Page 54 of Rejected By My Stepbrother Alpha
“Ah, you must be Asher,” he said and reached out to shake my hand. “You look so much like your father. I’m so sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Mason said. “I’ve been following the changes you’ve made since taking over the company, and I’m sure your father would have been proud. Regrettably, we haven't kept in touch over the years, but we teamed up on a few projects when we were young and just starting our businesses. He was a good and fair man, your father.”
“Thank you for saying that,” I said and meant every word. “That means a lot.”
Well, just because I disliked Damian didn’t mean his father was a bad guy.
“How did today go?” Mason asked Ivy, Damian, and me.
But I could barely pay attention to Damian’s answer. Because now that I was able to look at Ivy’s son up close, my heart began to pound.
The boy—Adrian—looked like…me.
My vision blurred for a moment, and my brain seemed to short-circuit.
Adrian had the exact shade of brown hair as I did. He also had the same shy grin I’d seen in my childhood pictures when I was around the same age.
Adrian met my gaze, and my heart melted. There was just something so…familiar about him. It was like this boy belonged to me in every sense of the word. That same shy grin crossed Adrian’s face, and I had the strange desire to hug him. I was not usually a fan of children, but this was different. This feeling was primal and inevitable.
But the boy couldn’t be my son. Ivy and I had never slept together. We’d never even kissed. I would have remembered.
With a flare of jealousy, I noticed that Adrian had the same color eyes as Damian and Mason. Did that mean Adrian was his son? Could the similarities between Adrian and I be a coincidence?
“Mom, this morning you said that we could go to the diner and get a slice of key lime pie for dinner. Well, it’s dinner time now! Can we go? Please?” Adrian begged and tugged on Ivy’s hand.
Ivy smiled at her son and looked down at him with adoration. I could tell that this little boy was her whole world.
“Yes, honey,” she said. “You can have a slice of pie, but only after you eat dinner.”
Adrian beamed and my heart warmed when I noticed he was missing a couple of his teeth. The boy's eyes met mine and a look of curiosity crossed his face.
“Hi,” Adrian said to me. “What's your name?”
For a moment, my breath caught in my throat. When I recovered from the small shock, I bent down to his level and smiled at him.
“Hi, Adrian. My name's Asher. Wanna know a secret?”
Adrian nodded enthusiastically.
“Key lime is my favorite flavor of pie, too,” I said.
Adrian’s smile grew even further, and joy filled me at being the one to make him smile like that.
“Really?” he asked.
“Really.”
“Well, why don’t you come with us, then?” Adrian suggested excitedly. “Mom, Asher can come with us to get pie, can’t he?”
I straightened up and looked at Ivy. Hope made my heart lift slightly.
Ivy hesitated and glanced at Damian.
The bastard shook his head no.
“Sorry, honey. I’m sure Asher is really busy. We should go. Say goodbye,” Ivy rushed out and began to pull her son away from me before we even had a chance to say goodbye.
