I pulled Leo behind me.

“Move, Ethan.”

He didn’t.

For three years, I had imagined what would happen if we ever met again.

In none of those scenarios was our son standing between us holding a cereal box and staring at Ethan like he had just discovered a taller version of himself.

Ethan lowered his eyes to Leo.

“What’s your name?”

“Leo.”

“Leo what?”

“Law—”

“Leo Carter,” I interrupted.

Ethan’s gaze snapped back to mine.

Carter was my maiden name.

His jaw tightened.

“Convenient.”

“Mom,” Leo whispered loudly, “is he angry because you took away his candy too?”

I nearly laughed.

Ethan did not.

He crouched until he was eye level with Leo.

It was strange seeing him like that.

My ex-husband had always hated children making noise in restaurants, hated sticky hands, hated anything that interrupted his perfectly controlled schedule.

But now his expression softened in a way I had never seen during our marriage.

“Do you like dinosaurs?” he asked.

Leo’s entire face lit up.

“I know all of them.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Even the hard names.”

Ethan glanced at me.

Of course.

His obsession as a child had been dinosaurs.

His mother had once shown me an entire box of Ethan’s old books, each one filled with handwritten notes correcting the scientists.

I tightened my grip on the shopping cart.

“We’re leaving.”

Leo waved.

“Bye, tall man.”

Ethan stood.

“I’m coming with you.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

I turned sharply.

“You lost the right to follow me anywhere the day we signed those papers.”

Something flickered in his eyes.

“And if he’s my son?”

I leaned closer.

“Then maybe you should remember why I never called you.”

That stopped him.

For one second, the supermarket disappeared.

I remembered our last night together.

Ethan’s mother sitting at our dining table, calmly explaining that I would never be good enough for the Lawson family.

Ethan standing beside her.

Silent.

I had waited for him to defend me.

He hadn’t.

The next morning, I packed one suitcase.

A month later, I discovered Leo.

“Maya…”

“No.”

I pushed the cart past him.

This time Ethan didn’t block me.

But when Leo and I reached the parking lot, I noticed him standing behind the glass doors.

Watching us.

Especially Leo.

That night, after I put my son to bed, my phone rang.

Unknown number.

I declined it.

It rang again.

Declined.

A message appeared.

We need to talk.

I stared at it.

Then another arrived.

I won’t involve my mother.

I laughed bitterly.

Three years too late.

I blocked the number.

At 8:07 the next morning, my doorbell rang.

Tessa, who had slept over after hearing about the supermarket disaster, looked through the peephole.

Her face changed.

“Oh.”

“What?”

“Maya…”

“What?”

“There’s a problem outside.”

I walked toward the door.

“Is it Ethan?”

“No.”

That made me stop.

Tessa stepped aside.

I looked through the peephole.

My stomach dropped.

Standing on my porch in a cream designer coat, pearl earrings and the same expression of permanent superiority I remembered perfectly…

was Eleanor Lawson.

Ethan’s mother.

I opened the door only enough to step outside and immediately closed it behind me.

“How did you find me?”

She smiled.

“You disappeared with my grandson for nearly four years. Did you really think I couldn’t find an address?”

“He is not your grandson.”

Her smile vanished.

“You were always a terrible liar.”

I folded my arms.

“You have thirty seconds.”

Eleanor opened her handbag.

“I came to prevent Ethan from making a mistake.”

Of course.

Not to meet Leo.

Not to ask whether he was healthy.

Not even to question whether she had missed three years of her grandson’s life.

Just damage control.

She pulled out an envelope.

I didn’t take it.

“What is that?”

“A solution.”

She opened it herself.

Inside was a check.

I looked at the number.

Then looked again.

Two million dollars.

I actually laughed.

“You’re trying to buy my child?”

“I’m asking you to leave before Ethan becomes emotionally involved.”

“He’s three years old, Eleanor. He’s not a hostile takeover.”

“You know exactly what I mean.”

Her voice became colder.

“Ethan is about to announce his engagement.”

That sentence hit harder than I expected.

Not because I still loved him.

I told myself that immediately.

But because less than twenty-four hours after discovering his son existed, Ethan apparently already had another family waiting.

Eleanor continued.

“His fiancée comes from the right background. Their marriage will benefit both families. A surprise child with an ex-wife complicates things.”

I stared at the check.

Then slowly pushed it back toward her.

“Keep your money.”

“Maya.”

“Your son can marry whoever he wants.”

“And Leo?”

“My son stays with me.”

A small sound came from behind the door.

My blood froze.

“Mom?”

Leo.

Before I could stop him, the door opened.

He stepped outside wearing dinosaur pajamas, holding his stuffed triceratops.

Eleanor stared at him.

And for the first time since I had known her, Eleanor Lawson looked speechless.

Because there was no denying it.

Leo looked exactly like Ethan had in the childhood photographs displayed throughout the Lawson estate.

Leo looked at her curiously.

“Are you the tall man’s mom?”

Eleanor’s face went pale.

Then another voice came from the driveway.

“Mother.”

I turned.

Ethan was walking toward us.

His eyes moved from Eleanor…

to the check in her hand.

Everything about him changed.

“What are you doing here?”

Eleanor recovered quickly.

“Solving a problem before you make it worse.”

Ethan looked at the check.

Then at me.

“You offered her money?”

“She hid your son from you!”

“And you’re trying to pay her to keep doing it?”

His voice was frighteningly calm.

Eleanor stepped closer.

“Think about your engagement.”

“I am.”

“Then act rationally.”

Ethan looked at Leo.

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

Then he said something that made Eleanor’s face collapse.

“There won’t be an engagement.”

I stared at him.

“What?”

Ethan ignored me.

He reached into his coat and pulled out a folded document.

“I came here because there’s something Maya needs to know before we discuss Leo.”

My stomach tightened.

“What?”

He handed me the paper.

I unfolded it.

It was an old legal document.

Our divorce agreement.

Except one section had been highlighted.

A section I had never seen.

My signature was at the bottom.

But beside it was another signature.

A witness.

Eleanor Lawson.

I looked up slowly.

Ethan’s expression was dark.

“My lawyer reviewed our divorce file last night.”

He pointed to the highlighted paragraph.

“That clause wasn’t in the agreement I signed.”

I looked down again.

And when I finally understood what it said, my hands began to shake.

Because according to that document, if I had been pregnant when our divorce was finalized…

I had legally agreed to surrender something I would never, ever have willingly given away.
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