MoonCreations

Chloe Redgrave has mastered the art of starting over. After her divorce, her world narrowed to two things: her son and her peace. She isn't looking for a second chance—until Kian Ashford walks back into her life, the man she once left behind before life turned complicated. The man who never stopped feeling like home.

Years have passed. They've grown, changed, and broken in ways they never imagined. But when love circles back, it doesn’t knock—it crashes through the walls.
Now Chloe must decide: does she guard the life she's rebuilt, or risk everything for the one love that may have always been meant for her?

When Love Circles Back

never really slept. Even past midnight, the manor held its breath like it knew someone would always come walking through the door long after they were supposed to be elsewhere.

The lights were low in the sitting room, and the television murmured from the corner—some old black-and-white political drama Terrence Ashford had probably memorized decades ago.

His grandfather didn't look up right away. Just sipped something expensive, then paused the screen with one sharp flick of the remote.

"Didn't expect you back tonight," Terrence said.

Kian set his keys down with a dull clink. "Figured I should be the one to tell you."

Terrence glanced over then. And in that glance—it shifted.

Because he saw it. Kian didn't just look rested. He looked like a man who'd been at war with himself, and finally decided to lay down arms.

Terrence leaned back into the leather cushions, let out a long breath. "I take it the girl came home."

Terrence studied him for a long moment, then turned off the television altogether.

"You love her," he said—not a question.

Kian's voice didn't flinch. "He calls me Papa."

Terrence let that settle. Let it wrap around the room, around the years that had nearly broken them both.

"You remember what you were like after she left?" he asked. "Six years ago."

Kian didn't answer. Didn't need to.

"You fell," Terrence said plainly. "All the way down. Took two years before you remembered how to breathe."

Kian stared at the floor. "I never blamed her."

"I know you didn't." Terrence poured another glass—same weight, slower hands. "And I never blamed her either."

He held out the second drink. Kian took it.

"But I need your word," Terrence said. "That you'll carry them like your own. Chloe. Carter. They're not your convenience. They're your responsibility now."

Terrence nodded once, slow and final. "Then you won't hear a word of objection from me."

And for a while, they sat in the kind of silence men build when they finally understand each other. No noise. No performances. Just truth.

Chapter Ninety-One: All the Things That Stay