Chapter 3
1589 Words
Chapter 3
Reina
My ears were ringing.
My brain couldn’t catch up to my eyes, and my tongue felt like cotton. Eden—my baby—was standing on the porch, one hand clutching her schoolbag, the other wrapped tight around the man beside her like he’d grown from her rib.
Her smile? Blinding.
Her voice? Innocent, sure.
But her words?
"Mommy, I brought Daddy home."
Everything inside me stopped moving moments since those words.
My lungs. My legs. My thoughts.
I couldn’t blink, couldn’t breathe. I just stared at the man.
Six-foot-something. Broad shoulders. Crisp navy button-up. Clean shaven jaw. And those eyes—God, those damned eyes. They used to sing lullabies to my body once upon a time.
He looked like Eugene.
Exactly like him.
But there was something off. Something too smooth. Too collected. Too…performative.
He stood there, cool as ever, his expression unreadable, like we were nothing but two strangers on a train platform.
My phone was still to my ear when Tessa’s voice crackled through the speaker again.
“Reina? Talk to me. Who’s there? Is that Eden?”
I couldn't speak. My mouth was open, but my voice had locked itself somewhere behind the thunderclouds in my chest.
He tilted his head—him, the stranger. “You must be Reina Ainsley.”
My gaze snapped to him. “What? Do I… know you?”
“Eden’s mom.” He corrected, seemingly slightly confused. “I don’t think so. I just met your daughter today.”
The school or Eden herself might've slipped my name to him. If he were Eugene, he wouldn't have referred to me as Ainsley. Perhaps feigning confusion? I knew Eugene too well to mistake him for someone else.
Tessa’s voice sharpened. “Reina, say something!”
I lowered the phone. “Yeah, Tessa... I—she’s here. Eden’s here.”
“What? Oh thank God. Where—who was it? Who took her?”
I looked back at the man. He smiled. Polite. Detached. The kind of smile people wore at board meetings and fake funerals.
“She says...her dad.”
Tessa’s gasp was audible, but I didn’t hang up. I just let the phone fall against my side and took two steps forward. Eden ran to me and wrapped her arms around my waist, laughing like she hadn’t had a fever or cried for me hours ago.
“I told Daddy you’d be surprised! He said you would.”
The man chuckled lightly, one hand in his pocket like he had all the time in the world.
“I found her crying in the school office,” he said smoothly, “She looked scared. Said she needed her dad. I... I'm sorry if I crossed a line. She wouldn’t stop crying until I told them I was.”
I stared. “But you—”
“I’m sorry,” he cut in. “Should I not have brought her home? I only wanted to help. She kept calling me Daddy, and the school insisted I take her. I didn’t mean to intrude.”
Liar.
Liar.
Liar.
My pulse was racing, my spine a steel rod, but I forced a brittle smile and crouched beside Eden.
“Baby...can you go inside and grab your teddy for Mommy?”
Eden blinked. “Now?”
“Yes. Please.”
She frowned, but nodded, skipping past us into the house. I rose, leveled my gaze at him.
“Who the hell do you think you are?”
He raised his hands slightly. “Look, I get it. You're upset.”
“Upset?” My laugh came out jagged. “You kidnapped my daughter.”
“I didn’t kidnap anyone,” he said, still too calm. “The school practically handed her to me. She recognized me. She ran into my arms.”
That part struck a bone I didn’t know was still bruised.
“I don’t know what kind of twisted game you’re playing,” I whispered, stepping closer. “But if this is some kind of elaborate mind f**k, you’re not going to win.”
His brow arched. “Game? I just saw a child in distress and tried to help.”
The door behind us creaked open.
Eden padded out, holding her teddy to her chest. “Mommy, are you mad at Daddy?”
I knelt and stroked her hair, heart aching. “No, baby. Mommy just...had a long day.”
She turned to him. “Daddy, can you come in now?”
I stood again, blocking the door slightly with my shoulder. “She doesn’t know you.”
“She sure thinks she does.”
I clenched my fists. “What’s your name?”
He paused. “Eli.”
