The Billionaire regret: Reclaiming his contract Bride

The Visitor

CHAPTER 9

I was reviewing floral arrangements on my laptop when someone knocked on my apartment door.

Loud. Insistent.

"Coming!" I called, saving my work.

Liam was at preschool. Maya was at a vendor meeting. I wasn't expecting anyone.

I opened the door.

And my entire world stopped.

Damien Cross stood in my doorway.

Older. Still handsome. Still those cold gray eyes.

Except they weren't cold right now. They were burning.

"Hello, Sophia."

I couldn't breathe. Couldn't move. Couldn't think.

"How did you..."

"Find you?" He stepped forward. I stepped back. He walked into my apartment like he owned it. "I'm a billionaire, Sophia. Finding people is easy when you have unlimited resources."

My heart was pounding so hard I thought I might pass out.

"You need to leave," I said.

"No." He looked around my small apartment. Taking in everything. The secondhand couch. The kids' drawings on the fridge. Liam's toys in the corner. "I need to see my son."

Oh god.

"He's not here."

"I know. He's at Little Sprouts Preschool. Gets out at 3 PM." Damien turned to face me. "I know everything, Sophia. Where you live. Where he goes to school. His favorite food, chocolate chip pancakes. His favorite color, blue. Everything."

I felt sick.

"You had me followed?"

"I had you researched. There's a difference." He crossed his arms. "You violated our custody agreement. You were supposed to stay in New York until he was born. We were supposed to share custody. Instead, you ran. You hid my son from me for four years."

"You threatened to take him from me..."

"I threatened to fight for custody if you disappeared. Which you did anyway!" His voice was rising. "Do you have any idea what these past five years have been like? Wondering if my child was okay? If they were healthy? If they even existed?"

"I sent updates through my lawyer..."

"Through a lawyer who refused to tell me where you were!" Damien ran his hand through his hair. "You sent photos with no location data. Medical records with the doctor's name blacked out. You gave me nothing, Sophia. Nothing."

"I was protecting him..."

"From what? His father?" Damien stepped closer. "I'm not a monster. I never would have hurt him. I just wanted to know my son."

Tears were burning my eyes. "You don't understand..."

"Then explain it to me. Explain why you kept my son from me for four years. Explain why he doesn't know I exist. Explain why the custody agreement we both signed means nothing to you."

"Because I was scared!" The words burst out of me. "I was scared you'd take him. Scared you'd use your money and your lawyers and your power to rip him away from me. Scared I'd lose the only thing that mattered."

Damien stared at me. "I would never take him from you."

"You don't know that..."

"Yes, I do. Because despite what you think of me, despite how badly I screwed up our marriage, I'm not cruel. I would never separate a child from their mother."

I wanted to believe him. God, I wanted to believe him.

But I couldn't.

"You need to leave," I said again.

"I'm not leaving until I see him."

"No..."

"Sophia." His voice was hard now. Final. "I have waited five years. I have been patient. I have respected your space. But that ends today. You will let me see my son, or I will go through the courts. And trust me, when they see that you violated our agreement, when they see that you've been hiding him from me... you will lose."

Fear shot through me. "You wouldn't..."

"Try me." He pulled out his phone. Showed me a document. "This is the custody agreement you signed. It clearly states you would remain in New York until the birth. That we would share custody. You violated every clause. I have grounds to sue for full custody."

My knees almost gave out. "Damien, please..."

"I don't want to do this through courts. I don't want to fight you." His voice softened slightly. "I just want to meet my son. That's all. Just let me meet him."

I pressed my hand to my stomach. The same protective gesture from five years ago, even though there was no baby there now.

"He doesn't know about you," I whispered.

"Then we tell him."

"He's four years old, Damien. You can't just walk in and say 'hi, I'm your father.'"

"Then what do you suggest?"

I didn't know. I didn't know anything anymore.

My phone rang. The preschool.

I answered with shaking hands. "Hello?"

"Ms. Martinez? This is Little Sprouts. Liam isn't feeling well. Can you come pick him up early?"

"I'll be right there."

