Chapter 100 100
Xavier's pov
When I got back home, there was a gift box waiting on the kitchen table.
It was wrapped in lush pink satin.
I shrugged off my jacket, hanging it by the door. Maisie wasn’t in. She wasn't here but was it from her?
I made my way to the present, examining it without opening it.
When I turned around, Maisie was standing before me, hands stuffed into her gown’s pockets. Through the fog of exhaustion, I noticed the dark circle under her eyes.
“You haven’t slept well?”
I took her silence as confirmation.
I ambled toward her, bracketing her face in my rough palms. She looked like she hadn't slept for days. Why?
“Babe, what happened? You look tired.” I said with concern.
“I look like a lot of fucking things I’m not.” She smiled through exhaustion.
“Oh.” I brushed my nose against hers, breathing her in, fingers curling around her waist. “I’m sorry. Did you stay up all night making that present for me?”
She nodded shyly and pulled away to reach for it. “Here.”
I cradled the little gift box in my hand. It felt so light. What did Maisie make for me?
Curiosity got the best of me and I uncovered the lid. My eyes went round when I saw what was inside — a pink knitted onesie.
I looked at her and she nodded with tears in her eyes.
“We're pregnant.” She smiled.
I'd never been so happy. I scooped her into my arms and gave her a big, fat kiss.
“I love you, Maisie.” I smiled.
“I love you…”
The rest of her words faded and I woke up.
It was a fucking dream but it was also reality.
Maisie had told me she was pregnant but our joy was short-lived when Gamma Rayes told me he'd found Kylie near the borders. I'd completely abandoned my mate and rushed to Kylie. I was an absolute idiot.
I rubbed my hand across my face and looked around my home office. It looked empty. The kind of empty that didn’t just sit in the room. It settled in my chest and refused to leave. I didn't realize how long I'd been staring at nothing until the silence started to feel loud.
I leaned back in my chair, loosening my tie like it had personally offended me. The city stretched wide beyond the glass walls, alive, busy, moving on. Everyone was moving on except him.
My fingers hovered over the desk, tapping lightly, restlessly. There were documents in front of him both important ones and useless ones, reminding me of the remains of a company that used to mean something. Now, it just felt like something I was trying not to lose because I had already lost everything else.
My jaw tightened. Maybe that was why she came to my mind again. Maisie.
I didn’t even know what triggered it this time. Maybe it was the quiet. Maybe it was the way grief had stripped me down to nothing but memories I couldn’t outrun. Or maybe… It was guilt finally catching up.
I exhaled sharply and stood up.
Before I could think myself out of it, he was already moving, walking out of my office, down the hallway, past staff who pretended not to notice how different I looked now.
I barely registered their greetings as he pushed open the storage room door. The smell of dust hit me first. I hadn’t been here in years.
Boxes lined the shelves—old files, archived records, pieces of a life I didn’t think I’d need again but I knew exactly what I was looking for or maybe… who.
My hands moved quickly, almost impatiently, pulling out folders, flipping through papers, tossing things aside.
“Where is it…” I muttered under my breath.
I searched till I found it. A thin file slipped from between two others, falling slightly open in my hands.
And there she was. Maisie.
I froze. For a second, everything in me went still.
She looked younger and happier in the photo. And her smile wasn't the kind of smile people fake for pictures but the kind that reached her eyes, the kind that comes from feeling safe. From feeling loved.
My throat tightened. I didn’t deserve to remember her like this.
“Xavier?”
The voice startled me.
I turned sharply, the file still in my hand.
Grandma Rayes stood at the doorway, his eyes narrowing slightly as he took in the scattered files, the dust, and most importantly… what I was holding.
He walked in slowly.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, his tone careful but edged with suspicion.
I didn’t answer immediately.
His gaze dropped to the photo in my hand and his expression changed.
“…Maisie?” he said softly, then his voice grew firmer. “We haven’t seen her in over three years.”
“I saw her,” I said quietly. “Recently.”
Rayes blinked, clearly not expecting that. “…What?”
“She’s… doing well. She's dating Alpha Roman now.” I added, though the words felt strange in my mouth.
Rayes studied me for a long moment, then he sighed.
“So why are you looking for her picture?” he asked. “What exactly are you trying to do, Xavier?”
I didn’t answer because I couldn't tell him or maybe I wanted to… and didn’t want to say it out loud.
Raye’s expression hardened slightly. “She’s with someone else now,” he continued. “She has moved on. Why can’t you do the same?”
That hit something but he didn’t stop.
“And why,” he added, his voice sharper now, “are you suddenly thinking about her when you just lost your wife?”
That did it.
“Enough!” The word came out harshly.
Rayes blinked, taken aback.
“I’m not having this conversation,” I said, my grip tightening on the file. “Not with you. Not now.”
“Xavier—”
“I said enough.”
The silence that followed was heavy. Rayes looked at me for a long second then shook his head.
“I don’t recognize you anymore,” he said quietly. Then he turned and walked out.
I stood there, unmoving. The words lingered but I pushed them away because right now… there was only one thing on my mind.