Chapter 5 Echoes Of The Past

The hospital hallway smelled like antiseptic and cold steel-a scent Mia had grown too familiar with. She sat in the waiting area outside Liam's room, her fingers anxiously tapping on the armrest of a cracked leather chair. The doctors were inside with Elias and Liam, running another round of tests. Today was the bone marrow match confirmation.

She hated this part. The waiting. The hoping. The part where she didn't get to do anything but pray.

The door creaked open.

Elias stepped out first, looking exhausted but composed. He ran a hand through his hair and offered her a tired smile. "It's a match," he said softly.

Mia blinked. "What?"

"I'm a match. For the transplant."

She stood slowly, her chest tightening. "Are you sure?"

Elias nodded. "One hundred percent."

Relief hit her like a wave, nearly knocking her knees out from under her. She didn't realize she was crying until Elias reached for her hand.

She flinched-but didn't pull away.

"He's going to be okay," Elias said. "We're going to make sure of that."

Mia's voice trembled. "I-thank you."

"I'm his father," he replied. "There's nothing to thank me for."

Later that night, after Liam had fallen asleep and Elias had gone home to prepare for his pre-surgical evaluations, Mia found herself pacing the penthouse.

She kept replaying his words. I'm his father. As if saying it out loud would make up for six years of silence.

Her phone buzzed on the kitchen counter. A message from a number she didn't recognize.

"He's lying to you. He always has."

Mia stared at the screen, her heart stuttering.

Another message came through immediately after.

"Ask him about the Sinclair deal. Ask him what he gave up... and what he kept."

Her breath caught.

The Sinclair deal. That had been the contract that took Elias to Singapore. The one that supposedly made him ghost her.

She dialed the number, but it was disconnected.

Paranoia slithered into her chest like a slow, cold fog. Who had sent that message? And why now?

The next morning, she confronted him.

Elias was seated on the edge of Liam's hospital bed, showing him how to fold origami cranes from hospital menu paper. Liam was laughing, eyes wide with wonder. The sight was so heartbreakingly beautiful it made her hesitate.

But she couldn't let it go.

"Can we talk?" she asked quietly.

Elias looked up. He saw her face and immediately nodded. "Of course."

They stepped into the hallway, away from Liam's ears.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Someone messaged me," she said bluntly. "Told me to ask you about the Sinclair deal."

Elias's face darkened, just for a moment.

"I don't know who it was," Mia added. "But they said you're lying. That you're still lying."

Elias exhaled slowly. "It's not what you think."

"I want the truth, Elias."

He looked down, the hallway lights casting long shadows on the tile. "The Sinclair deal wasn't just a promotion. It was a trade."

Mia frowned. "A trade for what?"

"For silence."

Her heart dropped.

"I got that deal because I agreed to walk away from someone," he continued. "You."

"What?"

"Your father," Elias said. "He offered Sinclair an expansion partnership-under the condition that I left you. Quietly. Without a trace."

Mia froze. "You're lying."

"I wish I was," Elias said. "I was twenty-four, fresh out of grad school, barely keeping my head above water. That contract promised everything I'd ever worked for. And your father-he threatened to destroy you if I didn't leave. He said he'd cut you off, ruin your reputation, blacklist you from every design school in Europe."

She staggered backward. "He wouldn't-"

"He did," Elias said. "I chose wrong. I know that. I should've told you. But I thought I was protecting you."

Mia's thoughts spun. Her father-gone now for three years-had always been cold, calculating, obsessed with legacy. But would he have really gone that far?

"You just... left," she whispered.

"I thought I could come back. After I was established. After he couldn't touch us anymore. But by the time I tried, you were gone. And I didn't even know about Liam."

She wrapped her arms around herself, the walls of the hospital spinning around her. "Why didn't you fight for me?"

"I didn't think I was enough," Elias admitted. "But I'm fighting now. For both of you."

Mia shook her head, tears stinging her eyes. "You broke me, Elias. And now... now you want me to trust you with the one thing I care about most."

"I want you to trust that I'll never walk away again."

A week passed.

Elias was prepped for surgery. The marrow extraction was scheduled for Thursday. Mia sat by Liam's bed, reading him stories while nurses bustled in and out. She'd barely spoken to Elias since their talk-still processing, still uncertain.

Liam glanced up from his tablet. "Will it hurt Daddy?"

Mia blinked. "What, baby?"

"The surgery. He said he's giving me magic blood to make me better."

She smiled despite herself. "It might hurt a little, but he says it's worth it."

Liam nodded solemnly. "Then I'm gonna be strong too. For him."

She kissed his forehead. "You already are."

On the day of the surgery, Mia watched Elias from across the prep room. He wore a surgical gown and cap, his features drawn but determined.

Before the nurses wheeled him away, he reached for her hand.

"Mia," he said. "If something happens-"

"Don't," she interrupted. "You'll be fine."

"But if it doesn't-"

"I'll kill you myself."

He laughed softly. "Deal."

She held his gaze. "Come back. For him."

"For both of you."

And then he was gone.

The surgery went smoothly.

Elias was kept overnight for monitoring, and Mia visited him late that evening after Liam had finally drifted to sleep.

He looked tired, pale, but alive.

"You did it," she said softly.

He smiled. "We did it."

Mia stood awkwardly by the edge of his bed. "Thank you. For what you gave up. And for what you're giving now."

Elias looked at her, and for a long moment, neither of them spoke. The tension in the air was no longer sharp-it was heavy, slow, uncertain.

"You don't have to forgive me," he said.

"I know," she replied.

"But I'm going to keep showing up," he added. "Until you believe it."

Mia nodded slowly, emotion rising in her throat.

She didn't know what came next.

But maybe, just maybe, she was willing to find out.