Chapter 85

NOLAN’S POV

It had been a week since the confrontations at the hospital, and it had been the most excruciating week of my life.

I hadn’t seen Anna. Not once. Not my family either. The only two people who had managed to find me were Camila and Dimitri. They knew where I was staying, and Camila made sure of that. She was the one who rescued me and my team from that goddamn warehouse.

Since then, I’d been holed up in a hotel room, staring at the ceiling more than I’d like to admit. Every day, I replay the betrayal in my head like an endless loop. And it wasn’t just the betrayal from Anna. It was from my father also. My whole life had been wrapped in lies.

And now… this baby. The one I had promised to love, raise, and protect wasn’t mine.

I’ve been tempted more times than I could count to call Anna and ask to see the baby. But every time, the image of Ivan grabbing Anna’s arm and claiming the child haunted me. 

A knock on the door snapped me out of my thoughts.

I sat up, annoyed. I wasn’t expecting anyone.

I dragged myself to the door to check who was at the door. I checked through the peephole and saw Camila standing at the door and waving. 

I creaked the door open. “Go away,” I muttered. 

“Too late,” she responded as she pushed the door and let herself in. “Well, well, well,” she said, scanning me from head to toe. “Now, this is a disaster.”

Dimitri strolled in behind her shaking his head.

I stepped aside with a grunt as they entered like they owned the place.

Camila wrinkled her nose at the sight of the room—scattered clothes, takeout boxes, and untouched room service meals. “Now this is what I get for saving your life? I didn’t drag your ass out of a murder scene so you could waste away in here like some melodramatic pretty boy.”

“We almost died, man. I’d at least expect you to look alive.” Dimitri added. 

“Well, I don’t feel alive. Happy?” I retorted.

Camila crossed her arms looking unimpressed. “You eating?”

I shrugged and sat on the couch.

“That’s what I thought.” She sat on the couch opposite me. “You need to get out of this room and stop sulking.”

“I’m not sulking,” I muttered.

“Then what the hell is this?” she snapped, waving her hands around the room. 

“I just need a minute,” I grumbled. 

Dimitri stepped forward. “Look, I’m not trying to be insensitive here, but we’ve got a business to run. We’ve taken hit after hit and if we don’t get back on track soon, it’s not just you who’ll be ruined.”

“Plus, you owe me your life, remember?” Camila said with a wink. “You’re gonna get up now so I’ll drive you home to get your things.”

“I’m not going back there.”

“Wrong,” she snapped. “You’re gonna do what I say, pretty boy.”

I stared at her for a second before rising, slowly. “Fine. Ten minutes.”

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Minutes later, I was sitting in Camila’s car as she drove me home, while Dimitri went to grab some files from the office so I could keep working from the hotel. 

As the house came into view, my heart started pounding. This used to be my safe space. My home.

Not anymore.

“What if she’s inside?” I asked in a cold tone. 

“She probably is,” she said flatly. “So put on your big boy pants.”

“Gee, thanks,” I said as I stepped out of the car.

I stepped into the house, and the silence was deafening. The place that used to echo with laughter was now too quiet.

Then I heard it.

A baby’s cry.

My breath hitched as I followed the sound down the hall to our bedroom.

I opened the door slowly and saw Anna sitting on the bed, rocking the baby. She perked up at the sound of the door opening and clutched the baby protectively. But when she saw me, her shoulders dropped and she let out a breath.

She laid the baby gently on the bed and walked towards me, reaching out, “Nolan,” she said in relief.

I raised a hand. “Don’t.”

Her steps faltered.

“I’m just here for my things. That’s it.”

I saw the hurt flash in her eyes, but I didn’t let it affect me. I turned toward the walk-in closet and began packing.

She followed me, her voice trembling. “Nolan… I know you’re angry. And I don’t blame you. But please... Please hear me out.”

I didn’t say anything and just continued folding my clothes, waiting for her to leave.

“Please, say something. Anything.” She said quietly. 

I didn’t pay any attention to her and moved to walk out of the closet, but she moved to block the doorway.

I stopped in my tracks to stare at her. Her eyes were red-rimmed and filled with tears.

“Please, just give me a chance to explain,” she whispered.

“I don’t want to deal with this right now, Anna,” I said, pushing past her. “Don’t make it harder than it already is.” 

“The baby is yours, Nolan,” she said, her voice cracking. “I’m not lying.”

I didn’t pay any attention to what she was saying as I went to grab my clothes from the hanger. 

“Nolan, you have to believe me, please,” she said as she grabbed my hands. 

I stopped in my tracks and turned to her. “Anna, cut it out!" I said, raising my voice. But that didn’t stop her as she stepped forward again.

“She is,” she insisted. “I can prove it.” She said as she reached into a drawer and pulled out a document. Her hands trembled as she held it out to me.

“I got a paternity test done. I needed to know. For you. For me. For her.”

I stared at the paper, then at her. “And you expect me to believe you?” I asked flatly. 

“I took your toothbrush and got it done at the lab in the hospital. You can check in with them.”

I stared at the paper in her trembling hand but didn’t move.

“I’m not lying,” Anna says, her voice cracking. “Please, just look at it.”

“I don’t want to play this game,” I snapped and brushed past her, but she grabbed my arm to stop me.

“This isn’t a game to me, Nolan!” she cried. “I needed to be sure, and I was. I got the test done. She’s yours, Nolan.”

After a long pause scanning her face, I took the document from her shaky hands. 

I scanned through the document and with each line I read, the air felt heavier. My heart was pounding hard in my chest as I reached the part that confirmed it—I am the biological father.

I let out a sharp breath, the paper slipping from my hand to the floor. “She’s mine?” I asked as I stumbled back a little, running a hand through my hair as I tried to process what I just read.

“She’s really mine?”

Anna nodded slowly, tears falling freely from her eyes. “Yes.”

“I missed a whole week of her life thinking she wasn’t mine. I sat in that damn hotel, hating her... hating my own daughter.” I said, my voice breaking. 

Anna steps forward. “I’m sorry I did this to us, " she says, her voice trembling. 

“You should have told me the second you had doubts. Not after Ivan claimed her at the hospital.”

“I was scared.”

“I don’t care,” I snapped. “You don’t get to use fear as an excuse when it costs me my daughter.”

Just then, my baby let out a soft cry from the bed.

My eyes darted towards the bed where her cries were coming from, and for the first time, I moved towards her.

As I reached the bed, I looked down at the tiny bundle of life. My chest tightened at the sight of her. It was the first time I was laying my eyes on her.

I carefully reached down to pick her up, and the moment I held her in my arms, everything stilled. 

My arms trembled as she settled into my chest, her tiny fingers curling as her crying slowed. And for the first time in weeks, I felt at peace.

“I named her Hailey as we planned,” Anna whispered from beside me. 

“Hailey,” I echoed. “My daughter.”