Chapter 7
Amber spent the entire day outside in the garden with Nico. The bright sunshine filtered through the thick canopies of trees, casting dappled light across the sprawling acres of lush green grass. The roses bloomed in vibrant shades of red and pink, their fragrance wafting through the air. But despite the beauty of the surroundings, Amber’s mind was elsewhere—constantly drifting to the events of the morning, replaying the strained encounter between Luc and Nico in her head.
Her heart was heavy with worry. It was crucial that Nico and Luc spend time together, that they forge a connection. Every time she glanced toward the large iron gate at the entrance, she hoped to see Luc’s car pull up, but it never did. Hours passed, and with each tick of the clock, her anxiety grew. She knew how important this trip was, how much Luc needed to reconnect with his son. But it seemed like fate—or Luc’s avoidance—was working against them.
Nico had been unusually quiet all day, staying glued to her side. Normally, he was a happy, curious child with a sunny disposition. He loved to explore and run around, but today, he barely moved. He didn’t want to play, didn’t want to explore the vast garden or the many toys scattered around. Instead, he remained pouty and silent, only breaking the quiet every few hours to tug on her sleeve and ask, “Can we go home, Mommy?”
Amber’s heart ached with each request. She could see the confusion in his little face, the hurt that came from not understanding why they had to be here or why his father, who should have been the source of joy and comfort, wasn’t around. By the time the sun began to set, Nico was so exhausted from his emotional day that Amber gave him an early dinner and tucked him into bed, watching his tiny chest rise and fall as he finally found some peace in sleep.
It wasn’t until nine o’clock that night, long after Nico had fallen asleep, that Luc finally returned. Amber was sitting alone in the drawing room, staring into the flickering fire when she heard the heavy sound of the front door closing. Luc appeared in the doorway, looking disheveled. His hair was mussed, his tie hung loosely around his neck, and the sleeves of his shirt were rolled back to his elbows. He looked tired—more tired than she had ever seen him.
“You’re late,” Amber said softly, her voice betraying none of the storm swirling inside her. “Nico’s already gone to bed.”
Luc’s face flickered with something—was it regret? Pain? It was so quick that Amber couldn’t be sure. “Good,” he muttered. “I’ll see him in the morning.”
His words were as emotionless as ever, but Amber caught the slight tremor in his voice. Luc moved toward the bar, pulling out an old bottle of whiskey and pouring himself a generous glass. The silence between them was thick, heavy with unspoken words and unresolved tension.
“I was hoping you might take him to the park tomorrow,” Amber suggested, her voice carefully neutral. She was hoping, *praying*, that this would be the moment to break the ice between father and son, to mend the gap between them. But Luc’s response was swift, and it shattered the fragile hope she had been holding onto.
“I have work tomorrow,” he replied, not even turning to face her. “I have to go to Naples in the morning, and I’ve got more than enough on my plate at the office.”
Amber’s heart sank. She wasn’t going to give up that easily. “I just thought,” she began cautiously, “that maybe you and Nico could spend some time together, and—”
“And what, Amber?” Luc’s voice cut through the room like a knife, his frustration boiling to the surface. “And make me fall in love with him all over again just so you can take him away from me and disappear halfway across the world? So I can only see him three or four times a year?”
The bitterness in his voice was palpable. Amber felt it like a physical blow, and tears pricked the corners of her eyes. She hadn’t anticipated just how deep Luc’s pain went. “That’s not what I intended,” she said quietly, her voice trembling. “You could’ve come to see him anytime. I’ve never kept him from you, Luc. But you keep blaming me for everything. Please, don’t put this on me too. You only visited him three times last year. Three times! And I know for a fact that you were in the States more than a dozen times during that period. Even on his birthday…” Her voice broke, but she forced herself to continue. “He waited for you, Luc. For hours. He wouldn’t cut his cake because he thought you’d show up. But you didn’t.”
Her voice was thick with emotion now, the tears spilling over despite her best efforts to hold them back. “Sometimes it feels like you’re punishing him for being *my* son,” she whispered. “I know you hate me, but I never thought you’d hold that against him.”
Luc slammed the decanter onto the table with a force that made Amber jump. He turned to face her, and the look in his eyes sent a chill down her spine. His jaw was tight, his knuckles white as he gripped the edge of the bar.
“Enough,” he growled, his voice low and dangerous. In a few quick strides, he closed the distance between them, gripping her arms tightly, pulling her close until their faces were inches apart. His eyes burned with a fierce intensity that made Amber’s breath catch in her throat. “Never suggest I don’t love my son again,” he spat, his voice trembling with anger and something deeper—something raw and painful. “I love Nico more than anything in this world.”
Amber’s breath hitched as Luc’s grip tightened, his fingers digging into her skin. “Do you want to know why I didn’t visit him more often?” he asked, his voice hoarse with emotion. “Why I didn’t knock on your door every weekend? Because it hurts too damn much, Amber. Every time I see him, it tears me apart to leave him behind. I can barely function for days afterward. Do you know what that’s like? To watch your child’s face crumble as you walk away? And you expect me to do that every weekend?”
His words hung in the air between them, heavy and suffocating. Amber’s self-righteous tears turned to a painful lump in her throat as the weight of Luc’s confession hit her. She had never considered how much it hurt him to leave Nico behind, how much he had suffered in his own way. And now, with the reality of her own situation pressing down on her, she realized with bitter irony that she finally understood Luc’s pain. Because soon, she would be the one to leave Nico behind. And it would break her.
Luc had no idea what she was going through—what she would soon face. But the thought of it weighed on her like a stone, crushing her from the inside out.
In that moment, Amber saw Luc differently. Not as the man she had once loved, not as the father of her child, but as a man drowning in the same pain she was trying so hard to hide.