My stomach turned. Not Eugene. Eli. A coincidence? Perhaps an elaborate lie?
I studied him again. The jawline was the same. The walk. Even the smile, though...there was a hint of mischief missing.
Or had time changed him? Seven years could sandpaper anything—faces, memories, even voices.
But this? This felt deliberate. And oddly familiar.
“Look,” he said, “If you’re not comfortable, I understand. I just wanted to get her home safe.”
He turned, like he was going to leave.
“Wait,” I said before I could think. “Come in. Just for a few minutes.”
His brows lifted slightly, but he nodded. “Thanks.”
I stepped aside.
We walked in, the three of us. The scene was surreal. Eden humming, clutching his hand like they had history. Him, glancing around my apartment like it was a catalog page. And me, my skin buzzing with the kind of awareness that only shows up when history tries to repeat itself.
I guided him to the couch. “You want water?”
“No, thank you.”
Eden climbed onto the couch beside him, cuddling up like it was the most natural thing. My stomach coiled.
“So...Eli,” I said, crossing my arms. “Where are you from?”
“D.C.”
“How long have you been in town?”
“Couple days. Business trip.”
“What kind of business?”
He smiled. “Tech consultant.”
Liar.
Eugene worked in finance. High-level finance. Hedge funds. Stock manipulation. And tech consulting was a safe, vague answer.
Too safe.
“How old are you?” I tried again.
He laughed. “Old enough to know kidnapping charges can’t stick if the school handed her over voluntarily.”
Smartass.
“Do you have kids?”
His smile flickered, and for the first time, I saw something. A flinch. Barely a second, but it was there.
“No.”
I locked eyes with him. “You sure about that?”
He met my gaze without flinching this time. “Pretty sure.”
I turned to Eden. “Baby, can you go watch your cartoons in the room for a bit?”
She pouted. “But—”
“Please, sweetheart.”
She slid off the couch and disappeared into the hallway. Silence settled between us.
“You look just like him,” I said.
He tilted his head. “I'm afraid. Who?”
“Don’t play stupid.”
His tone softened. “I’m not trying to upset you. I don’t know who you think I am, but I’m not him.”
He rose to his feet, slowly, carefully. “You’ve had a scare today. I get it. I’ll leave now. You don’t owe me anything.”
I stepped in front of him. “You think you can just waltz in, shake everything up, then leave?”
His jaw tensed. “You invited me in, remember?”
“Because I wanted answers!”
He looked at me long. Hard. Something flickered in his gaze. Pain? Regret? Or maybe I was projecting.
Then he reached into his wallet, pulled out a card, and handed it to me.
“If Eden needs me around, call me. But only if you really want it.”
I didn’t take the card.
He placed it on the coffee table and moved toward the door. Not without pausing on a drawing of Eden’s. “She’s got quite the imagination, bright… and talented, just like I imagined. And she’s got your nose too.”
His words made my heart trip.
How the hell does he know that?
“Imagined?” I snapped.
He covered. “Like… I imagined kids would be like that. You know, talented at drawing, who's got their mother's nose. Obviously.”
The sound of soft footsteps behind me made us both pause.
“Are you leaving, Daddy?”
Eden stood there, thumb in her mouth, teddy bear limp at her side.
“Mommy?”
I’d turned, blinking back whatever emotion was trying to spill out.
“Yes, baby?”
“Can he stay?”
My throat closed.
“Can Daddy stay?”
I felt the walls tilt.
His eyes met mine—and for the first time, they didn’t look like a stranger’s. His smile coiled, his expression unreadable.
Eden didn’t even hesitate. “Mommy, please let Daddy stay. Daddy, don’t you wanna stay? Please tell Mom you wanna stay.” Her pretty eyes were watering.
She looked so cute when she pleaded.
Then he lowered himself gently to her height and soothed, “Only if your mommy wants me to, Starshine.”
Starshine?
Holy crap—it’s Eugene.
Only he ever called me that.
He’s pretending. Eugene is pretending.
This is freaking Eugene f*****g Flint!
- Writer
