"Julian? What brings you here today?"
"Didn’t I say I was bringing soone for you to et?"
Julian Donovan glanced at Naomi Shaw, who was standing a short distance behind Jean Coleman. He then lowered his gaze to Dylan. "Dylan, call her Grandma!"
"Grandma!"
Dylan’s voice was bright and clear. Jean Coleman was stunned at first, then overjoyed. Finally, she covered her mouth and stared at Julian Donovan in disbelief. "Julian, is... is he your son?"
"Mhm!"
Julian Donovan grunted in affirmation, his gaze drifting back to Naomi Shaw. Seeing her shocked expression, he let a small smile play on his lips. He had chosen this exact mont—her visit to the orphanage—to have Dylan et Jean Coleman. It was a clear declaration: ’See? Where can you possibly hide? I have people everywhere you go. You can’t escape !’
Naomi Shaw was, in fact, completely stunned. She never could have imagined that the director of the orphanage, Jean Coleman, was Julian Donovan’s mother. He had never ntioned his family to her before; all she knew was that his father had passed away when he was just a child.
’This world is too small.’ She had been working alongside her own mother-in-law, a woman she’d never even t, for so long. The connection felt incredibly awkward.
anwhile, Dylan was solemnly introducing himself.
"Grandma, my na is Dylan Donovan, and I’m six years old!"
’Dad said he was bringing to the orphanage to et soone today. I thought I was going to see Mom. I didn’t expect to et my grandma. Then again, I didn’t even know I had a grandma. But... won’t this be awkward for Mom?’ The little boy frowned as he glanced toward his mother, and just as he’d expected, he saw the look of shock on her face. ’I guess I’ll hold off on going over to Mom for now,’ he decided.
Jean Coleman crouched down and pulled Dylan into her arms.
"Here, here, let Grandma get a good look at you! Oh, my precious grandson!"
Jean Coleman hugged Dylan tightly, brimming with joy. After a mont, she turned to Julian Donovan. "Where is his mother?"
Julian Donovan’s gaze once again drifted toward Naomi Shaw as he said bleakly, "I lost her."
"What?"
Jean Coleman didn’t understand what he ant. His eyes remained fixed on the figure in the distance.
"I made so mistakes in the past, and she refuses to forgive ."
Jean Coleman was too overwheld with emotion to notice Julian Donovan’s pained expression. She simply gave him a light smack on the arm.
"You foolish boy! Where is his mother now? If you know you were wrong, why haven’t you gone and won her back?!"
He lowered his gaze, his expression bleak.
"I can’t win her back. She refuses to forgive , no matter what. She’s even planning to run off and build a life with another man."
"You—!"
Jean Coleman was so angry with him she felt a tightness in her chest.
"I’m going to have a nice chat with my grandson first. I’ll settle this with you later!"
With that, Jean Coleman took Dylan’s hand and led him inside, unable to conceal the joy on her face.
"Dylan, first, let Grandma get a good, long look at you!"
"Okay!"
As Dylan walked past Naomi Shaw with Jean Coleman, he flashed her a sweet smile. Naomi managed to force a smile in return.
Watching Jean Coleman and Dylan disappear from view, Julian Donovan glanced at Naomi Shaw and strode over to her.
"If you don’t want my mom to know who you are, I can keep it a secret. We won’t say anything until the day you finally forgive ."
Naomi Shaw didn’t look at him. She simply raised a hand to cover her face. After a long mont, she lowered it and let out a heavy sigh.
"I’m sorry, I need a minute to myself."
She then turned and walked alone toward the orphanage’s small sports field. Julian Donovan followed silently behind her.
Naomi Shaw walked quietly, circling the small track again and again, trying to calm her turbulent emotions. Her mind was blank, yet at the sa ti, it felt completely overloaded. After following her for another lap, Julian Donovan couldn’t stand it any longer. He closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her slender waist from behind, murmuring a helpless protest in her ear.
"Stop walking in circles. You’re making dizzy!"
She struggled, slapping at his hands.
"Julian Donovan, what do you think you’re doing? Let go!"
He wasn’t about to let go of this rare chance to hold her. Instead, he tightened his grip, his large hands capturing her flailing ones. He pulled her slender fra fully against his own and whispered a playful threat.
"Call Julian and I’ll let you go!"
’Julian?’ His word choice sent a pang through Naomi’s heart. She had once depended on him with her entire being, and that specific, endearing way of addressing him was a symbol of that reliance. She no longer had it in her to say it. That affectionate title he was asking for was destined to remain in the past.
