Chapter 9 Old Wounds Surface

I could feel Callum's gaze scorching into me, like a hurricane approaching. His voice disturbed the quiet, harsh and accusing.

"Why did you keep him from me?"

His words hit me hard, and my heart raced in my chest. I took a step back, as if being farther away from each other could somehow make the question less strong. "Do you think I was hiding him?" My voice was tense and strained, but I wouldn't let him see how much it hurt to hear those words. "I wasn't keeping him from you, Callum." I was looking out for him.

"From me?" His eyebrow rose, and astonishment crossed his face. "You think I'd hurt him?"

I bit my lip, and the scars from long ago came back. "I had no idea what you were going to do. I didn't know what kind of person you were. You were cold and aloof, and you didn't even say goodbye. You just left.

His jaw tightened as his gaze became harder. "I left because I thought you didn't want me there." You shut me out.

"Did I shut you out?" I laughed, and it was bitter and biting. "You left me alone when I needed you the most." You think you can just come back and fix everything? "Callum, you can't be the hero now."

His hands turned into fists at his sides, and his eyes showed rage and fury. But there was also a strong, raw feeling that I couldn't quite put my finger on.

He started with, "Juniper, I," but the words stopped.

I said, "I don't want your apologies," and my voice shook. "I've moved on." This is how I live now. "Son."

He stepped forward, his expression softening, but I couldn't allow him get any closer.

Every word he said felt like it was cutting me deeper than the last. My mind raced, bringing back memories I had buried deep in my memory. Memories of a time when Callum was around were like ice: frigid and oppressive, never giving me the warmth I needed.

I closed my eyes for a second, and I was back there.

The day he left, our flat was a mess, and I was sitting on the couch with my hands on my bulging belly. I had just gotten a call about a design project that might have altered everything for me, but all I could think about was him.

His footsteps resonated in the hallway, and suddenly the door slammed behind him.

He responded in a flat voice, "You don't need me anymore." "You don't need me."

I remember standing there, motionless, with my heart broken. "I need you, Callum."

But he had turned and walked away without looking back.

I shook my mind and came back to the present. The memories still hurt.

I said, "You didn't care," my voice barely above a whisper. "You left me. From us. "You never even gave us a chance."

Callum's face changed, and something soft flickered in his eyes. For a split second, he looked like the man I used to know and trust. But the walls he had created between us were too solid for a few words to break down.

"I didn't want to hurt you," he added, his voice softer now and full of regret. "I didn't know how to stay."

I shook my head. "You didn't even give it a shot."

The air between us got thicker with all the things we hadn't addressed, and the past felt like an invisible wall we couldn't get over.

All of a sudden, my son's loud scream broke the tension in the flat. My heart stopped, and my body went towards the sound without me even thinking about it.

Callum's eyes followed mine, and as he walked towards the door, the anger in them faded.

The loud shriek cut through the air, raw and desperate. I ran to the nursery door without thinking, my pulse racing in my chest. The only thing that mattered now was Ben's loud, urgent voice.

I got to the room just as Callum's footsteps got there. He was right behind me, too near, but for a second that felt like forever, I forgot about everything else. The space between us got smaller, and in the heat of the moment, I let myself feel his presence again, like a pain in my chest that hadn't fully gone away.

Ben was crying and swinging his arms in his cot. His little face was screwed up in pain. I couldn't breathe. "It's okay, baby," I muttered, my hands shaking as I picked him up.

But when I held him, I could feel Callum's eyes on me, steady and focused on our kid. His eyes softened, and the harsh edge of his fury turned into something other, something soft that I hadn't seen in years. A weakness, a want to be a part of this.

"I've got him," I said softly, feeling Ben's small hands hold on to me as I rocked him gently. But I wasn't sure who I was trying to calm down when I said the words.

Callum was standing just behind me, not saying anything. He observed while I calmed Ben down with kind words and gentle sways. His face was hard to read.

With him present, the room felt smaller. His presence, which had formerly been a harsh reminder of all that had gone wrong between us, now felt strange, unsettling, and strangely reassuring.

The silence was thick and heavy. The calm hum of Ben's steady breathing as he finally nestled on my chest robbed the moment I least expected, the time when all could have fallen apart.

And in that quiet, Callum moved closer, as if something we couldn't define was pulling him closer.

He rarely spoke. "I never wanted it to be this way."

I closed my eyes and reflexively brushed Ben's hair back from his forehead to calm my own beating heart. This moment, as weak as it was, felt like a break in everything we had worked for and lost.

Callum stood across from me with his arms crossed and his jaw tense as he talked. There was something softer underneath his fury, a desperation I wasn't ready to deal with.

He stated in a low but steady voice, "I want legal custody."

I stopped moving and my breath caught. The words hurt a lot more than I thought they would. "What?" I said in a low voice, my stomach churning. "You want... custody?"

He looked me in the eye without blinking. "I'm not going to let you raise him by yourself." He's also mine. And I'll do anything to keep him safe.

I shook my head, and my heart raced. "You can't come back after all this time and tell me what's best for him." I've kept him secure even when you weren't there.

His eyes hardened. "I've messed up, Juniper." But I'll never let him grow up without a dad. "Not again."

I said, "Don't do this," and my voice shook. "I won't let my life get out of hand again." Not to you.

"I'm giving you protection." "Callum pushed, his voice harsh, as if the reality had finally gotten beyond the barricades he had created. "A future where he's secure and we're safe."

I made fists with my hands, and my nails dug into my palms. "And what do you want in return, Callum?" You think you can just walk back into my life and take what's yours? What happened after you left?

He stepped forward, his breath seizing in his chest, but I stood my ground. "I'm not asking for anything in return." But I'll do what I have to do for my son.

A shudder rushed down my spine, and I felt a knot in my gut. I felt like I was going to die when I thought about Callum taking over and coming back.

"I won't let you do this," I said, moving away with my heart racing. "I've worked too hard to lose everything now."

I couldn't get up. Callum's voice hung in the air between us, making the room feel heavier and more oppressive. I could still hear what he had said, but now he was saying something even more absurd.

He pulled something out of his coat and remarked, "Let's make it official."

I turned quickly, and my eyes got bigger as I noticed the contract he put across the table. My heart stopped for a second, and I couldn't breathe.

"Callum..." I mumbled and shook my head in astonishment. "What is this?"

He leaned closer and kept his eyes on mine. "A proposal of marriage."

I blinked and felt like someone had hit me. "A what?"

He added, "Not just any proposal," in a calm voice. "A deal for business. We get married. "You keep your freedom, I keep my name, and we both get what we want."

The words twisted in my head, making them seem too strange to understand at first. "Do you think I'd marry you, Callum?" "After all that?"

"I'm not asking for your love." I want to work together. For us, for him. He ran his finger along the border of the contract. "You desire safety. You want to be in charge of your life. "I'm giving it."

When I picked up the contract, my hands shook. The weight of it in my hands made everything seem too real. "You think this is what I need?" "A piece of paper, a legal contract, to make everything right?"

He crossed his arms and leaned back, eyeing me attentively. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm giving you protection. For you and him. But I won't do it just the way you want.

The room felt smaller suddenly, like it was about to suffocate under the weight of his presence and his suggestion.

I looked at the contract with my heart racing. I wanted to rip it up and leave. But the other side, the one I detested, wanted to give up. To agree. To let him back in and give him power.

I didn't say anything since I was torn between rage and need. It was hard to breathe because of the tension in the air, and my silence only made it worse.

I didn't know what to say.