I hung up.

Looked at Damien.

"He's sick. I need to go get him."

"I'll drive you."

"No..."

"Sophia." He stepped closer. "I'm meeting him today. Either at the preschool, or here when you bring him home, or at the hospital if he needs medical care. Your choice."

I hated him. In that moment, I truly hated him.

But he was right. He wasn't going away.

"Fine," I said. "But you follow my lead. You don't tell him who you are unless I say so. Understand?"

"Fine."

We drove to the preschool in Damien's rental car. Expensive. Black. Of course.

Neither of us spoke.

My mind was racing. What was I going to say to Liam? How was I going to explain this?

We pulled up to Little Sprouts.

"Wait here," I said.

"No."

"Damien..."

"I'm coming with you. I'll stay back. But I'm not waiting in the car."

I didn't have the energy to fight.

We walked inside. The teacher, Miss Sarah, was waiting with Liam.

He looked pale. Tired.

"Mommy!" He ran to me.

I scooped him up. "Hey, baby. Not feeling good?"

"My tummy hurts."

"Okay, let's get you home." I turned to leave.

And Liam saw Damien.

"Who's that?" he asked.

I froze.

Damien stepped forward slowly. His eyes were locked on Liam. On his son.

I watched Damien's face change. Soften. Fill with something I'd never seen before.

Wonder.

"This is..." I swallowed hard. "This is an old friend. His name is Damien."

Liam studied him. "Like my daddy?"

Oh god.

Damien's eyes snapped to mine. Then back to Liam.

"Your daddy's name is Damien?" he asked softly.

"Yeah. But I never met him." Liam rested his head on my shoulder. "He lives far away."

"Liam, let's get you home..." I started.

"I'm not far away anymore," Damien said quietly.

No. No, he wasn't doing this. Not here. Not now.

"Damien..." I warned.

But he wasn't looking at me. He was looking at Liam.

"Can you guess who I am?" he asked.

Liam lifted his head. Looked at Damien. Really looked at him.

Then his eyes went wide.

"Are you... are you my daddy?"

The question hung in the air.

I wanted to lie. Wanted to say no. Wanted to protect my son from the man who broke my heart.

But I couldn't.

Because the look on Liam's face...

Hope. Pure, innocent hope.

"Yes," Damien said, his voice cracking. "Yes, I'm your daddy."

Liam looked at me. "Really, Mommy?"

I couldn't speak. Could only nod.

"Really really?"

"Really really," I whispered.

Liam looked back at Damien. "Why didn't you visit?"

"Because I didn't know where you were. Your mommy... she moved away. And I couldn't find you." Damien's eyes were wet. "But I never stopped looking. I promise."

"Do you love me?"

The question broke me.

"Yes," Damien said immediately. "So much. I loved you before I even met you."

Liam was quiet for a moment.

Then he reached out his little hand toward Damien.

"My tummy hurts. Can you carry me?"

Damien looked at me. Asking permission.

I wanted to say no. Wanted to keep Liam away from him.

But I couldn't.

"Okay," I said quietly.

Damien took Liam from my arms. Held him carefully. Like he was made of glass.

Liam wrapped his arms around Damien's neck.

And something in my chest shattered.

Because they looked perfect together.

Father and son.

Gray eyes looking into gray eyes.

"We should go," I said, my voice thick. "He needs rest."

Damien nodded. Couldn't seem to stop looking at Liam.

We walked to the car. I sat in the back with Liam while Damien drove.

Liam fell asleep against me, exhausted.

"He looks like you," I said quietly.

"He has your smile," Damien replied, looking at us in the rearview mirror.

We drove in silence.

Back to my apartment. I carried Liam inside. Put him in his bed. He barely woke up.

When I came back out, Damien was standing in my living room. Looking at the photos on the wall.

Photos of Liam. Baby pictures. First birthday. Preschool. All the moments Damien missed.

"I missed everything," he said quietly. "His first steps. His first words. His first day of school."

"I know."

"You took that from me."

"You took everything from me first," I shot back.

