Chapter 2

KEVIN’S POV

I don’t follow her, every instinct in my body wants to, but I stay where I am while Zelene disappears through the ballroom doors with the children beside her.

Then she’s gone again, the noise around me slowly comes back into focus. Music, glasses clinking.

None of it feels real anymore, all I can see is her face when I mentioned the kids. I drag a hand roughly across my jaw before turning toward the bar.

“Another?” the bartender asks. “Yeah,” I mutter. “Make it strong.”

He slides the glass over, I drink half of it immediately and it still doesn’t help because this stopped being about seeing Zelene again the second those children walked over.

Too many things feel wrong, too many things feel familiar……Fuck. I leave the ballroom a few minutes later.

Outside, Manhattan hits me all at once. Cold air, flashing lights, traffic noise.

I always like the city at night, tonight it feels noisy. I loosen my tie slightly while people rush past me on the sidewalk, my mind still stuck upstairs with Zelene.

Eight years ago, Zelene disappeared without a trace. No call or explanation. At first, I told myself I didn’t care enough to chase her. Then life got bigger, work got worse and my father got sick.

Eventually I convinced myself she was just one unfinished thing I never needed closure for.

Then my father died six months ago and inheriting everything made me realize how empty my life actually was. The company’s mine, the money’s mine and the legacy’s mine. But after the funeral ended and everybody left, I went home alone.

That silence stayed with me, now Zelene's back with three children and fear in her eyes every time I get too close to the truth. I stare across the street while memories hits.

Zelene laughing against my mouth at two in the morning. Her curled against my chest half asleep. The way she used to look at me when she forgot to hide what she felt.

I remember one night when she fell asleep on my couch while pretending she was still awake just because she wanted to keep talking to me.

I carried her to bed and she wrapped her arms around my neck without even opening her eyes.

“Don’t go yet,” she whispered sleepily. Back then, I honestly thought she was it for me.

Something twists low in my chest because I spent eight years convincing myself I hated her for leaving me but standing there tonight, looking at her again, all I felt was relief that she was alive. Like some part of me never stopped waiting for her to come back.

I should hate her, I should look at her and remember what she did to me. The nights I sat staring at my phone waiting for some explanation that never came.

The feeling of being thrown away without even understanding why but the second I saw her tonight, all of that shit cracked apart so fast it honestly made me feel sick.

Like I never stopped loving her at all, that realization scares the hell out of me more than the kids do.

My phone vibrates in my pocket. Daniel, I almost ignore it before answering. “What?”

“That’s how you answer the phone now?” he asks dryly. “Damn. Good evening to you too.” I rub a hand across my face tiredly. “What do you want?”

There’s a pause, then his tone shifts slightly. “You okay?”

“No, I’m not.” That answer comes out too fast. Daniel notices immediately. “Well shit…….What happened?” I lean back against the building behind me, staring up at the glowing windows across the street. “Remember Zelene?”

Silence. “The woman you pretended not to care about for eight years?”

“Yeah,” I mutter. “Her.”

“What about her?”

“She’s back.”

Another pause. “And?” I close my eyes briefly. “She has children.” Daniel goes quiet for a full second. “Children???”

“Three.”

“…..…What the fuck?”

“Yeah.” I hear movement on his side of the call before he speaks again. “Kevin……”

“I know.”

“No, I really don’t think you do.” My jaw tightens hard because the worst part isn’t even the possibility that they’re mine. It’s the fact that some stupid fucking part of me wants them to be.

Casey grinning at me like we already knew each other. Cynthia’s quiet little “Bye, Uncle.” Cedric watching me too carefully from across the room. I barely know those kids and I already can’t stop thinking about them.

“I need to go,” I mutter. “Kevin…….” I hang up before he can say anything else because if I stay standing here thinking too long, I’m going to lose my damn mind.

I shove my phone back into my pocket and look toward the street again. Then it hits me, the way she kept looking over her shoulder all night like part of her expected something bad to happen.

My stomach tightens suddenly, what the hell happened after she left?

Traffic rushes past while my thoughts keep turning darker. Maybe this isn’t just about hidden children, maybe Zelene didn’t disappear because she stopped loving me.

Maybe she disappeared because something scared her badly enough to run. I stare out across Manhattan for another long second before pulling my phone back out again.

This time I already know who I’m calling. Max answers on the second ring. “Kevin.”

“I need everything on someone.”

A pause. “Who?”

“Zelene Nicholls.” Silence then Max’s voice sharpens slightly. “That name again, huh?”

“Eight years back,” I say coldly. “Full history.”

“You think something’s wrong?” I think about the look on Zelene’s face tonight. “Yeah,” I say quietly. “I think something’s very fucking wrong.”