Chapter Eight

HARPER:

[Four years later]

I had built a life, a small one. It had no Alexander or the dramas that came with the Banks Empire. I was free from a golden cage that was disguised as a marriage because no matter how gilded a cage was, it was still a cage.

Now it was just me and my son.

And a hotel room on the fifteenth floor with a view of the city skyline. Well, the room was nice, nicer than anything I could afford on my own, but I wasn’t paying for it. The culinary conference had covered my stay.

Three days of cooking demonstrations, networking events and a chance to promote my small catering business.

Ethan had caught a fever on the first night.

“Mommy, I don’t want it!” Ethan whined.

I sighed, holding the cup of medicine while my four year old flared at me from the bed like I had personally betrayed him. Which, to be fair, in his mind… I had.

“It’s just medicine. Drink it and you’ll feel better.”

“No!”

He crossed his arms dramatically. His dark hair, Alexander’s hair, stuck up from the pillow. His brown eyes, Alexander eyes, were glassy with fever.

Drama king. I laughed. He absolutely got that from me.

“Ethan. Drink. The. Medicine.”

“No.”

I took in a breath. In. out.

“I’ll give you a toy.”

“No!”

“I’ll…”

“I want Daddy!”

My breath caught. Daddy. The name had been hunting me for two years. Two years of questions. Two years of lies. Two years of watching my son look at other children with their fathers and wonder why he never came.

“I want Daddy,” Ethan repeated, his lower lip trembling. “Call him.”

My chest tightened like it was pricked by needles.

Because how do you tell a child that his father never wanted him? That the man he was asking for had never once cared? Never once checked? Never once…

“I’ll call him,” I said softly.

Lie. Lie. Lie.

But what else could I do? Tell him the truth? Break his tiny heart before life had the chance to? Not yet.

“Really?” His eyes lit up and that hope? It killed me.

“Yes. But you have to take your medicine first.”

He shook his head stubbornly. “Call him first.”

I sighed. “Ethan…”

“No! Call Daddy!”

Tears started dropping from his eyes and at this point I think it was his strategy to win every argument and every time he won.

“Okay,” I whispered. “I’ll call him.”

*****

The hotel hallway was long and quiet lined up with golden scones, casting warm light on the burgundy carpet.

I leaned against the wall. The wallpaper was textured under my palm. Silk. Probably. Everything in this hotel was probably silk.

I pulled out my phone.

Not to call Alexander. Never. That chapter of my life was burned. Gone.

Instead I called a different number.

It rang once. Twice. Then…

“Hey, Harper?”

Relief washed over me at once.

“Are you busy?”

A small laugh came out of him. “Not for you.”

I smiled faintly. Daniel, he was my assistant at the catering company. My friend. My emergency fake father. He had sandy blonde hair and a laugh that made everyone feel at ease. He had never once asked me about Alexander.

“I need a favor”

“Of course you do,” he chuckled, “What did he ask you for this time?”

I swallowed. “He wants to talk to his dad.”

There was a silence in the line and I wanted to change my mind but then his voice rose. “I’ll do it.”

Guilt twisted in my chest. “I’m sorry. I know you are doing a lot and…”

“Hey,” his voice softened. “He’s a kid. It’s not his fault.”

I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me.

“And you?” he added quietly. “Are you okay?”

I let out a small laugh. “Just… managing.”

“Put him on when you are ready.”

“Thank you.”

“Anytime.”

I ended the call and exhaled slowly. The hallway was silent except for the distant hum of the elevator. Just one more lie. Just one more day. Just one more…

“Did you hear?” a voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

Two women were walking toward me from the elevators. “About the billionaire?”

I pressed myself against the wall.

“They said he bought out the entire penthouse floor for his son.”

“That’s insane. The kid’s so lucky.”

“Who is it?” the other woman asked

I didn’t get a chance to catch the name as the women passed me without a glance.

I started going back to my room, following the direction that the women had come from.

The hallway opened into the lobby and there, near the check in desk, was the person I had spent my whole life trying to run from.

Alexander.

He was standing there like he owned the world. Like he hadn’t destroyed me. He looked the same as I remembered. Perfect. Untouchable. His suit was black, with dark hair that was shorter than I remembered.

His hands in his pockets.

And beside him was a child.

My breath caught.

For a second, I thought I was looking at Ethan. Same dark hair. Same brown eyes. Same small nose.

But this boy was smaller. Thinner. His cheeks weren’t as full and his clothes were too nice, a little sweater vest, tiny loafers.

My heart started racing, so loud I was sure someone would hear.

Don’t be ridiculous, Harper. You had one child. One.

Right?

The boy beside Alexander shifted, whispering something into his ears that I couldn’t hear. My nails dug into my palms.

Then…

“Daddy!”

I turned sharply.

Ethan stood in the doorway of our room, thirty feet behind me. His face was flushed with fever but lit up with excitement.

Before I could stop him, he ran to me and grabbed my hand.

I looked up.

Alexander was already turning.

His eyes dropped to the small boy clutching my hand.