I woke up with fragnts of mory still swirling in my head. The flashes of that yacht party, the champagne, the cold water... they felt distant yet painfully real. My hand automatically went to my stomach, a protective gesture that was becoming instinctive.
"You want to talk about what you rembered?" Hazel asked softly, noticing my faraway look.
"I fell overboard that night," I murmured, stirring the remaining soup absentmindedly. "Soone pushed . I’m certain of it."
Hazel’s eyes widened, her hand trembling as she set down her spoon. "Pushed? Are you saying soone deliberately—"
"I can’t be sure," I interrupted, not wanting to upset her further. "Everything’s still so fuzzy. Maybe I just lost my balance."
But deep down, I felt it. That sudden force against my back hadn’t been my imagination. Soone had wanted gone that night.
The sound of my phone ringing broke the tense mont. Ryan’s na flashed across the screen.
"I should take this," I said, excusing myself from the table and stepping into the living room. For so reason, my heart was racing. "Hello?"
"Serena." Just the way he said my na, deep and tender, made sothing flutter inside . "How are you feeling?"
"Better," I answered truthfully. "Just had dinner with my mother."
"I miss you." The words were simple, direct, sending an unexpected warmth through . "I had quite the interesting evening with your brother and sisters."
I couldn’t help but laugh. "They didn’t go easy on you, did they?"
"Let’s just say I’ve never consud that much alcohol in one business eting before," Ryan chuckled, the sound surprisingly relaxed. "Your brother Ethan drives a hard bargain, but I think I’ve earned their provisional approval."
"Provisional?" I teased.
"Very provisional," he confird with another laugh. "But enough to secure permission to see you tomorrow."
I bit my lip, fighting a smile. "Is that so? And what exactly are your plans for this approved eting?"
"I thought we might go shopping," Ryan replied casually. "Your mother ntioned you might need so things, considering... well, your condition."
My hand automatically went to my barely-there bump. "Shopping? The mighty Ryan Blackwood voluntarily offering to go shopping?"
"Don’t sound so surprised. I’ve been told I have excellent taste."
"In business acquisitions, maybe. But maternity clothes?" I couldn’t help the laughter bubbling up.
"I’m a man of many talents, Serena," he countered, his voice dropping lower, more intimate. "So of which you’re quite familiar with."
The heat that rose to my cheeks was instantaneous. "Ryan!"
"What? I’m simply referring to my negotiation skills," he said innocently, though I could hear the smile in his voice. "Which store would you like to ruin at first?"
I settled into the couch, suddenly realizing how much I’d missed our banter. "I’m thinking Barneys to start. Then maybe Saks."
"Trying to bankrupt before dinner? At least feed first."
"I thought you were a billionaire," I teased.
"Even billionaires appreciate a good al before financial ruin," he shot back smoothly.
We fell into easy conversation, discussing plans for tomorrow, carefully avoiding the heavier topics that hovered between us. For those few minutes, it felt almost like before—before my mories started returning, before the complications of family loyalties and past secrets.
"I should let you rest," Ryan said finally, his voice softening. "Tomorrow at ten?"
"Ten is perfect," I agreed, surprised by how much I was looking forward to it.
After hanging up, I sat there for a mont, phone still warm in my hand. The fragnts of mory that had surfaced earlier seed temporarily pushed aside by the anticipation of tomorrow.
"Was that Ryan?" Hazel appeared in the doorway, her expression carefully neutral.
I nodded, suddenly feeling like a teenager caught talking to a crush. "He’s taking shopping tomorrow."
Her face softened. "Good. You need soone looking after you right now." She hesitated, then added, "You know, he ca here every day while you were staying with us. Even when Ethan and the girls wouldn’t let him see you."
This surprised . "He did?"
"Just sat in his car outside for hours sotis," she confird with a small smile. "That’s not the behavior of a man who doesn’t care, Serena."
I didn’t know how to respond to that. The Ryan I’d known during our marriage had been cold, distant—nothing like the man who’d called just now, whose voice ward when saying my na.
"Get so rest, sweetheart," Hazel said, kissing my forehead. "Tomorrow’s a new day."
As I climbed back upstairs to my bedroom, I couldn’t help wondering which version of Ryan was real—the cold husband from my returning mories, or the caring man who’d apparently sat outside for hours just to be near .
Maybe tomorrow I’d find out.
* * *
anwhile,Ryan loosened his tie as he leaned back in his office chair, still holding his phone. The call with Serena had lifted a weight he hadn’t realized he’d been carrying.
"I take it the eting went well?" Simon asked, entering with a stack of docunts.
"Better than expected," Ryan admitted. "Though I may never recover from that whiskey Ethan Quinn produced at the end."
Simon smiled knowingly. "And the shares transfer paperwork?"
"Ready to be finalized tomorrow," Ryan confird, glancing at the docunts Simon placed before him. "Thirty percent of Blackwood Group. Make sure the legal team understands this isn’t negotiable."
"The board won’t be pleased," Simon pointed out carefully.
Ryan’s eyes hardened. "The board doesn’t need to be pleased. They need to understand that Serena is my priority now. I won’t have her questioning her place in my life ever again."
Simon nodded, knowing better than to argue. "Will there be anything else, sir?"
Ryan turned to look out at the city lights. "No. That will be all."
After Simon left, Ryan opened his desk drawer and took out a small velvet box. Inside was not the massive diamond he’d given Serena during their first marriage—a ring chosen more for status than sentint. This one was smaller but infinitely more aningful: a sapphire surrounded by tiny diamonds, matching the exact color of the ocean where he’d found her.
Where she’d nearly died because he’d failed to protect her.
Ryan closed the box, his jaw set with determination. He wouldn’t fail her again. Not Serena, and not their child.
Tomorrow would be just the beginning.
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