All Chapters of FAMOUS DOCTOR RETURNS WITH THE EX’S BABY: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Chapter 11 – Ryan’s POV The late afternoon light was fading by the time I pulled into the school parking lot, the orange glow of the setting sun casting long shadows over the cracked pavement. My stomach tightened as I saw how empty it was. Parents were gone, teachers were heading to their cars, and the usual chatter of children had quieted to a faint hum. I hated being late especially for Blair. She was easy to spot on the bench near the far end of the playground, her small frame hunched over, shoes scuffing the gravel beneath her feet. Her backpack rested beside her, unopened. Normally, she’d be drawing in one of her sketchpads, waiting for me with that soft, patient smile. Today, she just looked… still. “Hey, sweetheart,” I said gently, approaching. Her head lifted, and she forced a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Hi, Daddy.” I crouched down, brushing a loose strand of hair from her face. “I’m sorry I’m late. Got caught up at work.” “It’s okay,” she murmured, gaze dro

Amanda’s POVIf the hospital had felt like a war zone yesterday, today it was a full-blown battlefield.The halls were louder, hotter, more crowded. The waiting area overflowed with patients and their families, bodies packed shoulder-to-shoulder, voices climbing over each other in frustration. I’d started my shift less than two hours ago, and already my scrubs clung to me from the constant movement.The front desk nurse flagged me down as I passed. “Dr. James, we’re getting a surge from two separate accidents. Four incoming ambulances, maybe five.”I took the clipboard from her, scanning the notes as we walked. “Assign two to Trauma One and Two. Prep the surgical suite for emergency. And get radiology ready.”She nodded, already speaking into her headset as she peeled away from me. I kept moving. My pulse felt high, not just from the patients, but from the tight knot of tension left over from last night.Ryan.The image of him standing in my hallway with Levi at his side was burned i

Amanda’s POVThe bright studio lights were blinding, so hot they made the thin layer of makeup on my face feel heavy and suffocating. I’d been in this chair for forty minutes, fielding questions that all sounded different but carried the same ugly undertone.Doctor, what do you say to the allegations…?How do you explain your connection to the Steward family…?Has your performance at the hospital been compromised…?Every one of them dug into the same wound. And every time I tried to answer, I could hear my voice tightening, my carefully constructed explanations sounding more like defenses.This was exactly what I had tried to avoid from the beginning—my name in headlines for all the wrong reasons, my career reduced to rumor fodder. Every word I spoke felt like it was feeding them, giving them another angle to twist.When the interview finally wrapped, the host thanked me in that polished, media-friendly way that meant nothing. Cameras stopped rolling, but I could still feel the lens o

Ryan’s POVThe documents on my desk hadn’t moved in an hour. I’d been staring at the same paragraph so long that the words blurred into grey lines, my pen hovering uselessly over the margin.It wasn’t work that was keeping me frozen — it was Amanda.Her voice from earlier replayed in my head, sharp and cold as broken glass.“I know the Stewards well. You’ll try to take my son away from me… so you deserved that.”She’d said it like a fact. Like she’d already decided the verdict and the sentence before I’d even opened my mouth.I’d walked into this whole thing wanting to play by her rules. Not because I had to, but because I thought it was the right thing for Levi. I didn’t want him caught in the middle of a tug-of-war. If that meant swallowing my pride and letting Amanda control the terms, I could do it.Or at least, I thought I could.The restraining order proved I was wrong.It wasn’t just a legal document it was a declaration that she saw me as a threat, as someone who didn’t deser

Ryan’s POVThe letter had been sent.I leaned back in my chair, staring out the wide windows of my office as the city lights began to pierce through dusk. The skyline glittered like fireflies caught in glass, but I felt nothing of its beauty tonight. My thoughts were elsewhere circling, tightening, like a hawk zeroing in on prey.Amanda.Even her name left a bitter taste on my tongue.I hadn’t wanted it to come to this. For weeks, I’d tried to play by her rules, telling myself it was for Levi’s sake, that shielding him from conflict was worth the cost of swallowing my pride. But she’d taken that goodwill and twisted it into a weapon — serving me a restraining order like I was some criminal lurking in the shadows of my own son’s life.The humiliation of it still burned.I could live with Amanda despising me. Hell, I could live with her fighting me tooth and nail in every conversation we had. But what I couldn’t accept what I refused to accept was her branding me unfit to be a father.