Chapter 246

Milo called out "Mommy" again and again.

Sophia squeezed her eyes shut, letting the tears soak into Milo's hair.

Every rational thought told her she couldn't acknowledge it.

But maternal instinct—hearing her child's cries against her chest—made it impossible to form a single word of denial.

Milo lifted his face from her arms, beaming with the most radiant smile she'd ever seen.

He kept calling "Mommy, Mommy" without stopping, his small hands gripping Sophia's fingers tight as he pulled her toward the gazebo's edge, his voice half-crying, half-bursting with excitement.

"Mommy, Daddy says there's an ocean view up ahead! It's so pretty! Mommy, let's go see the ocean—come with Milo, okay? Please come with me!"

Sophia let him pull her along.

She watched his small back, tears still streaming, but her feet followed him forward of their own accord.

Caspian stood inside the gazebo, watching Sophia being led away. His hand at his side clenched.

Milo pulled Sophia to where Gerald stood.

Gerald was backlit by the sun, his expression unreadable.

Milo positioned himself between them, one hand clutching Sophia's, the other reaching for Gerald's. He pressed their hands together, then tilted his little face up—looking left, then right—his smile impossible to suppress.

"Let's go. Let's go see the ocean together."

The three of them walked along the narrow path.

Sea wind swept in from the side.

Gerald walked on the outer edge, blocking the wind, his pace steady—perfectly matched to Milo's short stride.

The path ended at an open clifftop, and the view broke wide.

The entire ocean spread before them without obstruction—deep blue and pale blue woven together, stretching to the horizon where sea dissolved into sky.

Milo released both their hands and ran to the cliff's edge. "Wow—!"

He spun around, waving at Sophia. "Mommy, come quick! It's so pretty!"

Sophia walked over and stood beside him.

The wind hit her face, cool and light, carrying something that felt like freedom.

She looked out at that vast expanse of water, and all those things she'd kept buried for so long seemed to scatter, piece by piece, on the breeze.

Milo ran back to grab Gerald's hand, dragging him to his other side.

Three of them stood shoulder to shoulder—Milo in the middle, Sophia on the left, Gerald on the right.

He tilted his face up and pulled their hands together in front of him.

Gerald looked down, then pulled his phone from his pocket and raised it, lens aimed at the three of them.

Milo beamed at the camera.

Sophia started to duck away. Gerald's voice came from beside her: "Don't move. Something to remember."

She froze mid-motion.

She looked at that little smiling face in the frame, and in the end, she didn't move.

The shutter clicked. The moment was captured.

Gerald lowered the phone and studied the photo on screen.

The wind had tousled everyone's hair. Milo stood in the center grinning, eyes crinkled with joy. Sophia's lips curved slightly—a little stiff, but more genuine than any smile she'd ever forced.

His gaze lingered on her face for a beat. Then his thumb swiped across the screen. He opened Instagram, selected the photo, and typed a caption: [Today.]

Posted.

Sophia's phone buzzed in her pocket.

She pulled it out. The screen lit up, and the Instagram notification was unmistakable.

Gerald's profile. The photo—the three of them together, the vast blue ocean behind them.

She looked up at him.

He was already sliding the phone back into his pocket, his profile sharp and cold—nothing like the man with the faint smile in that picture.

She drew a deep breath. "Posting something like that is completely unnecessary."

Gerald studied her faintly flushed cheeks, a glint of amusement flickering in his dark eyes.

He leaned in, closing the distance, his voice carrying that suffocating pressure. "Unnecessary? What's unnecessary about it? That's not you in the photo? Or is the child in the middle not yours?"

"Gerald!"

Sophia clenched her jaw. "We're already in the middle of divorce proceedings! What are you trying to do, posting something that misleading? Or is it that—"

A cold smile crossed her face. "The great Mr. Churchill has learned to play these self-deluding little games?"

The word 'divorce' hit the air like a blade. Gerald's dark eyes contracted sharply, and the temperature around him plummeted.

He locked onto her gaze, his voice a cold counter: "What's wrong, Sophia? Are you scared? Scared someone will see you standing next to me—or scared a certain outsider will see it and ruin your little arrangement?"

Sophia felt the absurdity of it wash over her.

She looked at this insufferably arrogant man, and the anger in her eyes gradually faded.

"Scared? Gerald, you think far too highly of yourself. At this point, what do I have left to care about besides Milo?"

Besides her child, her heart was already dead.

Gerald stepped closer. His tall frame cast her entirely in shadow.

"If you don't care about anything, then what are you afraid of?"

He leaned down, his lips near her ear, his tone almost a command:

"Sophia, remember what you said today. From now on, put Milo first. Always. And put away whatever thoughts you shouldn't be having."

"Milo wants to see us get along. Are you really going to go against his wishes?"

Sophia stared at him, finding the man before her utterly beyond reason.

He always used Milo as his excuse.

And yet she couldn't find a single word to argue back.

Sophia said nothing.

She lowered her gaze to Milo, crouched at the cliff's edge picking up pebbles, his small silhouette curled in the sunlight. All the turmoil churning inside her was slowly, steadily pressed down by that tiny figure.

She took a deep breath, refused to look at Gerald again, and turned to walk toward Milo.

---

On the road back, several cars were already parked along the shoulder waiting.

They'd each driven separately to this coastal mountain road before switching to bikes for the ride. Now that Caspian was injured, Qiana drove him to the hospital to get his wounds treated, taking Yves along.

That left only Gerald's car—and the rideshare Sophia had arrived in.

"Mommy, ride with us!"

The instant Milo saw Sophia heading toward her white sedan, panic flashed across his face.

He ran to her, both small arms locking around her thigh, his voice turning pleading and pitiful.

"Mommy, Milo doesn't want to be apart from you for even one second. Please ride in Daddy's car—stay with Milo, okay? Please?"

As he begged, he nuzzled his head against her leg, long lashes still glistening with tears that threatened to fall.

Sophia's heart melted completely.

But when she lifted her gaze and saw Gerald leaning against the black luxury car, every instinct told her to refuse.