Chapter 3

Noah let out a soft laugh.

“Mr. Cole,” he said, glancing between me and the open doorway, “I didn’t realize you were living here.”

The question landed exactly the way he meant it to.

Before I could answer, I pulled Theo behind me on instinct, shielding him from Noah’s gaze.

“I—”

“They’re family,” Vivian cut in before I could finish. “They’ve been staying here for a while.”

It wasn’t the first time.

But every time she denied us like that, it struck the same place in my chest.

I opened my mouth to say something, but Theo spoke first.

“Hi, Aunt Vivian.”

I turned to him so quickly it almost hurt.

His eyes were already red.

Then he looked up at me and said quietly, “Dad, let’s go.”

Whatever I had been about to say died in my throat.

I forced my mouth into something that might have passed for a smile.

“Okay.”

We moved past them.

As I brushed by, Vivian caught my wrist.

I stopped but didn’t turn right away.

When I finally looked back, she was staring at Theo as if she hadn’t heard him correctly.

“He called me what?”

I almost laughed.

“What did you expect?” I asked. “Isn’t this what you wanted, Ms. Grant?”

For six years, she hadn’t just hidden our marriage. She had never allowed our son to call her Mom.

The only difference now was that before, she had made him call her aunt.

This time, he had chosen distance on his own.

I lowered my eyes and tried to pull free, but her grip only tightened.

Vivian looked at me with an expression I couldn’t quite read.

“Give me a few days,” she said. “I’ll explain it to Theo.”

“Noah’s waiting,” I said. “Let go.”

Only then did she seem to remember he was standing there. Her hand loosened at once.

I let out a short, bitter laugh, took Theo’s hand, and started toward the door again.

“Wait.”

Vivian turned, walked back to her car, and came back holding a boxed cake.

She held it out to Theo.

“Happy birthday.”

Noah spoke before Vivian could.

“She picked that up for me earlier,” he said, almost lightly. “I didn’t realize it was Theo’s birthday. Hope that doesn’t make things awkward.”

The box suddenly felt heavier than it should have.

I almost handed it back.

Then I saw the look in Theo’s eyes.

Hope. Pure and painful and impossible to refuse.

So I stopped.

Theo didn’t understand the tension running underneath any of it. He only looked at Vivian with cautious excitement and asked, “Will you have some with me?”

Vivian hesitated for only a second before nodding.

Theo lit up at once and ran into the living room, calling for me to hurry and open it.

I followed him in, set the box down, and cut the cake into three slices.

For one brief moment, it almost looked like a family scene.

Then Theo took the first bite.

My smile vanished.

“Spit it out!”

I grabbed the plate from his hands so fast it clattered against the table.

Vivian’s face darkened immediately.

“Ethan, what the hell is wrong with you?”

I looked up at her, my voice breaking with anger.

“He’s allergic to mango. Did you forget that too?”

The words hung in the air.

The change in her face was immediate.

Shock. Then panic.

“I—I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

Another apology.

Always an apology.

From the day Theo was born until now, I had heard that word from her so many times it had long since lost all meaning.

Theo understood too.

He looked at Vivian for one long second, and whatever hope had still been in his face quietly disappeared.

Then he climbed into my arms and buried his face against my shoulder.

“It’s okay,” he murmured. “It makes sense they wouldn’t know.”

That hurt more than anything else.

I didn’t say another word.

I picked him up, turned, and walked out.

Even after I stepped through the door, I could still feel Vivian’s gaze on my back—guilty, shaken, almost frantic.

But this time, neither Theo nor I felt anything at all.

I went straight back to the office after leaving the house and cleared out my desk as quickly as I could.

I had thought I would say a proper goodbye.

At that point, it no longer seemed necessary.

I left the signed divorce papers on the desk, exhaled slowly, and picked up my bag. Then I took Theo to the airport.

Before we boarded, I crouched in front of him and asked, “If Dad takes you away with him, are you going to be upset?”

Theo shook his head and pressed his cheek against mine.

“I only want Dad.”

That was when I finally broke.

The tears came all at once, and with them, something inside me loosened for good.

I took out my phone and blocked Vivian everywhere.