The CEO's One-Night Mistake

Chapter 3: Gray Eyes Don't Lie

Rio is asleep on the couch when I get home, a dinosaur coloring book open on his chest. His breathing is steady tonight. No wheezing. Good.

I press a kiss to his forehead and inhale. He smells like crayons and the apple juice Maria gave him. He smells like my whole world.

"Mama?" His eyes flutter open. Gray. Storm-cloud gray. Exactly like his father's.

My heart stutters every time. Every. Single. Time.

"Hey baby. Did you have dinner?"

Maria nods from the kitchen. "He ate all his nuggets. And took his medicine like a big boy."

"Good boy." I lift him, careful of the wires from his heart monitor. He's four but small for his age. Too many hospital stays. Too many nights I've held him while he struggled to breathe.

"Did you see the bad man today, Mama?" Rio mumbles against my neck.

Bad man. That's what he calls the monsters in his dreams. If only he knew the bad man signs his medical cheques now.

"No baby. Just my boss. He's... strict."

"Like Principal Grumpy?"

I laugh, even though my throat hurts. "Yeah. Like Principal Grumpy, but with more money and less hair."

Rio giggles and falls back asleep. I hold him for an hour, just breathing him in, before I put him in his bed.

---

The next morning, Kieran is already in his office when I arrive at 8:45. I place his coffee on the desk.

"You're early," he says without looking up.

"You said 8:50 means 8:45."

His lips twitch. Not a smile. Kieran Drake doesn't smile. But it's close. "You learn fast, Ms. Anindita."

"Had to."

"Why did you leave Mahendra Group five years ago?"

The question comes out of nowhere. My hand freezes on the door handle.

"I... got a better offer."

"Liar." He finally looks up. Those gray eyes are sharp. Cutting. "You were the best barista we had. CEO's complained when you left. Then you vanished. No LinkedIn. No forwarding address. Then you reappear yesterday, single mother, desperate for this job. Why?"

Because I was pregnant with your child and terrified. Because I thought you'd force me to get rid of him. Because I was 22 and stupid and scared.

"I needed a change," I say instead.

He stares at me for ten seconds. I count. Then he goes back to his laptop. "The Henderson file. Now."

Dismissed. Again.

---

By lunch, my phone is blowing up. Maria.

"MAMA RIO CAN'T BREATHE MAMA"

The world goes white. I grab my bag and run. I don't ask Kieran. I don't clock out. I just run.

The hospital smells like antiseptic and fear. Rio is in a bed, oxygen mask on his face, little chest fighting for air. A nurse is adjusting his IV.

"Ms. Anindita? He's stable now. It was a bad asthma attack triggered by the heart condition. We have him on nebulizers."

I sink into the chair next to him and take his tiny hand. "Hey superhero. Mama's here."

His eyes open, scared. "Mama... don't leave."

"Never, baby. Never."

I don't know how long I sit there. Hours. The sun sets. My phone died. I didn't call the office. I didn't care.

"Mama?"

It's Rio. He's sitting up. Mask off. Breathing normal. Smiling.

"Hi baby." My voice breaks.

"There's a man."

I frown. "What man?"

He points to the door.

I turn.

Kieran Drake is standing in the doorway of my son's hospital room.

He's in his suit from this morning, but his tie is gone. Sleeves rolled up. He looks... human. Worried.

My blood turns to ice.

His eyes aren't on me. They're on Rio.

And Rio... Rio is staring right back at him. With those same gray eyes.

The exact same gray eyes.

Kieran's face goes blank. Then confused. Then something dangerous and possessive flashes across his features. He takes one step into the room. Then another.

"Ms. Anindita," his voice is quiet. Too quiet. "Who is his father?"

The world stops. The machines beep. Rio looks between us, confused.

Lie. Lie right now. Say anyone. Say a dead soldier. Say a sperm donor.

