The welcome meeting should have been easy: parents sitting in small chairs, teachers giving short speeches, and kids drawing messy shapes on colorful paper. It should have been normal.
But everything seemed strange to Mia.
Her heart was beating too loudly. Her hands were very cold. Adrian Black was only two rows behind her, and she could feel the weight of his stare without even turning around.
Luna sat on her lap and bounced her little legs, completely unaware of the storm that was brewing outside. She hummed softly and put her head on Mia's chest, which was something she had done since she was a toddler.
Something inside Mia broke when she walked into the room and saw that Adrian wasn't leaving. Fate wasn't just messing with her.
It brought her back to the man she had been trying to forget for years.
Even worse, he kept an eye on her daughter.
She could tell by the way his eyes kept moving forward. She could feel him burning into the back of her neck. He knew what Luna was doing at all times. He got tense when she giggled softly. Mia could hear him catch his breath every time she smiled and moved her face toward him.
She would rather not turn around.
"Mommy," Luna said softly as she pulled on Mia's sleeve. "Can I draw a dog?"
"Of course, sweetheart," Mia said, pointing to the small table with crayons.
Luna skipped over, picked up a blue crayon (her favorite color), and started drawing with a lot of focus.
When Mia looked up, she saw Adrian looking at Luna again.
But this time, he wasn't trying to hide it.
He wasn't pretending that he was only interested.
No, it was something more serious. Something sharper. Someone is looking for something.
He frowned and narrowed his eyes as he watched her daughter's face, especially the way she stuck her tongue out while painting. Mia knew that was a little quirk she had learned from only one person.
Adrian used to do it.
His tongue stuck out of the corner of his mouth every time he was really focused on something, like studying a contract, figuring out a financial report, or looking over a blueprint.
And now Luna was doing it, and her small face showed a trait that Mia had once made fun of, kissed, and teased.
Her stomach hurt a lot.
She had to stop him from looking.
But she got there too late.
Adrian's eyes moved from Luna to Mia, which was the first sign that he was starting to understand. She saw the confusion in his eyes, the way his jaw tightened, and how intense his gaze was all of a sudden.
She swallowed hard and smiled at Luna, even though it was shaky. "That's a lovely puppy, baby."
Adrian got up from his chair.
Mia's heart skipped a beat.
He walked slowly toward them, giving her time to run but making sure she couldn't.
Luna was surprised to hear footsteps coming up behind her. "Hi again," she said happily, waving at him with her fingers that were stained with blue crayon.
Adrian's mouth opened, and a small breath came out. This time, he bent down to her level, but he was staring at her so hard that Mia couldn't stand it.
"Do you like to draw?" Adrian asked in a soft voice.
Luna nodded with excitement. "My mom says I'm really good."
He looked at her paper and said softly, "You are."
Then he stopped moving.
Luna had drawn a man next to the puppy. He was tall and had dark hair, sharp eyes, and a strong jawline. Looks just like Adrian.
She had never met him until today.
She shouldn't know what he looked like.
But she drew him well.
Luna smiles. "That's him."
Mia's breath stopped. "Luna—"
"The man from Mama's story," Luna said with pride.
Adrian's eyes slowly moved up to Mia's face.
He asked, "What's the story?" in a calm voice. Too much control.
Mia's fingers dug into her palm in a mean way.
"Just a story she likes to read before bed," she said quickly. "Luna, come here, honey."
But Luna wasn't done yet. She stood on her small tiptoes and leaned in closer to Adrian's face, looking completely innocent.
She whispered, "You have the same eyes."
Mia almost choked.
Adrian stayed still, like a statue made of shock, disbelief, and something dangerously close to pain.
When he did speak, his voice was low and shaky. "Mia."
She picked Luna up right away and held her tightly. Her daughter hugged her neck, not knowing that she had caused the earthquake.
"I said, "Mia," Adrian said again as he stood up slowly. "We need to talk."
"No." Her voice shook. "We don't."
"You're lying again."
She got stiff. "Adrian—"
"Her eyes," he said in a low voice that held all of his broken composure, "are just like mine."
The floor shook beneath her.
No. Not here. Not right now. Not with him looking at her like that, like the ground was moving under his feet and his whole world had shifted toward a truth he didn't know how to deal with.
"It's a coincidence," Mia said quietly, holding Luna tighter.
Adrian laughed in a low, sarcastic, and disbelieving way. "Is it a coincidence?"
He came closer and lowered his voice. "Mia, don't be rude to me."
His eyes were sharp now, breaking through all the walls she had built up over the years.
He said, "She looks like me." "She looks—oh my God, she looks just like my sister did when she was that age."
Mia shut her eyes for a moment to keep from breaking.
"Adrian, please don't—"
"When was she born?" His voice shook. "How old is she?"
Luna, sweet and clueless Luna, answered happily. "I'm four!"
He took a deep breath and made a horrible, choked sound.
Four.
It's been four years since Mia went missing.
Four years have passed since that one night that changed everything.
It looked like he couldn't breathe after he faced the truth.
He said softly, "Mia, tell me I'm wrong." This was the first time in her memory that his voice broke.
She wanted to. She really wanted to. She wanted to keep her child safe. She wanted to stay calm. She wanted to keep her life from falling apart.
But she couldn't tell him a lie.
Not since he already knew.
She could feel her throat closing. "Adrian, she is mine." "She is my daughter."
He took a breath.
"And mine?" he asked, sounding quiet, raw, and open.
A question she had been dreading for four years.
A question that could mess everything up.
Luna moved around in her arms and put her head on Mia's shoulder. She was already asleep and didn't know how tense the room was.
Mia held her close. "This isn't the right place."
Adrian clenched his teeth. "I don't care about the place."
"Please, Adrian."
He took a small step back and made himself not reach for Luna. His hands shook.
He had never been scared.
"Is she my daughter, Mia?" he asked, his voice shaking.
Her eyes hurt. "Yes."
The word split them up.
Adrian staggered like he had been hit. He put his hand on the back of a small chair to steady it and let out a shaky breath.
Mia made herself stand up straighter. "She doesn't know. She can't. Please don't say anything right now.
Adrian walked back and forth, running his fingers through his hair.
"You kept her away from me."
"Don't start," she said with pain.
"You kept my child away from me, Mia."
People started to look at them because they could feel the tension.
She moved closer to him. "Speak softer."
He looked at her with pain in his eyes, something she had never seen on him before. Pain that cuts deep.
"I missed it all," he said. "Her first word," "Her first steps," and "Her first smile."
She cried, which made it hard for him to see. "You were going to get married."
He got tense.
"And you left," he said in a cold voice. "Without letting me pick you."
The words hurt her right in the chest.
She shakes her head. "I had to go."
Adrian took a deep breath. He said softly, "I'm not losing her." "Not again."
Her breath stopped. "What do you mean?"
He stepped closer, his eyes locked on hers, full of emotion.
He said softly but firmly, "I'm going to be in her life." "Whether you want me to or not."
Her heart hurt a lot. "Adrian—"
"I am her father," he said, his voice shaking with truth and strength. "And I'm not going to let her go."
It felt like the world was falling apart.
The past she had left behind was catching up with her. She was afraid of what would happen to her, and now it was happening. And Adrian, the man she used to love and who broke her heart without meaning to, had finally found out the truth she had been hiding for years.
She held Luna close, and tears filled her eyes.
She knew she was on a battlefield with no clear way out for the first time since she left.
No matter what she picked.
Someone—maybe everyone—
Someone was going to get hurt.