He pulled me and our boy into his arms uke
For a second, I thought maybe–just
That the ice around his heart had
t maybe finally netei
changed.
But then he started murmuring a name.
Not mine.
Hers.
And her son’s.
It was the day she came back to the States.
His precious first love.
- me. And my son, who’s hard of hearing, clung to the man’s neck and beamed at me.
“Mom,” he asked, “did Uncle finally like me because I got a perfect score on my test?”
C
I knelt down, hugged him tight, and blinked back tears.
“No, sweetheart,” I whispered.
“Uncle’s just happy because the person he loves came home today.”
“And we’re leaving him.
It’s time for us to start our own
life.”
-0
The next morning, I handed in my resignation letter.]
My manager looked stunned.]
“You’re quitting?”
“Mr. Declan just promoted you to department lead. Why now?“]
Hearing his name made my smile freeze.[]
Declan.
My boss.]
My child’s father.
Nine years ago, I was his personal assistant.[]
One drunken night turned into an unplanned pregnancy]
We’ve been secretly married for eight years.[]
Chapter 1
Fight years of him refusing to let our son call him “Dad.“]
I thought about the look in my son’s eyes last night-
all that hope
And the name Declan couldn’t stop whispering.[]
I took a deep breath and lied through my smile.[]
“His dad got everything settled overseas.[]
He wants us to move there, he a real family again.“[]
The manager nodded like it all made sense.
“Ohh. I get it now.
n.“[.
We always thought you were a single mom.”
A single mom.
I couldn’t help but laugh.||
Bitterly.
I’m not a single mom.]
But I might as well be.]
I have a husband.
My son has a father.
But he’s never even spared us a glance.]
My eyes burned.]
I mumbled a quick thank–you and hurried out of the
Ice
Out in the hallway, Declan was showing a woman around the company.[]
Elodie.
She walked ahead of him, smiling sweetly.
He followed her like a lovesick puppy, eyes never leaving her.
A coworker nudged me, totally clueless.
“Hey Serena, is that the Mr. Declan?
Looks like even ice sculptures can fall in love, huh?“]
I forced a smile.]
Sure.
Even an ice sculpture will melt in a few decades.[]
But Declan?
I could wait a lifetime and he’d still never look my way.
I didn’t mean to-
but as we passed each other, I called out,[]
“De-”
His eyes snapped to me, cold as stone.
- e.
Chapter 1
“Serena
Is there something you need?“]]
His voice was clipped. Distant.
Like a warning.
A reminder to stay in my place.[]
st.)
I lowered my gaze and blinked fast.
“Sorry, Mr. Declan.“]
He gave a short nod and kept walking.
Like I was a stranger in the hallway.
I laughed to myself.
Bit my tongue before I could tell him I was leaving for good.
Not that he’d care anyway.[]
Back at my desk, I saw my son’s message on his smartwatch.]]
He’d sent a voice memo.
“Mom, I was thinking…]
What if we gave Uncle three more chances?”
“If he still doesn’t like us…]
Then we’ll leave forever.“]
He’d been quiet ever since I told him we were leaving Declan.[]
He didn’t understand why his dad didn’t love him.[]
Why the man who barely looked his way would give him such an expensive gift.
He held up the toy Declan gave him.[]
“Mom… if he didn’t like me…]
why’d he give ine this?“||
His little face was desperate.]
Desperate to believe he was loved.
1 opened my mouth, but nothing came out.]
He was just a kid.[]
Too young to understand adult messes.
Too young to realize his dad was whispering someone else’s name.[]
Too innocent to know he’d mistaken that name for his own.
Mistaken that gift as love meant for him
I kissed his forehead and forced a smile.[]
“Uncle gave you that because you’ve been doing so great in school.”
“But sweetheart…
he doesn’t want us living in his house.”
Chapter 1
“So Mommy’s going to take you somewhere new, okay?“]
He pulled back and clutched that toy tight to his chest.]
Didn’t say another word the whole night.]
And now…]
he’s asking to try again.
I wiped away my tears and sent him a message.]
“Okay.”
Declan,
we’ll give you three more chances.
After that.
you’ll never see us again.
