Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Price Of Us: Kabanata 61 - Kabanata 70

JACE POV.The office felt different that morning—brisker, sharper. Maybe it was the way the sky was still heavy with clouds, or maybe it was the silence that met me as I walked into the building, unlike the usual rustle of early morning staff chatter. Everyone was probably already buried in schedules and meetings, which I liked. It meant things were moving.I’d barely settled behind my desk when there was a soft knock on the door.“Come in,” I called, not looking up just yet.The door eased open, and in walked Sophie. Sleek blazer, sharp eyes, and a cup of something steaming in her hand.“Good morning, Mr. Lysander,” she said with that cool, collected smile that was starting to become her signature. She placed the cup gently on the edge of my desk. “Coffee.”I blinked, surprised. “I didn’t ask for coffee.”“I know,” she replied, standing straight with her hands neatly folded in front of her. “But my grandmother used to say—‘A good day starts with coffee, not emails.’ Thought you cou

JACE POV.Work was supposed to help me clear my head.But as I sat in my office, staring blankly at the open file in front of me, all I could think about was last night. The kitchen light casting a faint glow on Anna’s tired face. The dark circles under her eyes. The way her voice cracked a little when she said she’d been with Nathan all day.I ran a hand down my face and leaned back in the chair.It wasn’t that I was jealous of my own son—God, no. I loved that boy more than I’d ever thought possible. But somewhere in the middle of diaper changes and teething cries, I’d lost my wife. The vibrant, teasing Anna I’d fallen in love with had slowly turned into a worn-out version of herself, barely eating, barely sleeping, her smile more tired than warm.And I missed her.I missed her voice in the morning telling me not to forget my keys. I missed her humming in the kitchen while she cooked. I missed her—and not just as Nathan’s mother.There was a knock at the door, soft but sharp.“Come

ANNA POV.The next day, Jace stayed home from work. I couldn’t remember the last time we had spent a whole day together, just the three of us—me, Jace, and Nathan. The idea of him working from home was the kind of thing I had longed for, the kind of simple thing that would make everything feel normal again. We spent the morning with Nathan, taking turns holding him, playing with him, making him laugh as he grabbed at our fingers, his little giggles filling the air. For a brief moment, it felt like we were a family again—just a family, without all the stress and the unspoken tension that had been weighing us down. “You need to take care of yourself more,” Jace said, as we watched Nathan play on the carpet, his hands trying to grasp a toy. “You’re looking like a shadow of yourself, Anna.”His words struck me in a way I wasn’t expecting. I smiled, trying to hide how much they stung, but there was a small part of me that appreciated the honesty, even if it felt a little too raw.“I’ll

Jace POV.The weeks dragged on, each day a little heavier than the last. My relationship with Anna was becoming a distant memory—if it hadn’t already slipped into a place where I couldn’t reach it anymore. I had been coming home later and later, the work piling up, but it was more than that. It was the quiet, the tension that always hung in the air when I walked through the door. Anna and I barely spoke anymore, let alone communicate the way we used to.I was used to the loneliness now. I knew Anna was hurt, but what could I do? I didn’t want things to be like this. But no matter how many times I tried to fix it, the distance just grew. And every time I thought about Sophie, I knew I was crossing lines. It was just work. I kept telling myself that. But there were moments, fleeting but impossible to ignore, where the lines blurred and I couldn’t tell if it was just business... or something else.Today wasn’t any different. I had been in meetings all afternoon, buried in numbers, an

JACE POV.The numbers on the screen blurred.I stared at the presentation slides, trying to focus, trying to pretend everything was fine. But my mind was still in the living room, replaying Anna’s tear-filled eyes, her voice cracking when she asked about the perfume on my shirt. The way her anger spilled out, raw and trembling.Nathan’s cry still echoed in my ears.I ran a hand down my face and leaned back in my chair. My office was quiet, the city humming just beyond the glass windows, but inside me was a chaos I couldn’t mute.I hadn’t meant to fight with her. God, I didn’t want any of this.Sophie’s soft knock at the door made me flinch.“Meeting at ten,” she said, stepping in without waiting. She set a coffee on my desk. Her usual move. “Thought you could use a fresh one.”“Thanks,” I muttered, not meeting her eyes.She lingered. “Rough morning?”I gave her a flat look. “It’s been a rough few weeks.”Sophie tilted her head, like she was searching for a crack to slip into. “If you