Chapter 0006
Lauren’s POV
The room froze, the air thick with stunned silence, as if the world itself had hit pause. Owen’s small, clear voice
lingered.
“Mommy?“—a single word that rippled through the stillness, shattering logic and piecing it back together in a way that didn’t quite make sense.
My chest tightened. I could feel my heart hammering against my ribs, caught somewhere between confusion and an ache I couldn’t name.
Behind me, a maid let out a sharp, startled squeak, breaking the spell. Before I could fully process what had happened, a firm hand gripped my arm, tugging me backward. One of Owen’s bodyguards stepped in, his expression unreadable but his movements swift and commanding.
“Out. Now,” he said curtly, ushering me and the others out of the room without a second thought.
The door slammed shut behind us, the sound reverberating down the white hallway. We stood there, bathed in the harsh buzz of the fluorescent lights, the tension stretching taut between us like an invisible thread about to snap.
I barely registered the others around me, still grappling with the echo of Owen’s voice in
Hushed whispers stirred from the group of doctors behind me, the sound like cracks splintering through stone. Their initial disbelief quickly twisted into something uglier a cruel amusement that coiled in the pit of my
stomach.
my head.
“Well, Dr. Ava” one of them muttered, his voice dripping with mockery, “maybe you weren’t called here for the boy after all. Dressed like that, perhaps you’re trying to catch the attention of his father instead?”
I forced myself to breathe, to keep my expression steady. Reacting wouldn’t help–it would only fuel their fire.
I turned slowly, fixing the speaker with a level stare. My voice, when I spoke, was calm but sharp enough to cut through the tension.
“Mistaking someone for their parent is a behavior common in children on the spectrum,” I said, each word deliberate, precise. “But your comments, Doctor, make me question your professionalism far more than his condition. By all means, step back in. I’m curious if ‘Mommy‘ will come up again–or if the child will stick to his theme of ‘abstract expressionism.‘ with that paint.”
The air grew heavier, the smug glances shifting into unease. A few doctors exchanged awkward looks, their postures stiffening under my gaze.
The man who’d spoken Dr. Bramble, I vaguely remembered–bristled, his smirk faltering as he searched for a retort. None came.
“Typical,” he muttered, finally breaking the silence. With a dramatic spin, he stormed off, his footsteps echoing down the hallway.
The remaining doctors avoided my eyes, their earlier confidence deflated. I let out a slow breath, pressing a hand to my chest, grounding myself with the steady rhythm of my breathing.
Whatever the reason for Owen’s slip–up, it wasn’t something I could afford to dwell on–not yet. I adjusted the strap of my bag and started down the hallway, tuning out the murmurs behind me.
The buzz of my phone pulled me from my thoughts, the vibration sharp against my palm. I fished it from my pocket, grateful for the distraction.
*Chapter Olds
+25 BONUS
“Mommy, where are you?” Abigail’s cheerful volce burst through the line. “I want to have lunch with you!”
A smile tugged at my lips. “I’m just finishing up at work, sweetheart. How about I pick us up something on the way home?”
“Pizza!” she chirped, her excitement like a spark that ignited my own.
I laughed softly. “Pizza it is.”
As Abigail chattered on about her day about her stuffed animals” “very important meeting” and the new dress she wanted to show me the knot in my chest unraveled.
Her voice was the grounding I didn’t realize I needed, pulling me back into the warmth of something simple and real.
I pressed the elevator button, the familiar hum of its arrival blending into the rhythm of our conversation.
But when the doors slid open, the smile on my face faltered.
Sophia
She stood inside, her posture rigid, her expression paled, her hair just a crimson as I remembered it. But her eyes betrayed her, wide and filled with something raw–shock, maybe even fear.
For a moment, she looked like she’d seen a ghost.
I froze for only a moment, the phone still pressed to my ear
Sophia’s lips parted slightly, as if she might say something, but no words came. The silence stretched between us, taut and brittle.
I stepped into the elevator without hesitation, my movements deliberate. Sophia shifted slightly, her gaze locked on mine, but I refused to let her rattle me.
Instead, I reached out and pressed the button for my
floor.
“Baby,” I said into the phone, my voice soft but steady, “I see you soon, okay?”
