Chapter 2

The woman was the same female client who had messaged me before, Chloe.

She wore a pale yellow dress, her hair in big waves, and had her arm linked through Ryan's as she smiled like a flower.

Ryan was dressed in a suit and tie, his hair perfectly slicked back. He was carrying a fruit basket and a bouquet of red roses.

Red roses.

He brought red roses to a pediatric hospital.

I stood in the middle of the lobby and watched them laughing and chatting as they walked into the elevator.

Ryan didn't look my way once.

My phone buzzed. It was a message from him.

"I'm at the hospital. Which room is Noah in?"

I didn't reply. I just carried the strawberries upstairs at a slow pace.

When I pushed open the door to the room, Ryan was already there.

He was sitting by the bed, showing Noah something on his phone, while the fruit basket and roses sat on the bedside table, glaringly obvious.

When Noah saw me, he happily shouted, "Mom! Dad's here! He brought me something tasty too!"

Ryan looked up and smiled at me.

He'd practiced that smile for years. Warm, polite, and flawless.

"You've worked hard. I rushed over as soon as I finished up over here. Noah's okay now, right?"

I set down the strawberries, picked up the red roses from the bedside table, and tossed them into the trash.

Ryan's smile froze.

"What are you doing?"

"The pediatric hospital doesn't need roses."

"Those were for Mr. Bennett's niece. I just happened to bring them here."

I looked at him and suddenly found him hilarious.

This man was so lazy about lying that he didn't even bother to make it sound convincing anymore.

"Noah, Mom's going to wash the strawberries." I didn't answer him and took the strawberries into the bathroom.

The faucet ran loudly as I washed them again and again, until all the sourness in my eyes was forced back down.

When I came out, Ryan was standing by the window on the phone, his voice kept very low.

"Yeah, I'll come over tonight... I know, you go ahead and order... okay, love you."

He said the last two words very softly, but I heard them clearly.

He telling me he loved me was three years ago.

I held Noah and fed him strawberries, one at a time, very slowly.

Ryan hung up and walked over, trying to pick Noah up, but Noah pushed him away.

"I want Mom!"

Ryan's face changed for a second before he quickly recovered.

"Our son is close to you. Nothing I can do about that."

When he said that, there was a hint of complaint in his tone, as if Noah not being close to him was my fault.

I didn't say a word.

He stood there for a while, then checked his watch.

"Then I'm going. I still have stuff to do at the company."

"Wait."

He turned back at the door.

"Noah had a 104.4-degree fever last night. He cried and called for Dad. He called you six times, and you didn't answer a single one."

"I-"

"You said you'd be here first thing this morning, and it's now three in the afternoon."

"I came, didn't I?"

"To bring roses?"

Ryan's expression darkened. "Ava, are you looking for a fight today? Didn't I say I had social obligations these next few days? Mr. Bennett is our company's biggest client. If you offend her, are you going to take responsibility?"

"Is your son more important or is the client more important?"

"How can you compare them? I'm busting my ass for this family too."

"For this family?" I stood up and stared into his eyes. "Our son was lying in the hospital with a high fever, and you were out there taking care of another woman. And you call that doing it for this family?"

Ryan's eyes flickered.

"How do you know... Did you check up on me?"

"I don't have time to check up on you, but next time remember to keep your female clients in line. Don't let them send me messages."

His face changed completely.

"Ava, my relationship with Mr. Bennett is purely business. Stop being unreasonable."

"I'm not causing a scene." I sat back down and pulled Noah into my arms. "Go. Noah needs to rest."

Ryan opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but in the end he slammed the door and left.

The sound of the door made Noah flinch. He looked up at me and asked, "Mom, is Dad mad?"

"No. Dad's just really busy."

"But I don't want him to go. I want him to stay with me."

I kissed his forehead and said nothing.

There were some things I couldn't say to a three-year-old.

Your dad may never come back to stay with you.

This family might be falling apart.