while I was still driving.But the truth of what I had done sat heavy in my chest, pressing down like something too large to swallow. I should not have done that. No matter what she said. No matter what she was trying to do. She was still my child and I had let my hurt make me someone I did not want to be.That was Jason's gift to me. That was what years of him had left behind. A woman who could lose herself in a moment, who could reach for violence when words failed her. I hated him for that. I hated what he had shaped me into without me even noticing it was happening.I turned onto the main road and exhaled sl
Chapter 77Skylar POV“I thought we were having a normal conversation Rory but now you say this and… I don't even know what to say”“Mom you need to cut him some slack and stop being judgemental please” “Oh this is it. No wonder you were acting so nice. It's because you wanted to blurt out this nonsense from your mouth and wait…” I pushed up from my seat.The chair legs scraped harshly against the polished floor, the sound cutting through the charged silence like a warning. My heart hammered in my chest as I stood and the weight of years of carefully guarded emotions suddenly pressing down on me in this sterile, neutral-toned room. The soft lighting overhead did nothing to warm the growing tension; instead, it highlighted every micro-expression on their faces. Rory’s determined stare mixed with that flicker of vulnerability she tried to hide, and Ethan’s quiet watchfulness beside her. I had walked into this meeting expecting awkward small talk, maybe even a tentative bridge across t
Chapter 76 Skylar's POV I arrived fifteen minutes early. The café Rory had chosen was located in a quiet part of the city, far from the business district and even farther from the neighborhood where Jason lived. It was the kind of place people visited when they wanted privacy rather than attention. Small wooden tables filled the interior, soft music played through hidden speakers, and the afternoon crowd was light enough that nobody paid much attention to anyone else. I sat near the window and checked my phone for what felt like the tenth time. Not because I expected a message, but waiting made me restless. I had spent years imagining conversations with my children. In some versions they forgave me. In others they refused to speak to me. Sometimes they were angry but sometimes they were curious. Reality, I was discovering, was far more complicated than anything I had imagined. When the café door opened, I looked up immediately. Rory entered first and Ethan followed behind h
Chapter 75 Zane's POV When Skylar arrived at my office that evening, I could tell immediately that she had spent the entire day thinking and she looked mentally exhausted before the day was even over. She walked in carrying her handbag and dropped into the chair opposite mine with a sigh that seemed to come from somewhere deep inside her. I closed the file I had been reviewing and set it aside. "How did it go?" She knew what I meant without asking. "The police station?" She leaned back in her chair and rubbed her forehead. "About as well as you'd expect." "Mara wanted to see the driver." For a moment she stared at the ceiling as though replaying the visit in her mind. "He wasn't what I expected. I thought I'd see somebody arrogant who looked like he didn't care what he'd done. Instead he looked terrified and disheveled and Nervous. Like he'd barely slept." "Did he admit to it?" A short laugh escaped her. "No. Apparently he doesn't remember anything." I shook my hea
Chapter 74Skylar's POVBy the time we arrived at the police station, I was already wondering whether I should have insisted that Mara stay home and rest. She had been discharged only a few hours earlier, and despite the brave face she was putting on, the accident had clearly taken a toll on her. She moved more slowly than usual, and every now and then I caught her pressing a hand lightly against her side when she thought I wasn't looking.Unfortunately, Mara had never been the kind of person who listened when she had made up her mind.The moment she learned the police had found the driver, she decided she wanted to see him for herself, not hear about him.I had tried talking her out of it during the drive."You should be home." I said slowly."You sound like a grandmother." She turned to look at me from the passenger seat. "Skylar, if someone almost killed you and then walked away from the scene, wouldn't you want to see his face?"I didn't answer immediately because the truth was ob
Chapter 73 Skylar's POV"What do you mean by that?"Mara did not answer immediately. She picked up her cup, drank, set it back down. I was sure she was choosing her words very carefully just to make sure what came out was what she actually meant."I'm not saying anything bad about him," she said. "I want you to hear that first.""Then say the thing.""He helped you very fast." She looked at me directly. "You showed up at my restaurant and you were broken, Skylar. You had nothing. You had left your house with nothing. And within days this man had given you a phone, a place to live, a brand, a building. That is a lot of help very fast." She paused. "I find that a little unusual."I opened my mouth."Let me finish." She raised one hand. "He also did all of this after finding out you were married. Not divorced. Married. A woman with children and a legal husband and a complicated situation. Most men hear that and they step back. He stepped forward." She tilted her head. "I'm not saying he
Chapter 16 Skylar's POV "You can't be serious." Zane stared at his mother on the floor. "You cannot seriously be serious right now." He crouched beside her and shook her shoulder. Once and twice. She didn't move. "Mom." He shook her again. Nothing. He straightened up, and something shifted in h
Chapter 64 Skylar's POV The elevator doors closed behind me, and for a few seconds I simply stood there in the hospital lobby. The conversation we'd had kept replaying in my mind. The way she'd looked at me. I'm happier than when I lived with you all. The words had been honest. But honesty
Chapter 62 Skylar's POV My heart was pounding before I even ended the call. The principal's voice had told me everything I needed to know. Something had happened.The moment I lowered the phone, I was already standing. "What happened?" Zane asked. I grabbed my purse so quickly that it nearly
Chapter 17 Skylar's POV "I'll take the whole set. Yes, you can mix the colours too." A woman's voice came from the far end of the showroom. I had just walked in through the main entrance, bag over my shoulder. My coat. was still on. "Of course, ma'am. Give me just a minute." One of my staff was







