Chapter 13

ISABELLA'S POV

 

Three years have passed since I left the country, yet some mornings I still wake with the ghost of Ethan’s touch on my skin. London shaped me into someone stronger ... a respected Financial Analyst whose work on debt restructuring platforms has earned recognition in fintech circles. My startup grew steadily, providing real help to families trapped in cycles of debt, the very trap that once forced me into a two-year contract marriage to save my father.

 

But life has a way of pulling you back.

 

My father is terribly sick now. The doctors are not optimistic. Combined with my growing desire to be closer to Sofia and the few friends who remained loyal, I made the decision. I packed up our life in London and brought my twins home to the United States.

 

Liam and Lila are two years and three months old now ... very energetic, curious, and the center of my world. Liam has his father’s dark hair and intense eyes. Lila has my smile but the same stubborn chin as Ethan. They are my greatest joy and my most carefully guarded secret.

 

Sofia waits for me at the arrivals, her face lighting up as I push the double stroller through the gates. The twins are with the nanny I hired for the long flight, resting in a quiet lounge area. I wanted this first moment alone.

 

“You made it,” Sofia says, pulling me into a tight hug. “How are my godchildren?”

 

“Exhausted but excited,” I reply with a tired smile. “They slept most of the flight. Thank you for picking us up.”

 

We talk quietly as we wait for the luggage. I have not told anyone else about the twins ... not my father, or any old acquaintances. Only Sofia knows the full truth. Ethan has no idea he has children. After the way he treated me, after hiding the truth about Natalie and viewing our passion as nothing more than a habit, I chose to protect my babies from that world.

 

 

ETHAN’S POV

 

 

I stride through the airport with purpose, briefcase in hand, returning from a business trip in Asia. Three years have changed little on the surface. My empire has grown. My reputation remains ice-cold and formidable. But the emptiness I have carried since Isabella left has never truly faded.

 

I round the corner near the arrivals gate and freeze for half a second.

 

Isabella.

 

She stands near the exit, talking to Sofia, looking more beautiful than I remember. Her figure is fuller in a way that suits her, her dark hair falling in soft waves. Looking very professional, confident and very much alive.

 

Our eyes do not meet. I keep walking, keeping my expression blank, as if I cannot see her. As if she is just another face in the crowd. My jaw clenches so hard it aches, but I do not stop. I do not acknowledge her, I dare not because I don't know what I will do.

 

She left. She signed the papers and disappeared without a trace.

 

I bypass her completely and continue toward my waiting driver, my heart is pounding harder than it has in years. Memories of her assault me instantly ... the way she moaned when I devoured her pussy on the kitchen island until she squirted on my tongue. The stretch of her tight cunt around my thick cock as I pounded her against the window. How perfectly she took me in every position, every room, night after night until she was limp and leaking my cum.

 

I climb into the car and close my eyes, willing the images away. She is nothing to me now. Just a ghost from a contract that ended badly.

 

 

ISABELLA’S POV

 

 

My heart stutters the moment I see him.

 

Ethan walks past like I am invisible. Tall, powerful, and impeccably dressed, his face cold and unreadable. He does not glance my way. He does not slow down. He simply bypasses me as if I am a stranger.

 

Relief floods through me so strongly my knees nearly buckle. The twins are safely with the nanny in the lounge area, far from this moment. He did not see them so he does not know. What he doesn't know won't kill him.

 

Sofia notices my reaction and squeezes my arm. “He didn’t see you with them. Breathe.”

 

I nod, forcing a steady breath. Joy mixes with the old pain. He ignored me. After everything ... the raw, all-consuming nights where he claimed every inch of my body, the way he fucked me like he owned me, the way he filled me so many times I carried his children ... he looked right through me.

 

It hurts. But it also protects my babies.

 

We collect the rest of the luggage and head to the lounge to get Liam and Lila. My son looks up at me with those familiar dark eyes and reaches for a hug. My daughter giggles, clutching her favorite toy. They are my world now. My reason for everything.

 

Sofia helps load everything into the car. As we drive away from the airport, I glance back once. The city that once held me captive feels both familiar and distant.

 

I am home, but on my own terms.

 

 

ETHAN’S POV

 

 

The car pulls away from the airport, but my mind stays behind with the woman I just pretended not to see. Isabella looked… radiant. Stronger. Different in ways I cannot quite name.

 

I grip my phone tightly, fighting the urge to turn the car around. Three years of searching yielded nothing, and now she appears like a ghost at the exact moment I return. The coincidence feels cruel.

 

I remember the last night we spent together ... how I fucked her slowly and deeply in my bed, grinding into her while she clung to me, both of us pretending the end was not coming. How she whispered that she asked me an important question and I froze, unable to give her the words she deserved.

 

I let her go.

 

And now she is back.

 

I pour myself a drink in the back of the car and stare out the window. My stubborn pride still burns, but something deeper is stirring in it. Regret...longing. A hunger that three years of cold beds and empty nights have never satisfied.

 

I tell my driver to take me home.

 

But for the first time in three years, the penthouse does not feel like victory again.

 

It feels like the place where I lost everything.

 

 

ISABELLA’S POV

 

 

We arrive at the house Sofia helped arrange for us. It is a comfortable family home in a quiet neighborhood. At least she has help get us a place to settle. The twins explore their new rooms with wide-eyed wonder. Liam runs his fingers along the walls while Lila clutches her toy and smiles at me.

 

My father does not know I am back yet. I will visit him tomorrow. For now, I focus on settling my children.

 

That night, as I lie in bed listening to their soft breathing through the baby monitor, I allow myself one moment of weakness. I remember Ethan bypassing me at the airport, his face cold and indifferent.

 

Good, I think. Let him stay blind to the beautiful lives we created.

 

I close my eyes and rest my hand on my stomach, whispering to the memory of the man who once ruined me so beautifully.

 

We are doing just fine without you.