Cedar\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
After cleaning up the mess Sterling had made, I finally managed to cook a simple bowl of noodles. When I carried it to the dining table, I found him already seated across from my usual spot, watching me with an intensity that made me uncomfortable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Mr. Sterling, please wait on the sofa. I\u2019ll discuss work after I\u2019ve eaten.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re going to eat food prepared in a kitchen with cockroaches? His voice dripped with disgust.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I nearly slammed the bowl down. \u201cNo one\u2019s asking you to eat it! If you can\u2019t handle it, the door\u2019s right there.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
1 aggressively slurped my noodles, partly out of hunger and partly to annoy him. To my surprise, I caught him watching the food with what almost looked\u00a0<\/p>\n
like longing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFinished, I announced, pushing the empty bowl aside. \u201cNow, about the project-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s your son\u2019s name?\u201d he interrupted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stared at him. \u201cExcuse me?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYour son. What\u2019s his name?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Sterling, I thought we were discussing work.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIs his nickname Oliver?\u201d His voice had taken on a strange intensity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d I answered cautiously. \u201cWhy?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s his full name? His last name?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stood up, my patience evaporating. \u201cHow is this relevant to our work?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt isn\u2019t. But I want to know.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My phone buzzed on the table. I glanced down and saw \u201cSweetie\u201d on the screen. My heart jumped\u2013I hadn\u2019t expected him to call again tonight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Something about Sterling\u2019s questions made me uneasy. I declined the call,\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was your son, right? Why didn\u2019t you answer?\u201d Sterling\u2019s lips curved into an \u2018unsettling smile.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want my son knowing there\u2019s a stranger in our home,\u201d I replied tersely. \u201cMr. Sterling, it\u2019s getting late. Perhaps we should continue this tomorrow.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My phone buzzed again insistently. I snatched it up and hurried to the corner of the room, answering the video call.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMommy! Why didn\u2019t you answer? I miss you so much!\u201d Oliver\u2019s voice came through clearly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSweetie, Mommy\u2019s busy right now. I\u2019ll call you back later,\u201d I said quietly, eyeing Sterling warily. \u201cMy boss is here discussing work. It\u2019s not a good time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
2:51 pm P\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 84\u00a0<\/p>\n
Your boss is there this late? That\u2019s so mean! It\u2019s almost eleven! When I come home, I\u2019m going to tell him to stop being so mean to my mommy\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t help smiling at his protective indignation. Just hearing his voice made everything better.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Suddenly, Sterling lunged toward me. I instinctively turned the phone screen down. \u201cMr. Sterling, what are you doing?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLet me say hello to your son,\u201d he demanded, his eyes cold.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The call disconnected. I felt an inexplicable relief. \u2018He hung up. Mr. Sterling, my son was just being silly. Please don\u2019t take a child\u2019s words seriously. I apologize on his behalf\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sterling grabbed my phone from my hand. The screen had locked automatically.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Sterling, I don\u2019t understand what you\u2019re doing in my home tonight. If the company wants to fire me for having a child, I accept that. But please return\u00a0<\/p>\n
my phone.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He stared at the locked device, frustration evident on his face before he handed it back. \u201cI apologize for my behavior.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
As he turned to leave, the pepper spray fell from my pocket, rolling to stop right at his feet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The label faced upward, clearly visible: PEPPER SPRAY.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sterling\u2019s expression darkened as he stared at it. I casually picked it up and tucked it back into my pocket.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGood night, Mr. Sterling. Watch your step on the way down.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He left without another word, his tall figure disappearing into the darkness of the stairwell. Seconds later, I heard a loud crash\u2013the shoe rack by the stairs toppling over.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t help but smile. For a man who commanded an empire, he certainly didn\u2019t belong in my world of rickety stairs and resilient cockroaches.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ridley\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
I watched Cedar attack her noodles with surprising enthusiasm. Despite the kitchen incident, despite the late hour, she seemed determined to maintain her dignity. There was something admirable about it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My own stomach reminded me that I hadn\u2019t eaten dinner either. The simple noodles looked unexpectedly appetizing, though I\u2019d never admit such a thing\u00a0<\/p>\n
aloud.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When she finished eating, I couldn\u2019t contain my curiosity any longer. I needed to know more about her son. Each question I asked seemed to increase her discomfort\u2013exactly the reaction I\u2019d expect if she had something to hide. Her defensiveness when I asked about the boy\u2019s full name particularly caught my\u00a0<\/p>\n
attention.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The timing of her phone call couldn\u2019t have been more perfect. When \u201cSweetie\u201d flashed on her screen, she immediately declined it\u2013another suspicious action. Why wouldn\u2019t she want me to see or hear her son? My comment about her avoiding the call clearly rattled her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When the phone rang again, her retreat to the corner of the room only heightened my suspicions. Then I heard it\u2013that voice. A voice I would recognize anywhere, under any circumstances.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My youngest son has a distinctive way of speaking\u2013the slight pitch change on certain words, the way he extends his syllables when excited, even that tiny lisp that our speech therapist says he\u2019ll outgrow. Every father knows his child\u2019s voice as intimately as his own heartbeat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
2:51 pm P\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 84\u00a0<\/p>\n
And that was unmistakably Oliver Sterling\u2013my Oliver\u2013calling this woman \u201cMommy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My body moved on autopilot as I demanded to see her son. The panic in her eyes told me everything I needed to know, but the call disconnected before ! could confirm what my ears had already proven to me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When I grabbed for her phone, desperation overrode propriety. But the screen had locked, leaving me with certainty but no proof. How could my son be calling another woman \u201cMommy\u201c? Had she somehow gotten access to him? Was he being manipulated? Or was there a connection between Cedar and my\u00a0<\/p>\n
family that I\u2019d never suspected?\u00a0<\/p>\n
The pepper spray rolling across the floor was the final insult\u2013she\u2019d come prepared to defend herself against me, as though I were some common predator. The realization stung in a way I hadn\u2019t experienced in years. I, Ridley Sterling, CEO of Sterling Design Group, father of three, had been viewed as a potential threat requiring chemical deterrent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I left her apartment with my dignity barely intact, my mind consumed by questions without answers. The darkness of the passage matched my mood perfectly. When my foot caught on something\u2013sending it crashing to the floor\u2013it felt like a fitting end to this surreal evening.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Sky Remembered the Touch of Our UnfiAnished Goodbyes by Lysa Orion Rehn 84 Cedar\u2019s POV\u00a0 After cleaning up the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-zero-stars-for-daddy-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30483\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}