Chapter 159 159

Chapter 159 159
EMILY

Sleep had become one of those things that only visited me when my mind was too exhausted to keep fighting itself, so by the time I had tucked Zara into bed and finished cleaning the kitchen, all I wanted was to crawl beneath my blankets and forget that the previous day had ever happened. 

Seeing Ryan again had reopened wounds I had spent weeks convincing myself had finally begun to heal, and no matter how hard I tried to distract myself, his voice kept finding its way back into my thoughts.

I had just switched off my bedside lamp when my phone buzzed on the nightstand.

Assuming it was Morgan sending me another meme or reminding me to stop shutting people out, I reached for the phone without much thought.

Instead, I found a message from an unfamiliar number.

Unknown: Please, can we meet?

I frowned.

For several seconds I simply stared at the screen before typing a reply.

Who is this?

The response came almost immediately.

Unknown: It's Ryan.

My chest tightened despite myself and I closed my eyes briefly before opening the conversation again.

Of course it was him.

Who else would choose the worst possible time to disrupt what little peace I'd managed to build?

I typed slowly.

What do you want to talk about?

Three little dots appeared almost instantly.

Unknown: Can I tell you when we meet?

I stared at the message for what felt like forever.

A younger version of me would have asked a dozen questions. She would have needed answers immediately because she still believed that love meant every conversation was worth having.

The woman I had become simply locked the phone and placed it back on the nightstand.

If Ryan had something to say, it could wait.

Several minutes passed before the phone buzzed again.

Against my better judgment, I picked it up.

Unknown: Emily?

I sighed quietly before typing the shortest reply I could manage.

Okay.

His response came so quickly that I wondered if he had been sitting there waiting for it.

Unknown: Thank you. Anytime you're free.

I smiled faintly, though there wasn't much amusement behind it.

Sure.

The message was polite enough to end the conversation, but even as I sent it, I already knew I had no intention of texting him again.

There was a difference between agreeing to something in the moment and actually making room for it in my life.

Ryan would eventually figure that out.

The following morning arrived with the kind of clear blue sky that made everything feel deceptively peaceful.

After helping Zara get dressed and making breakfast, I found myself thinking about the bakery for the first time in days. 

Between everything that had happened with Ryan, his mother, and the endless emotional chaos surrounding my life, I'd unintentionally neglected the one place that had always felt entirely mine.

If I was going to move forward, then rebuilding my bakery needed to become my priority.

I picked up my phone and called Morgan.

The call rang once.

Twice.

Three times.

Four.

By the fifth ring, she finally answered.

"You'd better be dying," she grumbled dramatically.

I laughed.

"So you're still mad?"

"Oh, absolutely."

"Seriously?"

"What did you expect?" she asked without missing a beat. "You came back, spent barely any time with us, dropped emotional bombs on everybody, and disappeared again almost immediately."

"I know."

"No, you don't."

"I do."

She sighed loudly into the phone.

"I was worried about you."

The teasing in her voice disappeared, replaced by genuine concern.

"I'm okay."

"Liar."

I smiled despite myself.

"Are you back in Hong Kong already?"

I scoffed.

"Of course not."

"Good."

The relief in her voice was impossible to miss.

"Then what are you calling for?"

"I was thinking of heading over to the bakery."

There was a brief silence.

"I want to see what still needs repairing so I can finally start putting everything back together."

Another pause followed.

Long enough for me to notice.

"Morgan?"

"Hmm?"

She laughed nervously.

I narrowed my eyes even though she couldn't see me.

"What happened?"

"Nothing."

"Morgan."

"Nothing happened."

She hesitated again before speaking.

"Just... come pick me up."

I blinked.

"I'll be there in twenty minutes."

"I'll be waiting."

The drive across town felt strangely familiar.

Zara sat happily in the back seat, humming along to the music playing softly through the speakers while pointing excitedly at random things outside the window. 

Every few minutes she'd ask an impossible question only a child could think of, and by the time we picked Morgan up, the two of them were already laughing together as though yesterday's emotional disaster had never happened.

Watching them reminded me why I had fought so hard to protect the life we'd built.

No matter what happened with Ryan, this little family meant everything to me.

By the time we turned onto the street where my bakery stood, I found myself instinctively slowing the car.

Something looked...

Different.

I frowned.

The closer we got, the more confused I became.

My bakery wasn't supposed to look like that.

I parked across the street before climbing out of the car, my eyes refusing to believe what they were seeing.

The blackened walls were gone.

The broken windows had been replaced.

Fresh paint gleamed beneath the morning sun while workers moved in and out carrying supplies, ladders, and boxes of equipment as though they had been working there for days.

It looked...

Beautiful.

More beautiful than it had before the fire.

I turned slowly toward Morgan.

"What... in God's name is going on?"

She smiled but didn't answer.

I looked back at the building.

"Did someone buy my bakery?"

Morgan lifted her hand and pointed toward the entrance.

"There."

Confused, I followed the direction of her finger.

A man stood with his back to us, speaking to several contractors while studying a set of architectural drawings spread across the hood of a pickup truck.

Even from behind...

I would have recognized that broad frame anywhere.

My heart stopped.

Ryan.