Chapter 31
POV: Xander Thome!
I had not meant to come here !
I had promised myself that I would never set foot near her estate again. Not after she looked me in the eyes and said she no longer recognized the man I had become. Not after she married Killian Arrows in a veil of fire and glass, stepping into a legacy I could never offer her&
But tonight. I was not thinking.
Tonight, I was just drowning.
I had drunk too much. Again. The bar down the boulevard no longer asked for my name or card. They just poured, as if they, too, had stopped expecting me to rise from this ruin.E
And then I saw them
On the cover of a magazine propped up outside a bookstore window.
Killian and Athena Arrows.
Flawless. Powerful. In love.
Her hand rested gently on her lower belly. Her smile was small, private, radiant.
I stood in the rain for what felt like hours:
Then I walked.
“And walked.}
And somehow ended up at the gates of her estate.
I should not have been able to get in
The guards were supposed to have my face flagged. But the night staff was new. They recognized me from old photos, older authority. One of them opened the gate without hesitation.
“Good evening, Mr Thome. Are you expected?”
“Yes. She asked for me. It is urgent
And they believed me.
Because I used to be the man who handled her emergencies!!
Now I was the one creating them.”
Her study windows were lit.8
I walked through the stone path slowly, each step heavier than the last
The rain was light now. Just mist and memory.
When I reached the ivy covered wall, I saw her through the tall glass-
Athena.S
Standing by the fireplace in a cream silk dress that clung to her like a second skin. Her hair was longer now. Softer. Her hands, once so often clenched, rested calmly on her sides.!!
She looked like peace K
And beside her stood Killion.}
He whispered something that made her laugh.
I remembered that laugh. I had once breathed to hear it.
Then, slowly, he knelt before her.!!
My heart slammed against my ribe.!!
He placed both hands on her stomach.
She nodded, her smile trembling, tears in her eyes.
And he kissed her there.
Over the gentle swell of a life forming beneath silk and skin. No.#
No. No. No.
The glass door opened under my hand. It should have been locked.
But her staff still trusted the man I used to bell
I stumbled in, Wet. Ashamed, Haunted.
“Athena
I said her name like a warning. Like a plea. Like the only prayer I had left
She turned X
10:06 AM c c
Her body stiffened. She took a single instinctive step back, as if shielding herself. Or shielding what she now carried.!!
Killian moved forward immediately almost like a lion willing to slaughter when Athena’s hands softly touched his calming him…the way she once looked at me was now only reserved for the devil–Killian Arrows.3
I smiled with tears, helplessly moving a little back feeling intense pain from Athena’s refusal to even look at me.!!
“I just need to speak to her. One moment….. That is all.”
Athena studied me…her expression unreadable.“Whatever you have to say, you can say infront of my husband.” The words were like daggers…the way her arms clutched Killian was unbearable.!!
But the moment her fingers gently caressed her stomach as if protecting her belly my eyes widened.
The confirmation broke me completely
“You…Athena you… are pregnant?”
And the moment her face softened as she literally glowed from happiness I knew there was no change of ‘us‘ anymore.
