Chapter 18+
Jackson stared down at Candice, now tied to the very chair Samantha once sat on when she cried and begged him to believe her. The irony wasn’t lost on him. This time, he wasn’t blind. He saw the blood. He saw Inigo’s wound. He saw Samantha’s panic, her desperation–and for once, none of it was for him.”
“You wanted her gone,” Jackson muttered coldly, pacing the dimly lit room. “You tried to kill her.“”
Candice coughed, wrists straining against the rope. “I did it for you. You loved her–I wanted that to stop.”
He spun toward her. “And that gave you the right to destroy everything?“”
“I love you!” she screamed. “I gave you Nathan. I gave you everything!“”
“No,” he said, his voice like ice. “You gave me hell. And you almost killed the only woman I ever really loved.”
Tears streamed down her face. “Please… I want to see Nathan. Just once. Please, Jackson–he’s my son.“”
“You don’t deserve to see your son,” he said flatly, walking away. “You lost that right the moment you tried to take someone else’s mother away.“”
He left her locked inside the storage basement of the old estate, a guard posted by the door. No light. No warmth. Only silence and regret.”
Jackson found Nathan playing with building blocks on the floor of the drawing room, his tiny fingers stacking plastic bricks with quiet determination.[
2 3 2 3 3 3 = SZEREF F S B
“Hey, champ,” Jackson said, kneeling beside him.”
Nathan looked up, eyes uncertain. “Is Mommy coming home?“}
Jackson swallowed hard. “Which mommy?“}
Nathan tilted his head. “The real one. Candice.”
Jackson let out a sharp breath. “Nathan, we need to talk.“”
He sat beside the boy and began telling him, gently but clearly, the truth–twisted though it may be. He painted Candice as the woman who had hurt people, who made bad choices, who lied even to him. He didn’t speak of Samantha in glowing light, but he told the child what he needed to: Candice isn’t safe.
“She… she hurt people?” Nathan asked.
Jackson nodded. “She tried to hurt Samantha. And that’s not what a good mommy does.“}
Nathan’s eyes filled with tears. “But she’s my mommy.”
“I know, buddy,” Jackson said, pulling him into his chest. “And I’ll protect you. Always. From anyone.“”
Meanwhile, Jackson continued sending flowers and gifts to Samantha. Every morning, the hospital front desk had something new from him–a basket, a card, a note written in the handwriting she once adored. But now? Now it sickened her. The third bouquet of white lilies came with a handwritten note:
“I never meant to hurt you. Please forgive me. -J“}
Samantha didn’t even read it. Inigo did. And he was the one who filed the restraining order.
But Jackson didn’t care.”
He watched them from afar. Hidden under caps, behind tinted car windows, through alleyways and lenses. Every time he saw her touch Inigo’s hand, every time he saw her smile faintly while tending to his wounds, something inside him twisted.\
That used to be him. He remembered the moment.”
Jackson was shivering in bed, a brutal fever eating at his bones. Samantha had just returned from the pharmacy, her hands full of medicines and towels. Her hair was pulled into a messy bun, her face tired–but she didn’t complain.”
“Sit up,” she murmured gently, helping him drink from a glass of lukewarm water. “You’re sweating through the sheets again.“”
“I’m fine-“B
“No, you’re not,” she said, her voice firm. “Don’t act like a child.“”
She wiped his forehead carefully, cooling him with a cold compress. “You need to stop working yourself to death.“”
He gave her a tired smile. “If I die, at least I’ll die married to you.”
She rolled her eyes but leaned down to kiss his forehead. “Don’t be dramatic. You’re not dying.“”
He’d never felt more loved than in those nights when she barely slept, when she cooked bland soups and checked his temperature every hour. When he felt like hell, she held him like heaven. And now?
Now that warmth was gone.
Jackson stared through the hospital window.”
He saw Samantha beside Inigo, gently adjusting his IV line. Her fingers brushed against his arm. She was smiling again, faintly–but it wasn’t for him. That smile used to be his.
272 75.0%
The ache was unbearable.
His jaw clenched. He didn’t notice Nathan tugging on his sleeve until the boy asked, “Can we play, Daddy?“\ Jackson looked down and saw those same soft brown eyes. Not Samantha’s. But similar.
He nodded slowly, kneeling. “What do you want to play?“”
“Doctor,” Nathan said, holding up a toy stethoscope.”
Jackson froze. Doctor. Hospital. Pain. Blood.
And then he remembered the sound of screaming. Samantha’s screaming, when they took her baby.
His baby. Was this karma? Was Nathan a second chance–or a curse?}
Nathan giggled and pressed it against Jackson’s chest. “Hmm. You’re sick. Very sick.”
Jackson laughed softly, even though his chest tightened with the weight of unspoken guilt. “What’s the cure, Doc?“\
“A hug,” Nathan declared, throwing his small arms around him.”
For a moment, Jackson closed his eyes, hugging his son tighter than he meant to. His hand instinctively rubbed the boy’s back the way Samantha used to do when he was crying at night. The warmth of Nathan’s trust was almost too much to bear.
But just then-
A voice broke the silence.
“Let me out! I want to see my son!”
Let
Candice’s voice, hoarse and furious, echoed from down the hallway.
Nathan pulled back slightly, alarm flashing in his eyes. “That’s Mommy.”
Jackson stiffened, the smile falling from his face.
Nathan stood up. “Should we let her out now?”
Jackson looked at him. “Not yet.”
“Why?” the boy asked, confused.&
Jackson stood, his voice cold but careful. “Because she’s been very bad.“”
Nathan’s brows furrowed. “But she’s still Mommy…”
“She hurt someone, Nathan,” Jackson said, kneeling in front of him. “She hurt someone very important. And that’s not okay.” Behind them, Candice screamed again–pounding the walls, begging, threatening, cursing. But Jackson didn’t flinch. Nathan looked back toward the noise, then back at his father. “Will she ever be good again?”
ver be good again
Jackson paused. He didn’t know. Maybe. Maybe not.
“I don’t know,” he said honestly, pulling Nathan close once more. “But for now, we protect the people we love. That’s our job.” As the muffled sounds of Candice’s rage faded into the walis of her own making, Jackson held his son tighter and whispered to himself-
“I should’ve done that sooner.“”
But it was too late for Samantha.
She belonged to someone else now.
And all he had left… was the silence between them.”
2/2 750%
11:03 AM &
The scent of chamomile filled the air as I wrung
