All Chapters of Mr. CEO Wants Me Back: Chapter 11 - Chapter 18

Ashton's POVI stood by the far corner of the rooftop, one hand in my pocket, the other loosely gripping a glass of soda I hadn’t touched. My P.A., James, was saying something beside me, probably updating me on some follow-up meeting or relaying an investor's feedback. But I wasn't listening.My eyes were on her.Lily.She stood near the center of the room, wearing that wine-red dress like it was made for her. Her back straight, chin high, her presence loud without saying a word. She moved through the crowd like she belonged there...and she did. Every pair of eyes followed her. Whispers floated around. Some admiration. Some envy. All of them aware that Lily Evans was someone you didn’t overlook.She laughed at something someone said, and for a second, I forgot how to breathe.God.She hadn't laughed like that around me in years. Hell, maybe never. Not genuinely. Not freely. Not like she was now, with people who saw her as she deserved to be seen."Sir?" James's voice broke through the

Lily's POV. I was running on fumes.The kind of tired that seeps into your bones and makes your brain feel static. It had been back-to-back meetings since 8 a.m. My heels were killing me. My phone wouldn’t stop buzzing. And Dana had warned me this charity meet-and-greet would be quick. Just an hour, she said.It had already been two and a half.I stood near the back of the community center's event hall, clutching a folder of sponsorship documents for our Maison Evana x FutureBloom Foundation collab. All around me, smiles were being exchanged over glasses of juice and branded water bottles. Cameras flashed. Volunteers laughed. Local press hovered near the mayor like moths."Breathe," Dana said under her breath, stepping beside me. "You look like you’re about to collapse.""I feel like I already did," I mumbled.Dana offered a sympathetic smile and took the folder from me. "Go get some air. Or sit. Or fake a phone call and vanish for ten minutes. I’ll handle these last sign-offs."I di

Ashton’s POVNathan dragged me toward the sandpit with surprising strength for a four-year-old. My dinosaur tail swayed behind me like it had a mind of its own. I still had the full costume on, minus the oversized head. I probably looked ridiculous...a CEO in a sweaty green costume, waddling after a toddler. But honestly, I didn’t care."This is where we build volcanoes," Nathan announced, pointing to a messy, slightly lopsided mound of sand. "And we bury treasure. But don’t step on that side." He pointed to the left. "That’s lava. You’ll melt."I crouched beside him and nodded seriously. "Got it. No lava. Volcanoes only. Noted, sir."He grinned, his front tooth slightly crooked, and plopped down. The sand puffed around him.He picked up a red plastic shovel and handed me a blue bucket. "You make the mountain. I’ll make the treasure.""Deal," I said, kneeling into the sand. The costume was already sticky with sweat, but I powered through. If Nathan wanted volcanoes, he’d get a damn mo

Lily's POV. I paced.The living room was a mess...toys scattered, cushions lopsided, Nathan’s drawing book still open on the coffee table, that green dinosaur with a cape staring back at me like it knew what I was about to do.I couldn’t think straight.Nathan had gone to bed an hour ago. After his story, two glasses of water, a very serious negotiation about whether he needed socks to sleep in, and one more hug. He finally curled under his blanket, stuffed T-Rex in one arm, the other hand holding mine until he drifted off.And the entire time, I was pretending.Pretending like my world hadn’t just been flipped.Pretending like my son hadn’t come home and told me he met his father...my ex-boss...the man who fired me four years ago when I was pregnant with his child. A man who had shown up at my son’s school in a goddamn dinosaur suit and told him the truth before I could.I wanted to scream.Instead, I opened my laptop.There was only one person I could reach out to. Someone who’d st