Diane eyed him skeptically.
“Don’t thank me yet.”
Ryan looked back at Lily.
“I was planning a wedding while you were giving birth,” he said quietly.
The guilt in his voice was heavy.
Emily shifted uncomfortably.
“That’s your life.”
Ryan shook his head.
“No. That was the life I thought I wanted.”
The baby made a tiny squeaking noise.
Ryan instinctively adjusted his grip.
Emily noticed how quickly he was learning.
“How long were you with her?” Emily asked.
Ryan sighed.
“About four months.”
Emily frowned.
“You moved fast.”
“It wasn’t supposed to be serious at first,” Ryan admitted.
“So why marry her?”
Ryan looked embarrassed.
“Pressure.”
“From who?”
“My investors. My board. Everyone thought I needed a ‘stable image’ after the divorce.”
Emily blinked.
“So you got engaged for business optics?”
Ryan gave a small, bitter laugh.
“When you say it like that, it sounds insane.”
“It is insane.”
Ryan looked down again at Lily.
“She lied about you losing the baby.”
“Yes.”
“She hid your letter.”
“Yes.”
Ryan’s jaw tightened.
“That means she knew the baby was mine.”
Emily nodded slowly.
“Which means she was trying to erase us.”
Ryan looked suddenly furious.
“My God.”
For a moment Emily saw the same determined fire that had once made him a brilliant entrepreneur.
“Where is she now?” Emily asked.
Ryan exhaled.
“At my apartment. Probably planning the wedding.”
Emily shook her head.
“She’s going to be surprised.”
Ryan gave a grim smile.
“That’s an understatement.”
Lily squirmed slightly in his arms.
Ryan looked panicked.
“Is she okay?”
“She’s just waking up.”
Right on cue, Lily’s eyes fluttered open.
Dark gray.
The exact same color as Ryan’s.
He stared in shock.
“She has my eyes.”
Emily nodded.
“Genetics.”
Lily blinked slowly, staring up at the unfamiliar face above her.
Ryan whispered softly.
“Hi, Lily.”
The baby made a tiny coo.
And Ryan smiled.
Not the confident smile he used at business meetings.
A soft one.
Almost boyish.
Emily felt a strange ache watching it.
Because this—this gentle version of Ryan—was the man she had fallen in love with.
The man she thought she had lost forever.
Ryan looked up again.
“I’m going to end the engagement today.”
Emily nodded.
“That’s probably wise.”
“But that doesn’t fix what I did to you.”
“No,” Emily said.
“It doesn’t.”
Ryan didn’t argue.
Instead he said something unexpected.
“I’d like to help.”
“With what?”
“Everything.”
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