Chapter Four

Celeste

Amara fell asleep the moment we got home.

Her bunny was tucked tightly in her arms, her cheek pressed against the pillow like nothing had happened—like she hadn’t sent my world spiraling into a black hole of panic and dread just hours ago.

I stood in the doorway, watching her breathe. Steady. Peaceful.

Completely unaware of the storm she’d left behind.

There was a soft weight in my chest, a heaviness that didn’t lift even now that she was safe.

I leaned down and kissed her forehead, breathing in the familiar scent of lavender shampoo. 

Her eyelashes fluttered slightly, but she didn’t wake.

I whispered, “Mommy’s here,” though I wasn’t sure if it was for her or for me.

Then I slipped out of the room and pulled the door shut behind me.

Nathan was already in the kitchen, pacing with a glass of water clutched tightly in his hand. The look on his face broke me a little more.

“She’s okay,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

He turned toward me instantly. “Thank God.” But his eyes were still wide, guilt-ridden. “Celeste… I’m so sorry. I swear, I only looked away for a second—”

“I know,” I said, collapsing into the chair. My knees had given up pretending they could hold me together. My hands rubbed at my temples, trying to press away the remnants of panic. “I’m not blaming you. I just… today felt like a nightmare.”

Nathan sat across from me slowly, his movements stiff with leftover fear. “That man—Sebastian. He drove you there, didn’t he?”

I hesitated.

How could I even begin to explain this?

He wasn’t just a man.

He was the man.

The one I’d tried so hard to forget. The one I never really could. The one who unknowingly gave me a daughter and walked away without ever looking back.

Except… he didn’t look back because he didn’t remember. 

At least, I thought he didn’t.

“I need to tell you something,” I said, voice low and shaking.

Nathan’s brows lifted. “What is it?”

I stared at my trembling hands for a long second, as if they held the truth in their cracks and lines.

“You’ve always known I didn’t want to talk about Amara’s father. And I had my reasons. But after today…” I lifted my gaze to meet his. “That man from the office—Sebastian Williams… he’s Amara’s father.”

Nathan’s body stilled.

The glass nearly slipped from his fingers.

“What?”

I nodded. “It was him. Six years ago. That night I never wanted to talk about. It was Sebastian. And now… he’s my boss.”

He looked at me like I’d just set the kitchen on fire. “You’re serious?”

“I wish I wasn’t.”

Nathan blinked, trying to wrap his head around it. “He doesn’t know?”

“No.” My voice cracked. “He doesn’t even recognize me. I looked him in the eye today and there was… nothing. No spark. No flicker. Nothing.”

Nathan leaned back slowly, like he couldn’t trust the ground anymore. “You’re sure it’s him?”

“I’d know that face anywhere.”

He ran a hand down his jaw. “Jesus, Celeste.”

“I didn’t plan this,” I said quickly, my grip tightening on the table’s edge. “I didn’t know it was him when I applied. I just needed the job. I didn’t even know his full name. It wasn’t until I saw him again that everything came rushing back.”

Nathan shook his head slowly. “So you’re working for the man who… who knocked you up and then vanished from your life like a ghost?”

I flinched.

“It wasn’t like that. He didn’t vanish. He just…” My voice dropped. “He forgot. He doesn’t remember that night.”

There was a long silence. The kind that crept between cracks and expanded them.

Then, carefully, Nathan asked, “Do you think he suspects anything?”

My stomach twisted. “Maybe. He overheard me talking to Amara on the phone. Then he started asking questions. About her. About her father. And then—at the park…”

I swallowed hard.

“He looked at her like something clicked.”

Nathan leaned forward, arms resting on his knees. “Celeste… if he finds out the truth—what are you going to do?”

I stared down at the table.

Because I didn’t know.

All I knew was that the past I’d buried for six long years had just come crashing back into my life—cold, unexpected, and wearing a tailored suit with eyes exactly like my daughter’s.

“I don’t know,” I whispered. “I don’t know what he’ll do. Or what I’ll do.”

“Do you still feel something for him?”

I didn’t answer.

Because that was the question I didn’t want to face.

Nathan sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “I just want you to be safe. You’ve spent years protecting Amara—protecting yourself. If this man is going to tear everything apart—”

“I won’t let him,” I said quickly, almost desperately. “I won’t let him hurt her.”

“But what if he wants to be in her life?”

I stared at him, and my chest ached. “Then everything changes.”

Silence settled again, thick and heavy.

Nathan’s voice dropped to something soft. “Celeste… can I ask something?”

“Yeah.”

“That night. The one you never talk about. Was it… consensual?”

I looked up sharply.

“Yes,” I said firmly. “It was. We were both… lost. Drunk, yes, but not out of control. It wasn’t ugly. It was just… one night. We didn’t even exchange names. I left before he woke up. I didn’t even know who he was until years later.”

