MasukI lean into him. "We really did start with a contract.""We did.""And now we have this.""Yeah. Now we have this."Maya cries out upstairs. Not scared. Just a dream. We both listen, waiting to see if she'll settle. She does. Back to sleep in seconds."I love you," Aiden says."I love you too.""I m
Taylor's POVThree years after the contract. Two years after the wedding. Eighteen months after Maya was born.It's a Tuesday night in October. Nothing special. Just a regular evening in the life we built.I'm in the kitchen making dinner. Maya is on the floor with her blocks, building something tha
The woman closed her notebook. "That's beautiful.""It's not beautiful. It's work. Really hard work. We still fight. We still build walls sometimes. We still have moments where we want to run because running is easier than staying. But we don't run. We stay. And we figure it out. That's the whole jo
Taylor's POVWe were at a foundation event two years after Maya was born when someone asked the question."How did you two make it work?" The woman was young, sharp-eyed, holding a notebook. A journalist, probably. Or a grad student writing a thesis. "You started with so much against you. The family
"Did it?" Kiera asked."No. We fell in love anyway. Threw out the contract after three months. Got married. Had her." He gestured to the baby monitor. "And now we're here.""That's the most romantic thing I've ever heard," Kiera said."It's not romantic. It's messy. We spent a year knocking down wal
Taylor's POVMaya's first birthday fell on a Saturday in October, eighteen months after the contract, fourteen months after the wedding, one year after she'd arrived and changed everything.We threw a party. Small. Just the people who'd earned their way to the table.My father arrived early, carryin
Taylor’s POVThe gym smells faintly of rubber and chalk the scent sharp and clean almost antiseptic.Sunlight slants through the tall windows painting long stripes across the floor where dust motes float like tiny sparks.i tell myself im here to monitor him.That’s it. Professional. Just a physical
And I know it’s true.Aiden stood up for me. Publicly.The thought knocks the breath out of me. Gratitude hits first, warm and unexpected. Then confusion follows right after. Why would he risk that? He hates attention. He knows how this place feeds on drama.Why defend me like that?the question sit
Taylor’s POVThe cafeteria hums with the soft clatter of trays and the smell of grilled chicken drifting through the air.,Sunlight filters through the high windows cutting sharp rectangles across the long tables.everyone’s halfway through their lunch break their voices overlapping in a low rhythmic
Taylor’s POVThe car hums beneath us a steady vibration that fills the silence.The afternoon sun filters through the trees painting gold streaks across the windshield.dust motes drift lazily in the warm light suspended like tiny memories refusing to settle.Aiden’s hands are steady on the wheel but







