Page 85 of Tied to Hope
“I’m sorry, Vlad.”
“Sorry?” he cried out. “What makes you think that means anything in a situation like this? First, you break my heart by telling me you’re dying, and then you crush it by telling me you want someone else to raise my son?”
“You were never supposed to know,” she said with tears in her eyes. “I didn’t want to hurt you.”
Vlad looked away from her, struggling to contain his emotions.
“Dying or not, that is not a decision you get to make,” Rytsar stated. “Vlad is the boy’s biological father.”
Vlad faced her again and insisted, “Let me at least hold my boy.”
She nodded, letting Vlad take the child from her arms.
Sasha stood back and watched them with a sad, far-off look in her eyes as Vlad held the boy up and smiled at him.
Brie felt sympathy for the woman despite the fact that she had purposely deceived both men.
“Where do we go from here?” Rytsar asked her.
Sasha dabbed at her eyes. “I don’t know. I never planned for this day.”
“How long do you have, Sasha?” Sir asked her.
She frowned, sighing. “The survival rate is horrifyingly low for pancreatic cancer, and I’m in the advanced stages. Each day it becomes harder and harder to hold my son.”
“How can this be? You don’t look like you’re dying,” Vlad protested.
She gave him a sad smile. “It’s a silent killer. That’s what makes it so deadly. I went in for severe back pain and left knowing I would die within the year.” She looked at Rytsar. “The day I got the diagnosis, I wrote you the letter. I knew I didn’t have much time.”
“You should have told me,” Rytsar said with great sorrow.
“I didn’t want pity.”
Rytsar cupped her chin and gazed deep into her eyes. “I can see you are in pain. I am sorry this is your fate,lisichka.”
She gave him a tender look on hearing him call her by her pet name.
“I will be okay as long as I know Viktor will be taken care of.”
Vlad walked to her with Viktor in his arms. “I pledge my life to this boy.”
Sasha nodded, seemingly accepting this twist of fate. “He looks at home in your arms, Vlad.”
Smiling, she gave her son several kisses on the cheek.
The mood was somber on the drive back, but Brie took comfort in watching Vlad with the boy. Sasha had insisted that Vlad take Viktor for a few hours so the two could get to know one other. It resulted in Vlad comforting an unhappy child who was missing his mother, but he was patient with Viktor.
“What are you going to do with the boy after she passes?” Rytsar asked.
“Zoya would never turn a child away.”
“Even knowing the circumstances?” Rytsar asked.
“She may hate me now, but she has a tender heart for children.”
Rytsar nodded. “I will have the lawyers contact you to establish your parental rights.”
“Good,” Vlad grunted.
