I bent and kissed Daniel’s forehead, lingering longer than I meant to. “Sleep well, my love.”
He sighed, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm as he finally gave in to slumber. I slipped my hand from his and stood, the soft creak of the mattress marking my retreat.
The villa was quiet as I padded into the hallway. A warm breeze pushed through the windows, carrying the scent of sea brine.
I was still lost in thought-still reliving the strange, dizzying collision of relief and humiliation on that beach-when a voice startled me.
“Seraphina?” open
I turned, my guard snapping up instinctively. Leona stood at the end of the hall, a shawl drawn loosely around her shoulders, her expression unreadable.
“Yes?” I asked cautiously.
She motioned toward the lounge, a quiet alcove with white wicker chairs and a low table set with untouched tea. “Do you have a moment? I’d like to…have a chat.”
Every instinct in me screamed ‘No!’ Previous conversations with Leona always ended with me questioning my self-worth and fighting back tears.
But politeness, or maybe exhaustion, made me nod. “All right.”
I followed her into the lounge, the air heavy with the scent of hibiscus and jasmine from the garden beyond. We sat opposite each other, the space between us feeling wider than the ocean outside.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then, Leona broke the silence, voice soft. “I wanted to ask how you’re doing. After this morning. That was frightening.”
I blinked. Genuine concern? From Leona?
“Well, it’s a general principle of mine not to die by drowning,” I said dryly. “But I’m managing.”
Her lips twitched, almost a smile. “You always do.”
I folded my hands in my lap, wary. “Was there something else?”
She looked at me for a long beat, then nodded slowly. “Yes. I wanted to tell you… Daniel is a remarkable boy. Bright, kind, grounded. You’ve done a wonderful job with him,
Seraphina.”
The compliment landed like a stone thrown into still water, rippling outward until it unsettled everything in me.
My first instinct was suspicion. Because kindness from Leona-as rare as a blue moon-had always come with an edge.
My second was something I didn’t want to name, something dangerously close to longing.
How much easier would my life have been if just one of the maternal figures in my life had treated me with kindness, instead of contempt?
“Thank you,” I said stiffly. “But Daniel’s goodness is his own.”
Leona shook her head. “Don’t diminish what you’ve given him. It shows. The way he looks at you, the way he carries himself-he knows he is loved.”
I shifted uncomfortably, my hands twisting together. This was too strange, too disarming. I wanted to get up, to make an excuse about being tired.
But before I could rise, she pressed on.
“I’ve also heard,” she said carefully, “that you…may have someone new in your life.”
My jaw tightened. Of course. There it was-the true reason for this midnight conversation.
I wasn’t even surprised that she’d somehow acquired this information. Her sources were limitless-maybe Kieran himself even told her.
Though the idea of my ex-husband and ex-mother-in-law discussing my love life was more unsettling than this conversation.
Leona’s eyes searched mine. “If that’s true, then I’m glad. Truly. You deserve to be happy.
You deserve support. Love. I hope this works out for you, Sera.”
I let out a breath, sharp and humorless. “Forgive me if I don’t leap to accept your good wishes.”
Her brows drew together. “Why?”
“Because,” I said flatly, “we both know what this is about. You’re afraid I’ll circle back to
Kieran. You’re afraid my presence here means something it doesn’t. Let me spare you the anxiety: I’m not here to reclaim him. I’ve moved on. I have friends. I have someone who cares for me. My life now is so much better than it was as Kieran’s wife. I’m happy now.
Content.”
Leona’s face tightened, but I didn’t stop. The words, once started, poured out like a tide I couldn’t hold back.
“The only bond between me and your family now is Daniel. That’s it. Whatever choices
Kieran makes about his future, about who he wants to marry, or start a new family with- that’s none of my business. I won’t pry. I won’t interfere. I’ve. Let. Go.”
Silence filled the lounge, heavy and crushing. Leona’s gaze held mine, sharp and searching, but I didn’t flinch. For once, I refused to.
I rose, smoothing my hands down the sides of my shorts, eager to end this charade. “If that’s all, Leona, I’ll take my leave. Goodnight.”
I turned-and froze.
Kieran stood at the doorway.
His frame filled it, broad shoulders shadowed by the dim light spilling from the hall. His eyes, unreadable and piercing, locked on me. I couldn’t tell how long he had been standing there, or how much he had heard.
But my pulse stuttered all the same.
KIERAN’S POV
I hadn’t meant to linger in the doorway. I hadn’t meant to listen. But the moment Sera’s voice drifted into the hall, something in me stilled.
Her words cut deeper than I’d expected. ‘I’m not here to reclaim him. I’ve moved on. I have friends. I have someone who cares for me. My life now is so much better than it was as
Kieran’s wife. I’m happy now. Content.’
Each sentence felt like a nail hammered into my chest. I should have been relieved this was what I’d once wanted, wasn’t it? Distance. Separation. An ending to the miserable, tangled bond between us.
Yet hearing her so resolute, so distant, so completely certain she wanted no part of me anymore-it hollowed me out.
She turned, and her eyes collided with mine.
For a moment, neither of us moved. Her lips parted, maybe in surprise, maybe in anger.
The lamplight from the lounge cast her in pale gold, her face flushed with the remnants of her talk with my mother.
I wanted to say something-anything-but my throat locked.
She brushed past me without a word, her perfume-faint and achingly familiar-clinging to the air.
My hand twitched as if to reach for her, but I kept it clenched at my side.
‘I’ve. Let. Go,’
It was better this way.
My mother exhaled softly, looking up at me from her perch. “You heard her, didn’t you?”
I turned my head just enough to acknowledge her. Her posture was stiff, eyes cautious.
“This is good, Kieran,” she said gently. “It means you two can coexist without tearing each other apart. That’s good. For Daniel’s sake. For yours.”
Good.
My mother would think so. Like everyone else, she’d hated Sera, been cold to her. She’d said she’d die before relinquishing the Luna title to her.
Instead of answering, I just nodded.
That seemed enough for her. She rose, smoothing down her blouse, and offered me a small, tight smile. “It’s the best outcome for everyone.”
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