Chapter 7
I hid away for a long time, only emerging from my cramped apartment when my due date finally arrived, dragging my heavy, swollen body behind me.
I never expected someone to be waiting for me downstairs.
He had silver hair, wore wire-rimmed glasses, and carried himself with a gentle, scholarly air. His smile was warm and kind.
I didn’t know him. I’d never seen him before. But the moment I laid eyes on him, an overwhelming sense of relief washed over me.
After all those days of suffering alone with this secret, I was finally about to end it with my own hands.
Clutching my hospital bag, I shuffled over carefully. Seeing how awkwardly I moved, the man kindly offered to carry my bag for me.
I shot him a grateful smile. “Thank you.”
He shook his head with a soft laugh. “It’s nothing at all.”
Instead of letting me take the bus, he invited me to ride in his car.
“I happened to catch the livestream that day,” he said as we walked. “I saw Lukas die. Ever since then, I’ve been searching for you.”
I looked at him in surprise. “You knew Lukas?”
He nodded, a wistful note in his voice. “Lukas was my only grandson. When he was little, he loved listening to my stories.”
His gaze shifted to my belly, his eyes full of tenderness. “Freya and I never saw eye to eye. We argued for years, and finally, when we were both middle-aged, we divorced. It was ugly. After that, she wouldn’t let me see Lukas at all.
“But I never forgot how sweet he was as a boy. That’s why seeing the livestream broke my heart.
“When I heard you were carrying his child, I did everything I could to find you. I want to help, if you’ll let me.”
He stared at my belly, his expression deep and unreadable.
Lowering his voice, he asked, “Did you find out yet? Is it a boy?”
I studied his pale, bloodless face, ignoring his question. Instead, I asked, “Did you and Freya really get divorced just because of personality differences?”
My question seemed to rattle him, but he quickly forced a smile. “Blake asked me the same thing back then. He al-
ways thought, after decades of marriage, that a couple should be able to weather anything. Divorce seemed impossi- ble to him.”
I blinked. “Lukas told me you’d been out of touch with them for more than 20 years. Why didn’t you ever go back to see your family?”
He gave a bitter laugh. “Kids are always closer to their mothers. Blake hated me for divorcing Freya, so he refused to speak to me all these years.”
“Is that so? Because that’s not what Lukas said.”
I pulled out my tablet and opened the file Lukas had left for me, reading a passage aloud.
“Grandpa did something terrible, something that destroyed our family beyond repair. That’s why he was cast out.”
“What did you do?”
I hadn’t expected Lukas to leave me something like this. The man’s face went pale with panic.
He tried to smile, but it was strained. “Lukas was just a kid. He didn’t know what he was talking about.”
“Is that so?” I pressed, my voice sharp. “He was young, not stupid. He remembered plenty-including what you did to your daughter-in-law, Wren!”