She gave a sad smile.
"Julian Donovan, the past is the past. We can’t go back."
"Then let’s start our future over. We can begin again!"
He imdiately cut in. Holding her from behind, he had only to stoop and tilt his head to press his lips to her cheek, stealing a quick kiss. She struggled, both angry and flustered.
"Can you stop this? What if soone sees? You know we aren’t anything to each other right now!"
He ignored her protests and turned her around in his arms to face him. He gazed into her eyes, his tone earnest.
"Naomi, please, just trust this one ti. There’s really nothing between and Juliet Jennings anymore!"
She looked at him and let out a soft, humorless laugh.
"And what if I believe you? What if I don’t? We’ve both started new lives. Isn’t it better if we just go our separate ways?"
’Julian Donovan, please don’t. Don’t co and shake my resolve again. Your love... it’s more than I can handle.’
"It’s not!"
He cut her off angrily. She lifted her left hand, and the brilliant diamond on her ring finger seared his eyes. She said faintly,
"I’m getting married."
"Don’t you dare!"
His eyes blazed with a fiery rage.
"Naomi Shaw, don’t force to resort to underhanded tactics!"
"Childish!"
His irrational behavior gave Naomi Shaw a headache. Tossing that single word at him, she shrugged him off and walked away. Julian Donovan followed, his expression grim. ’If this keeps up,’ he thought, ’I’m afraid I’ll really have to resort to taking her by force.’
Willow Sumrs’s little F0 pulled into the orphanage grounds. The window rolled down, and she spoke bluntly to Julian Donovan, who looked thoroughly defeated.
"Ahem, chasing her all the way out here, Julian Donovan? You’ve really got so nerve!"
Julian Donovan shot her a glare before turning to go inside and find Jean Coleman. Naomi Shaw, anwhile, went to check on Joy, who was playing quietly with a few other children her age. Willow Sumrs gathered a group of kids and started teaching them a horse-riding dance. Naomi and Joy sat to one side and watched. The children danced with glee; Willow was clearly great at livening things up.
However, looking at Willow Sumrs’s small baby bump, she said worriedly,
"Willow, isn’t this dance a little too vigorous for a pregnant woman?"
Willow Sumrs waved it off.
"It’s fine. Didn’t you see? I was barely even moving!"
"Alright, but you should still be careful," she advised her friend.
The words had barely left her mouth when Dylan burst out of Jean Coleman’s office and rushed happily toward her.
"Mommy—!"
She happily caught him in her arms. The first thing Dylan did was give her a report.
"Mommy, Grandma asked a lot about you, and I took your side on everything! But I didn’t tell her that you’re my mommy. I have to get your permission first!"
"Grandma?"
Willow Sumrs’s eyes widened. Naomi Shaw quickly recounted the scene from earlier, and Willow exclaid,
"Emma, this world is just too small! Anna, I don’t think you can run anymore. You should just give in to Julian Donovan!"
Naomi Shaw gave an awkward laugh. Realizing she’d said the wrong thing, Willow quickly tapped her own mouth.
"Er, just pretend I didn’t say anything!"
Even though Julian Donovan, Dylan, and Willow Sumrs hadn’t revealed her identity to Jean Coleman, Naomi Shaw still felt awkward. That afternoon, she told Jean that sothing had co up at ho and she had to leave early. She took Joy ho with her, but as she approached her apartnt building, she saw an incredibly familiar figure. She clapped a hand over her mouth, tears instantly streaming down her cheeks.
"Lara?"
’Ever since Julian Donovan had shown up again, she had been thinking about contacting Lara Nash, Arnold, and Mrs. Tyson Somrs. But she hadn’t seen them in so many years and didn’t know how she could possibly face them, so she kept putting it off. She never expected Lara to co looking for her. Julian must have been the one to tell her she was still alive.’
’She could face anyone else, but not Lara. She couldn’t even begin to imagine what Lara was like without Ronan Joyce.’
Looking weary from her travels, Lara Nash dropped her suitcase and lunged toward her. Tears were already streaming down Lara’s face as she ran, and she started crying and scolding her at the sa ti. "Naomi Shaw, you heartless woman! You were alive this whole ti, so why didn’t you contact ? Do you have any idea what the last three years have been like for ? Every ti I thought about you being gone, the pain was unbearable—!"
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