Chapter 3 closed the door behind him

Elysia barely felt the weight of the baby in her arms as she stepped back into her apartment, her mind spinning. The air was thick with tension as Cassian followed, his presence looming behind her like a shadow she couldn't escape.

She swallowed hard, ignoring the way her fingers trembled as she cradled the baby against her chest. His tiny body was warm, his breaths shallow but steady. He smelled of soft powder and something faintly familiar-Cassian's cologne, clinging to the baby's blanket.

The thought made something tighten painfully in her chest.

Cassian closed the door behind him, his soaked coat dripping onto the floor. He stood silently, his gaze fixed on her, watching her every movement like he was waiting for her to break.

She almost had.

But not for him.

"Sit," she muttered, motioning toward the couch without looking at him. She needed space. She needed to breathe.

Instead of sitting, Cassian crossed his arms. "I need to explain."

Elysia scoffed softly, carefully shifting the baby in her arms. "You need a lot of things, Cassian."

His jaw tightened, but he said nothing.

Silence stretched between them. The only sound in the room was the baby's soft breathing and the faint ticking of the clock on the wall.

Elysia finally tore her gaze away from the baby and met Cassian's stare head-on. His eyes were darker than she remembered-sharper, haunted. There was something behind them that hadn't been there years ago.

Regret.

But she refused to let herself care.

"I'll do this," she said finally, her voice low but steady. "I'll feed him. But that's it, Cassian. Don't mistake this for anything else."

Cassian exhaled, his shoulders loosening slightly. "Understood."

She doubted it.

But she had no strength left to argue.

With careful movements, she carried the baby toward the bedroom, her steps slow, measured. Every instinct in her body screamed at her to be careful, to protect him-though she wasn't sure if she was protecting the baby, or herself.

She didn't glance back, but she could feel Cassian's eyes on her. Watching. Waiting.

She ignored him.

Inside the dimly lit bedroom, she gently sat on the edge of the bed, adjusting the baby in her arms. He was so small, so fragile. The painful ache in her chest deepened as memories of her own child flashed through her mind-memories she had buried, locked away, never meant to resurface.

But now, with this baby in her arms, the grief clawed its way back, raw and merciless.

She inhaled sharply, forcing herself to focus.

She wouldn't fall apart.

Not now. Not in front of Cassian.

The baby whimpered softly, his tiny mouth seeking comfort.

Elysia hesitated for only a second before surrendering to the inevitable.

As she fed him, an unbearable mixture of emotions crashed over her-grief, longing, an aching sense of loss. She closed her eyes, trying to block it out, but the pain was relentless, sinking its claws deeper into her soul.

Minutes passed in heavy silence.

When she finally looked up, she saw Cassian standing in the doorway, his expression unreadable.

Her lips parted, but no words came out.

Because for the first time in years, there was something in his eyes that made her heart clench.

Something dangerously close to sorrow.

And that terrified her more than anything else.