Nathan nodded, visibly relieved. “Okay. I just had to be sure.”

I leaned back in my chair, exhausted to my bones. “It should’ve ended there. A memory. A secret. But then Amara happened. And now… this.”

He reached across the table, taking my hand.

“You’re not alone in this, okay? You never were. I’ll help you figure it out. Whatever comes next.”

Tears burned in my eyes, but I blinked them back. “Thank you.”

A silence fell over the kitchen again, this one less suffocating than before.

Nathan eventually broke it with a sigh. “So… what are you going to do tomorrow?”

I gave a weak laugh. “Go to work. Act like nothing happened. Smile at the man who fathered my child and pretend we’re complete strangers.”

“Celeste.”

“I don’t have a choice,” I said quietly. “I can’t afford to lose this job. Not now. Not with Amara in school and bills piling up. I’ll be careful. I’ll keep my distance.”

“And if he remembers?”

I didn’t answer.

Because that wasn’t something I could plan for.

That wasn’t something anyone could prepare for.

I eventually stood, rinsing my hands under the faucet just to feel the cold water numb my skin.

Nathan watched me silently before saying, “Do you think Amara deserves to know?”

The words hit like a stone in my chest.

“She deserves the world,” I whispered. “But she doesn’t need chaos. She doesn’t need the kind of man who can’t even remember the night she was conceived.”

Nathan’s gaze softened. “Maybe. Or maybe he’s just broken in ways you don’t understand.”

I shook my head, grabbing a towel. “Maybe we both are.”

Then I turned toward the hallway and paused.

“I’m going to bed. Try to sleep, okay?”

“You too.”

As I stepped into the dark hallway, the quiet hum of the fridge behind me, I felt the weight of the secret settle deeper into my bones.

This wasn’t just about me anymore.

It never had been.

And tomorrow, I’d have to face him again.

The man who unknowingly changed my life with a single night.

Back then, he was a stranger with no name.

Now he has one…

And so does the little girl with his eyes and his quiet strength—

The daughter he doesn’t even know he has.

Sebastian

The night was too quiet.

The kind of silence that pressed against your chest like a weight, loud in its own way. My penthouse was dim, save for the soft glow of the city lights pouring through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Manila looked like a sleeping giant from up here—slow, shimmering, unaware that something inside me had started to unravel.

My phone buzzed again on the glass table. I didn’t need to check it. Violet. For the fifth time tonight.

I let it ring.

I couldn’t talk to her. Not right now. Not when I couldn’t even understand what was going on inside my own head.

All I could see was her.

Amara.

That tiny voice. That giggle. The way her legs swung over the fountain ledge like she hadn’t just thrown the entire world into chaos with her innocent disappearance.

She was just a child. Oblivious. Joyful.

But I wasn’t.

Because that face—that face—kept echoing in my mind like a broken record.

She looked like me.

Not in an obvious way, not enough for the average passerby to notice. But I did. I saw it in her eyes. In the subtle arch of her brow. The curve of her mouth when she pouted.

And when Celeste knelt and pulled her into her arms, I felt something in my chest twist in a way I hadn’t felt in years.

Something primal. Protective. Possessive.

I hated it.

No—I feared it.

Because I didn’t understand it.

And her mother… Celeste.

She wasn’t just a stranger. She couldn’t be.

I saw the way she looked at me—every time I was near her. There was fear in her eyes, yes, but there was something else underneath it. Something I couldn’t name.

And that’s what terrified me most.

Because I was good at reading people. I had built an empire on gut instincts, negotiations, and knowing exactly what someone wanted before they asked. But with her? I was blind.

She walked into my company like a shadow from a dream I couldn’t wake from. Familiar but unreachable.

And then there were the gaps.

The missing years.

Six years ago. The night everything went dark. The car crash. The blood. The blinding lights.

The cold voice of a doctor telling me I’d been lucky to survive—and unlucky to remember so little.

I hadn’t cared then. I was told I used to be someone different—arrogant, reckless, heartless. I accepted the blank slate. I even welcomed it.

But now, I wanted it back.

Because if I had forgotten her—if I had forgotten them—what else had I lost?

I grabbed the whiskey decanter and poured myself a drink, barely feeling the burn as it slid down my throat.

I should’ve asked Celeste more. Pushed harder. But there was something about her that made me hesitate.

Like if I got too close, she’d shatter.

Or worse… I would.

I leaned against the railing of the balcony, staring out at the city.

Was Amara mine?

The question throbbed in my skull.

And if she was… what kind of man did that make me?

What kind of father forgets?

I didn’t have the answers.

But one thing was certain—I was going to get them.

Celeste was hiding something.

And maybe… maybe it had something to do with me.

With her.

With that little girl and the way she looked at me like she knew me.

I wasn’t ready to dig deeper.

But I wasn’t sure I could stay away, either.