But I can't. Because Kieran is looking at Rio like he's looking in a mirror from 30 years ago. The same jaw. The same frown. The same storm-gray eyes that don't lie.

"Get out," I whisper.

"Answer the question."

"Kieran, please."

He crosses the room in three steps. He's right in front of me now. I can smell him. That expensive cologne and power. He crouches down so he's eye-level with my son.

"Hi," he says to Rio. His voice is... gentle. I've never heard him gentle. "What's your name?"

Rio, my brave, sick, perfect boy, doesn't hesitate. "Rio. Rio Anindita. I'm four. Are you Mama's bad boss?"

Kieran's head snaps up to me. "Bad boss?"

"He's not..."

"He yells," Rio says helpfully. "Mama cries after work sometimes."

I want to die. Right here on the hospital linoleum.

Kieran looks back at Rio. Really looks. His eyes catalog every feature. The nose. The chin. The hair. The eyes. Always the eyes.

"Rio," he says slowly, testing the name. "That's a... strong name."

"Mama said my daddy was a strong man. But he went to heaven before I was born."

The lie. My lie. The one I told everyone for five years.

Kieran stands up slowly. He's too close. He towers over me. I have to tilt my head back to see his face.

And his face is murderous.

"Outside," he says. It's not a request.

"I'm not leaving my son."

"Mrs. Santoso will stay with him. She's in the hall. Now."

He's not asking. He's commanding. And the terrifying part? A part of me wants to obey. The part that remembers his hands and his mouth and the way he said my name five years ago.

I kiss Rio's forehead. "Mama will be right outside. Two minutes, okay? Be brave for me."

"'Kay Mama."

I follow Kieran into the hall. He closes the door behind us. We're alone in the quiet hospital corridor. The fluorescent lights make his gray eyes look silver. Deadly.

"Is he mine?"

No preamble. No softening. Just the blade.

I open my mouth. Close it. The lie is there. On my tongue. But I look at his face and I know. He knows. He saw Rio. There's no hiding it.

"Kieran..."

"Is. He. Mine."

Yes. Yes he is yours. He has your eyes and your temper and your stubborn chin. He has your blood and your name should be his. Yes.

"Yes," I whisper.

The word hangs in the air between us. Final. Damning.

Kieran doesn't move. Doesn't blink. For a second I think he didn't hear me. Then his whole body goes rigid. His hands curl into fists at his sides.

"Five years," he says. His voice is empty. Scraped clean of all emotion. "You had my son for five years and you told me he was dead."

"I was scared!"

"Of me?"

"YES! You were you! Kieran Drake! You don't do kids or wives or families! You do contracts and takeovers and one-night stands!"

"So you stole him from me." It's not a question.

"I protected him!"

"From his father?" He laughs, and it's the ugliest sound I've ever heard. "You know what I do to people who steal from me, Ara?"

I flinch. He never uses my name. Not unless he's furious.

"I ruin them. I take everything they have. I make sure they never work in this city again."

"Kieran, please, he's sick..."

"And you kept him from the best doctors. From the best hospitals. From me." He steps closer. I step back until my spine hits the wall. "Do you have any idea what I could have given him? What I WOULD have given him?"

"Money isn't—"

"Don't you dare say money isn't everything when you're working for me to pay his bills! You chose to let him suffer rather than tell me!"

He's shouting now. A nurse pokes her head out. Sees his face. Disappears.

"I'm calling my lawyers," he says. He's pulling out his phone. "They'll be here in 20 minutes. With custody papers."

The floor drops out from under me. "No. Kieran, no, you can't—"

"I can. And I will. He's my son, Ara. Mine. And you kept him from me for five years. You'll never keep him from me again."

He turns and walks away, already dialing. Already taking my world away from me.

And I slide down the wall, because my legs won't hold me. Because the bad man isn't in Rio's dreams anymore.

He's real. And he's Rio's father. And he's going to take him from me.

End of Chapter 3