Dated three months earlier.

If you ever loved me at all, I hope someday you look for us.

Ethan broke.

Actually broke.

He sank into the chair beside her bed, crying openly for the first time in his life.

Vivian whispered hoarsely, “I thought I was protecting him.”

“No,” Ethan said through tears. “You were controlling me.”

Silence fell.

Then softly—

very softly—

Chloe said:

“You should hold your grandson.”

Everyone looked at her in shock.

Even Vivian.

Chloe’s eyes were exhausted but calm.

“Whatever happened between us… Noah deserves more than bitterness.”

Vivian took the baby with trembling hands.

And the second she looked into Noah’s face—

she started sobbing.

Three days later, Hartford was hit by the worst spring storm in years.

Rain hammered the hospital windows while thunder rolled across the city.

Inside Chloe’s room, Noah slept peacefully between his parents.

Parents.

The word still felt unreal.

Ethan hadn’t left once.

Not for sleep.

Not for food unless forced.

Not even after Chloe repeatedly told him he didn’t owe her anything anymore.

“I know,” he said quietly.

That answer hurt more than anything else.

Because she realized he wasn’t staying out of guilt.

He was staying because he still loved her.

The problem was—

love had destroyed them once already.

That night, while Noah slept against her chest, Chloe finally asked the question she’d been avoiding.

“If you had known about the baby… would you have come back?”

Ethan looked at her like the answer was obvious.

“I never stopped trying to.”

Her chest tightened painfully.

“You signed the divorce papers.”

“You signed them too.”

“Because I thought you chose your mother.”

Ethan looked devastated.

“I thought you abandoned me.”

Silence settled heavily between them.

Outside, lightning flashed across the dark sky.

Then Ethan said quietly:

“I bought a house.”

Chloe blinked.

“Six months ago.” He looked nervous now—actually nervous. “I kept thinking maybe someday I’d find you.”

Emotion climbed into her throat unexpectedly.

“I hate you a little for that.”

A faint broken laugh escaped him.

“That’s fair.”

Noah suddenly started crying.

Both of them reached for him at the exact same time.

Their hands collided.

And froze.

The air shifted instantly.

Ethan looked at her carefully.

Like she was something fragile.

Something he still desperately wanted.

“Chloe…”

She should’ve pulled away.

Instead she whispered:

“You hurt me so badly.”

Pain flooded his face.

“I know.”

“And I don’t know if I can survive that twice.”

Ethan’s eyes glistened.

“Then let me spend the rest of my life proving you won’t have to.”

Before she could answer—

the lights went out.

The entire hospital plunged into darkness.

Then came screaming down the hallway.

Emergency backup alarms erupted instantly.