All Chapters of Boardroom to Bedroom: Chapter 81 - Chapter 88

88 Chapters

In the Club, We're All Friends

Elena’s POVJulian’s message came in while I was folding baby clothes on the couch, one sock missing its pair like always. I stared at my phone when it buzzed, already guessing who it was before I picked it up.Julian: Random question. Would you be open to letting my niece and your baby have a play date?I snorted before I could stop myself.I typed back immediately.Me: A play date? Julian, they’re basically potatoes.The reply came fast, like he’d been waiting.Julian: Wow. That’s harsh. Very judgmental of you.I smiled despite myself, leaning back against the cushion.Me: Be serious. Is this just another excuse to see me?There was a pause this time. Long enough to make me lift a brow.Then—Julian: Okay, okay. You caught me.I felt a small, stupid flutter in my chest.Julian: I just need to see you. I miss you already.I blinked at the screen.Miss me?Me: It’s been four days.Julian: Feels like four years.I shook my head, laughing softly.Me: You’re being dramatic.Julian: I kno

Smoke, Mirrors, and Old Ghosts

The club was everything I’d forgotten I missed.Lights sliced through the darkness in slow, lazy colors. Music thumped through the floor, through my bones, loosening parts of me that had been stiff for months. The air smelled like perfume, alcohol, and something electric—freedom, maybe.Julian stood close beside me, one hand hovering at my waist like he wasn’t sure how much space he was allowed to take. It made me smile. I liked that he didn’t assume. I liked that he waited.“This was a good idea,” he said into my ear, raising his voice just enough to be heard over the music.I laughed, already a little breathless from dancing. “You doubted me?”“I did,” he admitted easily. “But I’m willing to publicly apologize.”We danced. Not carefully. Not awkwardly. Just… freely. I let my body remember how to move without thinking about bottles, feeding schedules, or the constant low-grade fear that had lived in my chest for nearly a year.For the first time in a long while, I wasn’t Elena-the-mo

The Return of Damian Cross

Elena’s POVBy the time we got home, Mila’s crying had turned raw.Not the normal hungry cry. Not the tired one. This was sharp, strained—like something inside her was screaming along with her. My heart felt like it was being crushed in a fist.“I’m here, baby,” I whispered, pacing the living room with her pressed to my chest. “Mama’s here. I’ve got you.”I tried everything. Feeding. Rocking. Singing softly even though my voice shook. I checked her diaper again, her temperature, her little fingers and toes like I might find the answer hiding there.Nothing worked.Her face was flushed, her tiny body tense, her cries coming out broken and breathless.Angie hovered close, eyes glossy with panic she was trying hard to hide. Julian stood a few steps away, silent now, the easy smile gone, replaced with something tight and serious.“This isn’t normal,” Angie said finally, voice low. “Elena… this isn’t normal.”I swallowed hard. I already knew.Julian stepped forward. “We’re taking her to th

Uninvited Claims

A week can change everything.One week ago, I thought I was going to lose my child. Today, Mila is asleep in her crib, cheeks full, breathing steady, like she never scared the life out of me in the first place. The doctors discharged her yesterday, smiling like it had all been routine.It wasn’t.Nothing about my life is routine anymore.I stood by the window, rocking her gently, watching sunlight spill across the living room. My house still smelled new. Fresh paint. Baby lotion. A future I built with my own hands because I had no other choice.My phone buzzed.I already knew who it was before I picked it up.Damian.I stared at the screen for a long moment before opening the message.What are we going to do about all this?You can’t keep my daughter away from me, Elena. It’s my right.My chest tightened. Not because of fear. Because of audacity.Your right.I reread the message once. Twice. Then I locked my phone and set it face down on the table.I didn’t reply.I wasn’t ready to gi

Oh Angie

I shot her a look. “You’re very annoying, you know that?”Angie grinned, completely unbothered. “And you’re very in denial.”“I am not—”“You are,” she cut in, pointing her spoon at me like she was making a legal argument. “Because if you didn’t care, you wouldn’t be pacing every time your phone buzzes.”“I am not pacing.”“You were literally pacing two minutes ago.”I opened my mouth to argue, then closed it.Because… okay, maybe I had been pacing.But that didn’t mean anything.Right?I picked up my phone this time, almost angrily, like I was proving a point to both of us.Another message from Damian.We need to talk, Elena.You don’t get to shut me out of this.She’s my daughter.My jaw tightened.There it was again.My daughter.Not our. Not even Mila.Just… possession.I typed a reply.You lost the right to make demands the moment you chose someone else over me.I stared at the message.Then deleted it.No.I wasn’t doing this.I dropped the phone back on the table.Angie watched

What We Don’t Say Still Exists

Elena’s POVPeace is a very fragile thing.I used to think it was something you could build and protect like a house—solid, intentional, safe.Now I know better.Peace is temporary.It shifts. It cracks. It disappears the moment something—or someone—decides to test it.And Damian Cross?He was the definition of a test.It had been three days since he showed up at my door and saw Mila for the first time.Three days.Three days of silence.No calls.No texts.No “good morning” messages pretending like we were something we weren’t.And somehow… that silence was worse.Because now I was waiting.I hated that.I hated that a part of me expected him to show up again.I hated that a part of me wondered if he would.“Stop thinking about him,” I muttered to myself as I adjusted Mila in my arms.She blinked up at me, completely unaware of the emotional chaos her existence had caused.Lucky her.The doorbell rang.I froze.Once.Then again.Slow. Steady.Not aggressive.Not impatient.Just… ther

Can’t Pretend Anymore

Elena’s POVThere’s a difference between avoiding something… and realizing you can’t anymore.I had spent months convincing myself that distance solved everything. That if I stayed far enough, quiet enough, strong enough—I could rewrite my life without Damian in it.I believed it.Or at least, I tried to.But now?Now he had held our daughter.Now he had looked at her like she mattered.Now he had said he was leaving his wife.And worst of all…Now I couldn’t pretend I didn’t feel anything.Mila stirred in my arms, her tiny fingers curling into the fabric of my shirt like she needed to anchor herself to me.I pressed my lips to her head.“You see what you’ve done?” I whispered softly. “You’ve complicated my life.”She blinked up at me, innocent as ever.Of course, she had no idea.None.The house felt too quiet again.Julian was gone.Damian was gone.And I was left alone with thoughts I didn’t want.I sighed and gently placed Mila in her crib before walking out to the balcony. The ev

Beginning of a new chapter

Some endings don’t feel like endings.They feel like standing at the edge of something unknown… and choosing to step forward anyway.It had been three days since Damian stood in my living room and said the words I never thought I would hear from him.I love you.Three days since I admitted—reluctantly, painfully—that I still felt something too.And in those three days, everything had changed.Not loudly.Not dramatically.But quietly… steadily… like something fragile learning how to breathe again.Mila gurgled softly in my arms as I walked slowly across the living room. Morning light poured in through the windows, warm and calm, wrapping around us like a promise.“You’re too peaceful,” I murmured, brushing my nose lightly against hers. “You don’t know the chaos you were born into.”She blinked up at me, completely unbothered.Of course she was.She didn’t carry history.She didn’t carry pain.She didn’t carry fear.She was just… here.And maybe that was the point.A knock came at the

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