Chapter 4

Amy's POV 

Five years later…

“I promise you I am going to pay by the end of month.” I rubbed my palms together while moving from one foot to another. 

“I can drop my credit card.” I said, frantically searching through my purse. “Just please treat my son.” 

The doctor who was an elderly woman looked at me with so much pity. Over the last five years, I had learned to live with it. 

“You can drop your card at the reception.”

I exhaled shakily and closed my eyes for a second. 

“Mummy.” Ronan called weakly. I carefully wiped the blood from his nose. “Am I going to die?”

I bit on my lower lip and shook my head. “No baby. Superheroes don't die.”

“I would send a nurse to take him now.” The doctor said and I simply nodded. I was too exhausted to say a word. Working two jobs and taking care of a child who was terminally ill all by myself had aged me so quickly. 

I followed closely as Ronan was placed in a room. I stood outside the glass doors watching them for a minute before going to drop off my card. I was almost an hour late and my employer would almost have my head. 

I was about to stop a cab when I stepped out of the hospital when I remembered I had no money in my purse. I let out a breath, shoved my hands into my pocket and started walking. 

Celeste stood by the door with her red lips turned down and her heels tapping the floor impatiently. Our eyes met when I was a few steps away and she huffed and walked back into the store. I braced myself for the hell she was about to descend on me. 

“You must have other jobs waiting for you.” She said, immediately I walked in.

“I’m sorry, Celeste.” I said in a tired voice. I caught my reflection in one of he mirrors and realized how much I had changed in five years. My hair had thinned, deep lines were etched into my face and there were constant dark circles around my eyes. 

“Sorry?” She shot at me. “I told you we had one of our biggest client coming in today.” 

“I had to take Ronan to the hospital. He had an episode last night.”

“Oh spare the sob story about your bastard child.”

I froze and clenched my fist. “I would go and prepare the ring options for our client.”

I attempted to walk past her and she grabbed me by my shirt. “Do you own this place or I do?”

“You do.” I replied flatly. 

“So why do you think you can walk in here when you want and have an attitude?”

“I already told you why I am late.” I said, almost snapping. 

“Look at you.” She spat at me. “You can barely take care of yourself, let alone that boy. Give him away.” 

“Don’t tell me what to do with my son.” I screamed at her. “You know nothing about having a child of your own.” 

Her hand cracked through the hair and landed on my cheeks. My face stung and I cradled it with both hands. 

“Who do you think you are speaking to me like that?” She advanced towards me, her eyes blazing with so much hatred. 

“If I fire you, nobody is going to hire you. You and your bastard would be put out on the street and he would die in your arms.”

She kept coming closer and I took several steps back. My body collided with a ceramic figurine and it shattered to the ground. My breath caught in my throat. Celeste was going to make me pay from a salary that was barely enough.

“You are stupid.” She shoved me back, sending more figurines falling. “You destroy everything.”

I stood there as she hit me. Fighting back meant losing my job and I needed this job. I needed the money. I needed to save my child. 

“Enough.” A voice barked from behind me. 

I froze. I recognized that voice. It may have been five long years but I would recognize it even in a hundred years. My wolf stirred within me. No, it can't be.

Blood drained from my face so fast I almost thought I was going to pass out. 

“Mr. Sterling.” Celeste's face immediately turned into a smile as she withdrew her hands. “I didn't know you were here.”

“Is this how you treat your employees?”

I turned around slowly and my heart slammed against my ribs. I was staring at Thane Sterling. I suddenly forgot how to breathe. The room suddenly lacked enough oxygen and the walls were quickly closing in on me. 

“Huh?” He asked again. 

His voice washed over me and settled in places I had spent years trying to bury. 

The father of my child. The man who my world once revolved around. There was a violent pull in my heart as my wolf stirred painfully. It was so intense my knees almost buckled. 

Mate.

I clenched my fist. No, I had buried that bond and the girl who ever thought it was possible. 

He walked towards us. Long careful strides. He was even more handsome than before. His jaws were so sharp, they could cut through steel and he kept a mustache now. His dark hair was longer than I remembered, beautifully oiled and that streak of silver hair hung perfectly above his eyes. He was older and more beautiful. So beautiful that it hurt. 

He was standing a few feet away now and my breathing had become laboured. I searched his eyes but he was barely looking at me. The man I had slept beside every night for eight years. The man who knew every inch of my body. 

Now staring at him, I realized how much Ronan looked at him. He finally turned to me and our eyes met. For one foolish second, hope burst within my chest. Maybe he recognized me. Five years were definitely not enough to erase me right? 

“Are you hurt?” He asked. I suddenly forgot how to use words. I stood there staring at him. 

The hope I allowed myself exploded so violently inside me it felt like something had been ripped away. How much of myself had I lost that he couldn't recognise me anymore? Tears burned the back of my eyes. His eyes moved over my face and there was no recognition. 

My lips parted but no sound escaped them. I wanted to ask if he remembered how he used to chase me down to the stables and how we made out there. If he remembered how gently he touched my stomach when I was confirmed pregnant.

“Did she hurt you?” He asked again, touching my shoulder. I flinched so violently he took a step back. The spot he touched burned. 

I wanted to scream and run but my body betrayed me and I was stuck to the ground glaring at him. 

I remembered what Celeste said while preparing me for his arrival. He was coming to get a new ring for his wife for their anniversary. My tongue suddenly grew bitter.

Celeste exhaled and ran her hands across her shirt. “This is all a misunderstanding.”

“You are an evil woman.” He spat at her. “How can the thought of a child dying excite you that way?”

Celeste scrambled for words as her lips trembled. 

“You would never see me here again and I would make sure nobody I know ever comes here.”

He turned to me. “Do you want to take up a job at my house?”

I glared at him. 

“I have a son that needs a nanny. He's quite difficult but it's nothing compared to this witch.”

I clenched my fists too hard, my nails bit into my palms. Did he really not recognize me? He never even looked for me once in five years? Was that how disposable I really was? 

“No, thank you.” I replied in a clipped tone.

Even Celeste turned to me in surprise. 

“It would offer you accommodation, time with your child and…”

“I am fine, Mr. Sterling.” I choked out. 

He tilted his head and stared at me and for one terrifying minute I thought he recognized me. Instead, he pulled out a card from his breast pocket. “If you change your mind, the job is yours.”