I froze. Slowly turned.
“What… did you just say?” My voice didn’t even sound like mine.
Alessia stepped forward, her eyes wide, her hand outstretched. “You said you’d take responsibility. That night… we didn’t use
protection. Cassian, I’m pregnant.”
She smiled, like she expected me to be thrilled.
“Aren’t you happy?” she whispered. “You always said you wanted to start a family with me.”
Happy? I should’ve been.
This was everything I said I wanted. The woman I loved. The family I dreamed of. The do–over I had risked everything for.
But the only thing I felt was… Annoyed. Just a dull, rising irritation crawling under my skin.
Why?
Why wasn’t this enough?
Why did the idea of Alessia carrying my child make me feel like I was being shackled again?
I let Isadora and Leo die for this woman. I sacrificed everything.
So why did I look at her now and feel… nothing?
I glanced at Isadora–at the woman I’d wronged in every life.
And suddenly, I wasn’t sure who I was trying to save anymore.
Isadora and Kai had gone out for their date. Meanwhile, I was left to take Alessia to the hospital for her check–up.
The irony wasn’t lost on me.
When I returned to Isadora’s mansion later that day, I didn’t expect them to be back already. And I definitely didn’t expect the
2/4
7
scene that greeted me the moment I stepped inside.
She was sitting in his lap.
Not perched. Not politely balanced.
+15 Bonus
She was laughing–head tilted back, glowing–while Kai whispered something in her ear that made her swat at his chest and say,
“Don’t mock me, Kai. You’re bad.”
And then he kissed her. Right there. Full lips, full claim.
“I’m the baddest,” Kai drawled, loud enough for the entire room to hear, “and you know that, don’t you?”
He wasn’t saying it for her. He was saying it for me.
My jaw tightened. A flicker of something burned in my gut. Jealousy, maybe? Cold and sharp.
God, was that how I used to look? When Alessia and I flaunted ourselves in front of Isadora?
Disgusting.
“Well, if you’re going to be that bad…” Isadora said, her voice dropping suggestively, “then I guess I’ll have to punish you for it.
Come to my room, and I’ll show you how.”
Kai stood and scooped her into his arms, grinning like the devil. “I’m looking forward to your punishment, Izzy.”
They walked past me. Didn’t even flinch.
I just stood there, fists clenched at my sides, every nerve tight. And I said nothing. Couldn’t say anything.
I was frozen–somewhere between fury and heartbreak.
And then, a memory surfaced. One I hadn’t thought of in years.
She was five. I was ten. 1
The first time I met her, she’d chased me around the Marcellus garden, calling me handsome boy like it was the only word she knew. Later, she started using my name–Cassian–blushing every time she said it like it tasted too sweet in her mouth.
It was obvious. Even then. Damian’s little sister had a crush on me.
But I didn’t pay her any mind.
She wasn’t my type. Not sexy. Not mature. Not a game worth playing.
So I let her pine. And I ignored her.
Because I was an asshole.
And still… she kept chasing. Year after year. Through every cold shoulder, every careless word. She kept coming back.
3/4
7
+15 Bonus
And when I was reborn, all I could think about was Alessia. Fixing what I thought I’d ruined. Reclaiming the love I believed I’d
lost.
I never once stopped to think that Isadora might have changed too.
She wasn’t chasing me. She wasn’t blushing. She wasn’t looking at me like I was her world.
She was laughing in another man’s arms. Whispering dirty jokes and kissing someone who wasn’t me.
She was distant. Unreachable. Exactly what I thought I wanted in my past life.
Until I got it.
And now, as I stood here beside the woman I thought I loved–the woman carrying my child–all I could think about was the
marriage I’d walked away from.
The son I let burn. The wife I never loved properly.
And how much it destroyed me to see her loved… by someone else.
Isadora.
My Isadora.
Had she really let go of me in this life?
God help me, I think she had.
Comments
Support
