ManyWriters

Winter was deepening as my wife and I moved into our new home in Coastal City with our son.
The wind carried the salty scent of the sea, hitting us as we arrived. To our surprise, we ran into Aunt's family right at the entrance of our building.
They stared at us with complex expressions. Aunt spoke up immediately, asking when I'd be able to let go of the past after all these years away and return home to have a proper talk with Seraphina, the heiress to the Johnson Group.
Seraphina was my first love from college. Five years ago, we had plans to get married.
But on my birthday, she suddenly changed her attitude.
In the dim light of a bar, she smashed the gift I had carefully prepared right in front of me, then left abruptly with Mason, her college roommate's younger brother.
Furious, I broke up with her on the spot and packed my bags, escaping to this small, sea-breeze-swept town of Coastal City.
Now reunited, Aunt sighed and tried to persuade me.
"Seraphina has never really gotten over you. On the day of her engagement to Mason, she said she'd be willing to start over with you if you'd come back for her."
Start over?
I forced a faint smile and calmly replied.
"Aunt, I got married three years ago. My son is two now."Seraphina probably thought I was still trying to one-up her, little did she know I had already turned the page to a new chapter in my life.

A missed confession Is a farewell

After a moment of silence following her declaration that she had never looked down on me, her expression fluctuated between dark and light.


Inside the house, Melody was jolted awake by a nightmare.


I walked into the room, picked him up, and softly comforted him. Seraphina gazed at us through the window, her expression gradually calming.


"I'm sorry for disturbing you," I said, somewhat surprised.


Seeing that she seemed to have given up, I replied nonchalantly, "Then I won't see you out."


She lowered her head and murmured an acknowledgment.


"Alright, I'll be leaving in a few days," she hesitated before asking, "Can I... hold Melody?"


My brow furrowed slightly, wariness flickering in my eyes.


She hurriedly explained, "Don't get the wrong idea. Just think of it as holding a friend's child. Is that not okay?"


As she spoke, she looked at Melody, her eyes full of envy.


If not for everything that had happened, would she have to ask my permission to hold her own child?


Chapter 10