Kai's POV
I'm going to be sick.
The elevator shoots up toward the rooftop restaurant, and my stomach drops with every floor. Ethan stands beside me, not touching, barely breathing. The silence between us feels like a living thing—angry and hurt and desperate all at once.
"Thank you for coming," he says quietly.
I don't answer. Can't answer. If I open my mouth, I might scream. Or cry. Or both.
The elevator doors open to reveal a restaurant that's completely empty. Every table sits vacant except one by the windows. Candles flicker. Soft music plays. The city spreads out below us like a blanket of stars.
He rented the entire place. For me. Just like he used to do when we were together—finding ways to give us privacy, to make moments special.
I hate that I remember. Hate that it still affects me.
"Thirty minutes," I say, crossing my arms as I sit down. "Your sister said five. I'm giving you thirty. Then I'm leaving."
Ethan sits across from me, and up close, I can see how much he's changed. There are lines around his eyes that weren't there before. His jaw is harder. He looks like a man who hasn't slept properly in years.
Good. He should look tired. I've been exhausted for five years.
"I know you hate me," Ethan starts, his hands clasped so tightly his knuckles turn white. "I know you have every right to hate me. But Kai, please—let me explain what really happened that night."
"What's there to explain?" My voice comes out sharper than I intended. "You stood in front of five hundred people and told them I wasn't good enough for you. Pretty clear message."
"That's not—" He stops, takes a breath. "My father threatened your family."
I freeze. "What?"
"The day before the gala, my father called me into his office." Ethan's voice shakes. "He had photographs of us together. Private moments. He'd been having us followed for months. He said I had one hour to make a choice—break up with you publicly and cruelly, or he'd destroy your parents' pharmacy. He'd make sure they lost everything. He'd blacklist you from every pharmaceutical company in the country. He'd ruin your entire family, Kai. And he had the power to do it."
The restaurant spins around me. "You're lying."
"I'm not." Ethan pulls out his phone with trembling hands. "I have proof. Everything. Look."
He slides the phone across the table. Bank statements fill the screen. Transfers of money—thousands and thousands of dollars—all going to Rivers Pharmacy. Dates spanning five years.
"What is this?" I whisper.
"After you disappeared, your parents' business started struggling. The economy, competition, bad luck—I don't know. But every time they had a slow month or an unexpected expense, I sent money anonymously. I made sure they never lost what they'd built. Because even though I couldn't be with you, I could protect your family the way I should have from the start."
My hands shake as I scroll through the statements. He's telling the truth. The numbers don't lie.
Ethan pulls up more files. Private investigator reports. My old addresses in Silverpine City. The tiny apartment where I lived when I was pregnant. The hospital where the twins were born.
Photos of me. Dozens of them. Walking to work with my belly swollen. Pushing a double stroller down cracked sidewalks. Looking tired and alone and so, so young.
"You were watching me," I breathe.
"I was trying to find you," Ethan corrects gently. "Every single day, Kai. I hired the best investigators. Spent hundreds of thousands of dollars. When they finally found you, you were eight months pregnant, and I—" His voice cracks. "I wanted to come to you immediately. But my investigator said you looked happy. Settled. You had friends. A job. I was terrified that showing up would destroy the life you'd built."
"So you just... watched?"
"I made sure you were safe. That your building had good security. That your job paid fairly. I donated to the hospital where you gave birth under a fake name so they'd have better equipment." He swallows hard. "And when you had the babies—Kai, I saw the birth certificates. River and Luna. Born three weeks early but healthy. You did that alone. You survived everything I put you through and brought two perfect children into the world. I've never been so proud and so ashamed at the same time."
Tears burn my eyes, but I blink them back furiously. "Why didn't you tell me the truth? Why didn't you explain about your father?"
"Because he threatened that too. He said if I ever told you why I really broke up with you, he'd destroy your family anyway. I was twenty-three years old, Kai. I was stupid and scared and I thought I was protecting you. By the time I realized how wrong I was, you were gone."
"I wanted to die," I whisper. "After the gala, after everyone turned on me, I wanted to die. The only thing that kept me breathing was finding out I was pregnant. Our babies saved my life, Ethan. Not you. Them."
He flinches like I've slapped him. "I know. I know, and I'll never forgive myself. But Kai, I've spent five years trying to become someone worthy of asking your forgiveness. I forced my father into retirement so he couldn't hurt anyone else. I changed every policy at Cross Pharmaceuticals—better omega rights, better healthcare, research funding. Everything I thought would make you proud if you ever came back."
The waiter appears with food I don't remember ordering. Probably Ethan arranged everything in advance. The plates sit untouched between us.
"Those children," Ethan says quietly. "River and Luna. Are they... are they mine?"
This is it. The moment everything changes. I could lie. I could tell him no and walk away and keep my babies safe from the man who destroyed me.
But when I look at Ethan—really look at him—I don't see the cold, cruel alpha from the gala. I see a broken man who made a terrible choice and has been paying for it ever since.
And my children ask about their father. River wants to know why he's not here. Luna draws pictures of families with two daddies and asks why we only have one.
"Yes," I finally say. "They're yours."
Ethan makes a sound like he's been punched. His hands cover his face. His shoulders shake. The powerful CEO of Cross Pharmaceuticals is crying in the middle of his carefully planned dinner.
"I'm sorry," he sobs. "I'm so sorry. I missed their births. Their first words. Their first steps. Kai, I'm so sorry."
Something cracks in my chest. Not forgiveness—not yet. But something.
I reach across the table. My fingers brush his hand.
"They ask about you," I admit quietly. "They want to know why their father isn't here. Maybe... maybe they should meet you. Properly."
Ethan's head snaps up. Hope blazes in his eyes so bright it hurts to look at. "You mean it?"
"I mean—" I start to say.
My phone explodes with noise.
Buzzing. Ringing. Text alerts firing one after another. Ethan's phone does the same.
I grab it with shaking hands. Messages from Marcus flood my screen:
"KAI WHERE ARE YOU"
"SOMEONE BROKE INTO YOUR APARTMENT"
"THE TWINS ARE FINE I HAVE THEM BUT KAI"
"THEY TOOK EVERYTHING. CLOTHES. TOYS. PHOTOS."
"There's a message painted on your wall."
My blood turns to ice. "No. No, no, no—"
"What's wrong?" Ethan's around the table in seconds.
I open the photo Marcus sent. My living room. Destroyed. Furniture overturned. Children's drawings ripped off the walls.
And painted across the wall in red letters:
"THESE BASTARDS DON'T DESERVE THE CROSS NAME."
Ethan goes absolutely still. When he speaks, his voice is cold enough to freeze fire.
"My father."