Page 12 of This Is Our Forever

The apartment is peaceful now, the murmur of the television in Dylan’s room the only sound that breaks the silence. I walk down the hallway and stop outside his door. Peek inside. He’s curled up on his bed, his face lit by the soft glow of the TV. His tiny fingers clutch his favorite stuffed dinosaur as Jules sits beside him, her hand resting on his back.

I step inside, sink onto the bed, and pull Dylan into my arms. He looks up at me, his blue eyes—so much like Nathan’s—searching mine.

“Mama, who was that man?” His voice is soft, full of curiosity.

I swallow down my anxiety. “No one important, baby. Just someone Mama used to know.”

He nods, accepting my answer as his attention drifts back to the colorful figures dancing across the screen. I hold him closer, breathing in the scent of his hair, the warmth of his small body a comfort I never knew I’d need this much.

As I sit here and hold my son, a fierce resolve settles over me. Nathan won’t get close again. I’ve fought too hard to protect this secret, to shield Dylan from the chaos of my past. The truth will stay buried—not for my sake, but for his.

CHAPTER TEN

NATHAN

I stand frozen, my hand raised in the air, poised to knock on a door that has already closed.

Her words echo.You were sleeping with other women.The accusation hangs. It’s suffocating.

Confusion.Cheating?

The idea is so unthinkable that it’s flipped my reality. My mind struggles to process this sudden shift.

With a hollow sense of detachment, I turn away from the door. My feet move on autopilot, taking me into the warm Dallas night. I barely register the scent of jasmine mixing with traffic noise because my mind is consumed by the past, retracing steps I thought I knew, now clouded by doubt.

The driver holds the door for me, and I get in.

When he’s behind the wheel, he looks at me through the rearview mirror. “Where to, sir?”

My mouth opens, but no words come.Where to? A hotel, to an empty room with a minibar full of temporary distractions? Or into the city to drown my thoughts in whiskey?

“Did Sharon tell you where I would be staying?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then take me there.”

The car merges into traffic, and the city lights blur past the window, but I see none of it. Amelia’s face consumes my mind—her eyes misty with hurt and anger.

The memory of that last day with her crashes into me, overwhelming in its clarity. I had been so sure of us, so ready to take the next step, with the ring tucked in my pocket. I remember walking into her dorm, so eager. But instead of the woman I loved, I found nothing but emptiness. No Amelia. No goodbye. Just a gaping void.

Her roommate had shrugged when I asked where she’d gone, sympathy in her eyes but no answers. “She just left, man. Packed up and took off. Didn’t say where.”

I remember the sickening realization, the ground slipping out from under me. The woman I thought I’d spend my life with had vanished without a trace.

I tried everything to find her—calls to friends, family, and anyone who might know—but they all clammed up, refusing to help. Her parents, once so warm and welcoming, suddenly turned cold, hostile even, and refused to speak to me.

And now, after all these years, she accuses me of cheating? The very idea is absurd, a nightmare I can’t wake up from.

The car stops in front of the hotel, and the driver clears his throat, a nudge that pulls me out of my fog.

I hand him a folded bill as I step out. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Inside, the hotel lobby is quiet, all muted luxury and elegance. I pass through it like a ghost, my footsteps echoing faintly on the marble floors.

The elevator ride is mercifully short. As I reach my floor, the soft ding of the doors opening is the only sound that greets me. Fumbling with my key card, my hands shake as I unlock the door.

---