Chapter 12
Two months into whatever this was — dating seemed too casual a word for the man who'd pulled my life back from the edge — Ryan appeared again.
I'd just dropped Leo off at daycare. It was my first week back at work, and everything felt fragile in the way that new routines always do.
Ryan was waiting by my car in the parking lot.
He looked different. Gaunt. His suit didn't fit right anymore — too loose in the shoulders. His eyes had a hollow quality I didn't recognize.
"Lily."
I stopped ten feet away. "You're in violation of the restraining order."
"I know. I just..." He ran a hand over his face. "I need five minutes."
"You need to leave before I call the police."
"Sienna left me."
I waited for the satisfaction. It didn't come. Just a dull recognition.
"The article ruined her," he continued. "She couldn't show her face anywhere. She moved back to her parents' house in Connecticut. She blocked me. She—" His voice cracked. "She told me I ruined her life."
"You ruined *mine*."
"I know." He stepped forward. I stepped back. He stopped. "I know that now. I didn't understand then. I thought... I thought I was being generous. Noble. Helping someone who had less. I didn't see what I was taking from you."
"You took my *baby*, Ryan."
"I know—"
"You took my baby while I was unconscious and bleeding out from surgery, and you gave him to another woman like a gift. You looked me in the face five days later and told me I could 'have more children.' You tried to have me committed."
He flinched with each sentence.
"There is no amount of 'I know' that fixes this. There is no conversation that makes us okay. You are a stranger to me now — a dangerous one."
"Lily, please—"
"If you come near me or Leo again, I won't just call the police. I'll let Dominic bury you."
Ryan's face twisted at the name. "Dominic. Of course. He's been circling you for years, waiting for his chance—"
"His *chance*?" I laughed — a real, genuine laugh. "You handed it to him. You created every condition for someone to step in and be what you never were."
I unlocked my car.
"Goodbye, Ryan. I hope you get help. I genuinely do. But you will never be part of my life again."
I drove away without checking the mirror.
That evening, after I told Dominic about the encounter, I expected anger. Instead, he was quiet for a long moment.
"Do you feel anything?" he asked. "Seeing him like that?"
I thought about it honestly. "Relief. That I got out when I did."
He pulled me close, and Leo babbled between us, tugging at Dominic's tie.
"I want to adopt him," Dominic said suddenly.
I pulled back, searching his face. "What?"
"Leo. If — when — you're ready. I want him to be mine legally. Not because Ryan doesn't deserve him, though he doesn't. But because I want him to know he's wanted. Completely. Without conditions."
My throat closed. I couldn't speak.
So I kissed him instead, and Leo grabbed both our faces, and it was messy and perfect and *ours.*
I'd just dropped Leo off at daycare. It was my first week back at work, and everything felt fragile in the way that new routines always do.
Ryan was waiting by my car in the parking lot.
He looked different. Gaunt. His suit didn't fit right anymore — too loose in the shoulders. His eyes had a hollow quality I didn't recognize.
"Lily."
I stopped ten feet away. "You're in violation of the restraining order."
"I know. I just..." He ran a hand over his face. "I need five minutes."
"You need to leave before I call the police."
"Sienna left me."
I waited for the satisfaction. It didn't come. Just a dull recognition.
"The article ruined her," he continued. "She couldn't show her face anywhere. She moved back to her parents' house in Connecticut. She blocked me. She—" His voice cracked. "She told me I ruined her life."
"You ruined *mine*."
"I know." He stepped forward. I stepped back. He stopped. "I know that now. I didn't understand then. I thought... I thought I was being generous. Noble. Helping someone who had less. I didn't see what I was taking from you."
"You took my *baby*, Ryan."
"I know—"
"You took my baby while I was unconscious and bleeding out from surgery, and you gave him to another woman like a gift. You looked me in the face five days later and told me I could 'have more children.' You tried to have me committed."
He flinched with each sentence.
"There is no amount of 'I know' that fixes this. There is no conversation that makes us okay. You are a stranger to me now — a dangerous one."
"Lily, please—"
"If you come near me or Leo again, I won't just call the police. I'll let Dominic bury you."
Ryan's face twisted at the name. "Dominic. Of course. He's been circling you for years, waiting for his chance—"
"His *chance*?" I laughed — a real, genuine laugh. "You handed it to him. You created every condition for someone to step in and be what you never were."
I unlocked my car.
"Goodbye, Ryan. I hope you get help. I genuinely do. But you will never be part of my life again."
I drove away without checking the mirror.
That evening, after I told Dominic about the encounter, I expected anger. Instead, he was quiet for a long moment.
"Do you feel anything?" he asked. "Seeing him like that?"
I thought about it honestly. "Relief. That I got out when I did."
He pulled me close, and Leo babbled between us, tugging at Dominic's tie.
"I want to adopt him," Dominic said suddenly.
I pulled back, searching his face. "What?"
"Leo. If — when — you're ready. I want him to be mine legally. Not because Ryan doesn't deserve him, though he doesn't. But because I want him to know he's wanted. Completely. Without conditions."
My throat closed. I couldn't speak.
So I kissed him instead, and Leo grabbed both our faces, and it was messy and perfect and *ours.*