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Chapter 6
publish date:
2026-06-11 13:56:56
Latest chapter
The Baby He Never Chose Chapter 14
Damien was already waiting when Mara stepped out of her building.It was just after eight.He hadn't stood by the entrance.He hadn't wanted her to feel trapped.Instead, he'd waited across the street, sitting on a low brick wall with a cup of coffee growing cold in his hands.If she wanted to leave without speaking to him...She could.She saw him immediately.For a second, he wondered if she'd turn around.She didn't.She crossed the street.He didn't let himself read too much into that.She'd promised they would talk.Mara always kept her word.Nothing more."You're early," she said."So are you."Lucas wasn't with her.He noticed that right away.She'd arranged for someone else to take him to school.Another decision made carefully.Another reminder that Mara never left important things to chance anymore."There's a café around the corner," she said. "I have about forty minutes before work."He nodded."Thank you."The café was quiet.Only a few people sat scattered around with la
The Baby He Never Chose Chapter 13
She gave him nothing.That was the first thing Damien noticed.He stood only a few feet away from Mara Ellis-Ward, yet it felt as if there were miles between them.For three weeks, he'd imagined this meeting over and over again.He'd expected anger.Tears.Bitterness.Anything that proved he still mattered enough to stir something inside her.Instead...Nothing.Not the forced calm of someone hiding their emotions.Real calm.The kind that only came after years of healing.That frightened him more than anger ever could.Lucas had wandered a few steps away.Mara had quietly pointed toward a pigeon pecking at the pavement, and within seconds the little boy was completely fascinated.Close enough for her to reach if she needed him.Far enough away that he couldn't hear their conversation.She'd done it without taking her eyes off Damien.He noticed.Of course he noticed.She'd thought of everything."You look well," he said.It wasn't what he'd planned to say.It was simply the first thi
The Baby He Never Chose Chapter 12
Mara had always known this day might come.Not with certainty. There had never been a date in her mind or a speech she'd rehearsed for years. But when you've survived the kind of ending she had, you learn not to believe some doors stay closed forever.A man like Damien Cross was never going to accept disappearing from someone's life.One day, sooner or later, he would come looking.She had built her life with that possibility in mind.What she hadn't expected was how ordinary the moment would feel.The evening light was soft.Lucas was still telling her about the caterpillar he'd found outside the school gates, speaking with the kind of excitement only six-year-olds could manage.It had been an ordinary day.Until she looked up.And saw Damien.For one heartbeat, everything inside her stopped.Three years.Three years of him existing only in old memories, signed legal papers, and the grey eyes that looked back at her every morning from her son's face.The shock came.She let herself f
The Baby He Never Chose Chapter 11
The Calloway Grand was the kind of hotel every mid-sized city seemed to have—polished marble floors, an overpriced coffee bar near the entrance, and staff trained to be helpful without ever feeling personal.Damien had checked in the previous afternoon under one of the company's subsidiary names.Old habit.When you had money and a surname people recognized, privacy became something you had to create for yourself.He'd taken a corner suite on the eighth floor, dropped his bag beside the bed without unpacking it, and spent the rest of yesterday—and most of today—doing the one thing he had never been good at.Waiting.Garrett's file had mapped out Mara's routine with his usual precision. Coffee from the café on Birch Lane every morning. School drop-off at eight fifteen. Work at Varden Legal Group from nine until six, sometimes later. Home by way of Selwyn Street. Dinner at the little Italian restaurant twice a week. The park on Saturdays whenever the weather cooperated.A quiet life.A
The Baby He Never Chose Chapter 10
Damien's flight to Calloway left at 7:40 a.m.He had been awake since four.Sleep had never come.Instead, he'd done what he always did whenever something mattered.He prepared.For years, that habit had made him successful.Every meeting needed a strategy.Every negotiation needed a plan.Every possible outcome had to be considered before walking into the room.This shouldn't have been any different.Yet somehow...It was.His phone was filled with notes.Half-written apologies.Deleted messages.Words that sounded right one minute and completely hollow the next.I'm sorry.Too small.I should have known.That sounded like an excuse.I never stopped thinking about you.No.That wasn't true either.There had been weeks...Months...When Mara hadn't crossed his mind at all.Admitting that hurt more than he expected.The truth was uglier than any apology he could write.He hadn't realized what he'd lost until it was already gone.In the end, he deleted every draft.If Mara gave him the
The Baby He Never Chose Chapter 9
Garrett's reply came sooner than Damien expected.Three weeks of investigation arrived in the form of a single encrypted email on a quiet Tuesday morning.Damien was halfway through a board meeting when his phone buzzed.He glanced at the sender.Garrett Cole.His pulse quickened.Without waiting for the presentation to end, he excused himself and walked straight to his office. He locked the door behind him before opening the email.He thought he was ready.He wasn't.The first page was simple.Subject relocated to Calloway approximately three years ago. Currently employed as Senior Consultant at Varden Legal Group.He read it twice.Senior Consultant.A slow ache settled somewhere deep inside his chest.Pride.He had no right to feel proud.Everything Mara had achieved, she'd achieved without him.Still...He was proud.The report continued.Promoted twice within eighteen months. Regarded by colleagues as one of the firm's most capable consultants.A small, bitter smile touched his l
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