He turned to face me. "I know. And I'm sorry. I will spend the rest of my life being sorry for what I did to you. But Sophia... he's my son too. You can't keep punishing me by keeping him away."

"I was protecting him..."

"From what?" Damien's voice rose. "I'm his father. I have a right to know him."

"You threatened to take him from me!"

"Because you were going to disappear!" He stepped closer. "You were getting on a plane. Running away. What was I supposed to do? Just let you take my child and never see them again?"

"I don't know! I don't know what you were supposed to do!" Tears were streaming down my face now. "All I knew was that I was pregnant and alone and terrified. And you were threatening me with lawyers and custody battles. So I ran. I did what I thought was best for my baby."

"Our baby," Damien said. "He's our baby, Sophia."

"No. He's mine. I carried him. I gave birth to him. I raised him. Me. Not you. Me."

"Because you didn't give me a choice!"

We were both yelling now. Both crying.

Five years of pain and anger and fear pouring out.

"You made your choice!" I screamed. "You chose Isabella! You chose not to believe me! You chose wrong every single time!"

"I know!" Damien's voice broke. "I know I did. And I have regretted it every day for five years. Every. Single. Day."

"Well, regret doesn't change anything!"

"Then what do I do, Sophia? Tell me what to do. Because I can't change the past. I can't fix what I broke. All I can do is try to be a father to our son. That's all I want. Just a chance to know him."

I sank onto the couch. Exhausted. Defeated.

"He's already attached to you," I said quietly. "After five minutes. He asked you to carry him."

"He's my son. Some part of him knows that."

"This is going to be so complicated."

"I know."

"He's going to have questions. So many questions."

"We'll answer them together."

I looked up at him. "We're not together, Damien. We're never going to be together."

Something flickered in his eyes. Pain. But he nodded. "I know."

"So how do we do this?"

"I don't know." He sat down on the chair across from me. "But we figure it out. For Liam."

For Liam.

The only thing that mattered.

"You're staying in Seattle?" I asked.

"For now. I can work remotely." He paused. "And I need time with him. Time to get to know him."

"Supervised visits..."

"I'm not a danger to him, Sophia."

"I don't know that."

"Yes, you do." His eyes met mine. "You know I would never hurt him. You might hate me. You might not trust me. But you know I'd die before I let anything happen to our son."

He was right.

I did know that.

"Okay," I said finally. "You can see him. But we do this slowly. Let him adjust. And we tell him the truth. Age-appropriate truth, but truth."

"Agreed."

"And Damien?"

"Yeah?"

"If you hurt him... if you make promises you don't keep... if you break his heart the way you broke mine..." I looked him straight in the eye. "I will disappear again. And this time, you'll never find us."

"Understood."

We sat in silence.

Two people who used to be married.

Two people who created a child together.

Two people who had no idea how to navigate this new reality.

From Liam's room, a small voice called out, "Mommy?"

I stood up. "I should check on him."

"Can I..." Damien hesitated. "Can I come with you?"

I wanted to say no.

But I couldn't.

"Okay."

We walked to Liam's room together.

He was sitting up in bed, looking confused.

"I had a weird dream," he said. "I dreamed that my daddy came to visit."

"It wasn't a dream, baby," I said softly.

Liam looked past me. Saw Damien.

His whole face lit up. "You're real!"

"I'm real," Damien said, his voice thick.

"Are you staying?"

"For a while. If that's okay with you."

"It's okay with me!" Liam bounced on the bed, then winced. "Ow. My tummy."

"Easy, baby." I sat on the bed. "You need to rest."

"Will you read me a story?" Liam asked. Then looked at Damien. "Will you read it, Daddy?"

Damien froze. The word, Daddy, hitting him like a physical blow.

"I..." He looked at me.

I nodded.

"I'd love to," Damien said.

He sat on the other side of the bed. I handed him the book. Where the Wild Things Are.

Damien read. His voice shaky at first, then steady.

Liam snuggled between us, listening.

And for just a moment, we looked like a family.

But we weren't.

We were two broken people trying to do right by the child we'd created.

And I had no idea if that was going to be enough.