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CHAPTER 95: Ilse

Author: Monique
last update publish date: 2026-10-21 17:02:42

Noah POV

On Saturday morning, Marisol stood in our hallway with her coat buttoned wrong, checking her handbag for the fourth time. She had packed the dented blue tin, a clean handkerchief, a second clean handkerchief, and a full packet of tissues. Tracy took the bag out of her hands, set it on the hall table, and fixed the buttons one at a time.

“You look lovely,” Tracy said.

“I look like a woman who has packed for a flood.”

“That’s also true.”

Marisol laughed, and some of the stiffness left he
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  • The Billionaire Ex's Secret Baby   CHAPTER 95: Ilse

    Noah POVOn Saturday morning, Marisol stood in our hallway with her coat buttoned wrong, checking her handbag for the fourth time. She had packed the dented blue tin, a clean handkerchief, a second clean handkerchief, and a full packet of tissues. Tracy took the bag out of her hands, set it on the hall table, and fixed the buttons one at a time.“You look lovely,” Tracy said.“I look like a woman who has packed for a flood.”“That’s also true.”Marisol laughed, and some of the stiffness left her shoulders. I was holding the car keys, and I felt the old habit rise in me, the one that wanted to arrange everything. A driver. A guard at the gate. A quiet table somewhere afterward. I held it for a moment, then put it down.“Would you like to walk in beside us,” I asked, “or ten steps behind?”She thought about it very seriously. “Beside you,” she said. “I think I’d like to be seen arriving.”“Then that’s what we’ll do.”Daniel was waiting at the park entrance in a ranger’s hat, holding a c

  • The Billionaire Ex's Secret Baby   CHAPTER 94: Butterscotch

    Tracy POVI told Marisol on Sunday morning, in the kitchen, before the rest of the house was awake. She was at the stove stirring oatmeal, and I stood beside her with my hands wrapped around a mug, trying to find the right words. I had rehearsed several. They all disappeared.“The woman at the park wants you to come on Saturday,” I said. “She asked for you by name. She said you’ve waited as long as she has.”Marisol’s spoon stopped moving. She looked into the pot for a long moment, and then she turned the burner down very low.“Did she say why?”“No. I wanted you to know you can say no. You don’t owe her anything, and you don’t owe us anything either.”“That’s kind of you.” She set the spoon on the counter. “But I’m not afraid of her, Tracy. I’m only surprised that I’m not more surprised.”Noah came in just then with his hair still damp from the shower, and I saw his face slide into planning mode before he had taken three steps. He had caught the end of the sentence. “I’ll arrange a c

  • The Billionaire Ex's Secret Baby   CHAPTER 93: The Face in the Photograph

    Noah POVI made toast on Saturday morning, and it came out perfectly golden. Samuel took a bite, chewed with great care, and gave his verdict.“A solid B plus.”“What would make it an A?”“Jam,” Samuel said. “Also, you shouldn’t look so happy about it. It’s only toast.”Tracy laughed from the other side of the counter, but it was a thin laugh, and her hand kept drifting to the pocket of her coat. The folded oval of photograph was in there. She had slept badly. I had felt her turn over every hour, and every time I reached for her, her hand had been cold.I waited until Samuel went to find his shoes. “How are you?”“My hands are cold,” she said, and she held them out, palms up. It was such an honest answer that my throat tightened. I wrapped both of mine around them and held on until the color came back.“That’s better,” she whispered.“I’m here.”“I know. That’s why they’re warming up.”Alder Park was bright and windy, with leaves skittering across the path like small animals. The caro

  • The Billionaire Ex's Secret Baby   CHAPTER 92: The Night Before

    Tracy POVNoah announced on Thursday evening that he was going to learn my half of the song.“Both hands,” he said. “Your melody and the Kingston tune. If Elias plays the secret ending on Saturday, I want to be able to join in.”“You know one tune,” I said.“I know one tune very well. I’m confident I can learn a second.”He sat down at the piano in our living room like a man about to address a board of directors. I sat beside him on the bench and put his right hand on the keys. His fingers were long and strong, and nobody had ever taught them to be gentle. I moved them into place one at a time.“Thumb here. Not that thumb. The other thumb.”“They’re the same thumb.”“They are not.”He played the first four notes. They sounded like someone dropping a tray of silverware. Samuel, who was lying on the rug with his dragon book, lifted his head and gave his father a look of sorrowful patience.“Dad, that’s the wrong one.”“I was close.”“You were in the next house.”Noah tried again, counti

  • The Billionaire Ex's Secret Baby   CHAPTER 91: What the Moon Is Called

    Noah POVI carried the photograph out of the quiet house in both hands, as if it might break. Tracy locked the music room behind us and slid the brass key into her pocket without a word. We drove home in silence, and I kept glancing at the little frame on the back seat, where it lay wrapped in my scarf.“You’re doing it again,” Tracy said at the first red light.“Doing what?”“Planning. Your jaw goes tight when you plan.”I tried to loosen it. “I was thinking I could have someone find out who she is. A good investigator. Someone discreet. By Friday we’d have a name, an address, a history.”“Would you like that?”“I’d like to know.”“That’s not what I asked.” She turned in her seat to face me. “Would you like finding out that way? From a file, instead of from her?”The light turned green. I let the car roll forward and thought about it for a block and a half. “No,” I said. “My grandmother wrote that I should ask her nothing she isn’t ready to give.”“So.”“So I’m going to want to hire

  • The Billionaire Ex's Secret Baby   CHAPTER 90: The Music Room

    Tracy POVNoah turned the little brass key over in his fingers for a long while after he told me where it belonged. The lamp threw a soft circle on the carpet, and the house was so quiet that I could hear the music box ticking as it cooled on the table. I waited until he looked up.“We could go tomorrow,” I said. “After school. Marisol can pick up Samuel.”“Are you sure? That house frightened you.”“It did.” I took a breath, because the old habit was already tugging at me to say I was fine. “I’m still a little scared of it. When that candle went out in the window, I thought my heart would stop. But I would rather be scared next to you than stay home wondering what is behind that door.”He set the key down and took both my hands. “Then we go at your pace. If you want to leave in the first five minutes, we leave, and I won’t ask why.”“You might ask why.”“I’ll ask once, gently, and then I’ll drop it.”I laughed, and the knot in my chest loosened. He pulled me against his side, and I re

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