Chapter 3 Five Years of Silence

Audrey's heart thudded in her chest like it was trying to break free.

Vincent's words still rang in her ears, low and steady

"I'm not letting you walk away again."

Her fingers tightened around her clutch as the two of them stood on the balcony just outside the ballroom. The laughter and music from Zara's wedding carried faintly through the doors behind them, but out here, the night was still. Heavy. Charged.

The moonlight spilled across the polished marble floor, painting Vincent in silver and shadow. His hands were shoved into his pockets, but nothing about him looked relaxed. He had that same piercing focus she remembered the kind that could silence a boardroom... or make her heart trip over itself with a single glance. But tonight, that gaze was sharper. Hardened by five years of silence.

"Say something," she whispered.

He looked at her then, and it felt like standing in the eye of a storm. His eyes weren't just angry they were aching.

"You kept my son from me, Audrey. For four years. Four years."

His voice wasn't raised it didn't need to be. Each word landed like a punch straight to her chest.

"I know," she breathed. "And I wish you could understand why."

"I'm trying," he said, jaw tightening, "but right now, all I can think about is every birthday, every first word, every moment I missed because you didn't trust me."

Her throat burned. "I had my reasons."

"Then tell me," He demanded. "Because the last time I saw you, you looked at me like I was the enemy. I never got the chance to defend myself. One day you loved me, Audrey... the next, you were gone."

His voice cracked slightly at the end not enough for most people to notice, but Audrey heard it. She always did. That small, raw edge beneath his control.

She wrapped her arms around herself, shivering despite the warm night air. "You don't know what it was like. What I found out. What I thought you did."

Vincent stepped closer, his voice low but unyielding. "Then tell me. No more running."

The night shifted around them, wind brushing against the fabric of her lilac dress. Audrey closed her eyes, the weight of old pain pressing down on her chest.

Her mind went back to that night five years ago.

The storm.

The rain slamming against the windows like a warning.

Her hands clutching the letter she was never meant to see.

The ink that blurred under her tears.

"I got a message," she whispered, her voice trembling. "A letter. It said you were engaged. That you'd been with someone else the whole time. That everything we had was a lie."

His eyes hardened. "And you believed it."

"What else was I supposed to do?" she cried. "You never called. You disappeared for days. And then I saw a picture of you with her"

"Because I was being set up," he cut in sharply.

Audrey's breath caught. "What?"

Vincent raked a hand through his hair, a flicker of something vulnerable flashing across his face. "That night, my father was already arranging an engagement to merge two companies. They wanted me to marry someone I didn't love. And I was fighting it."

Her chest tightened. The words hit her like a wave she hadn't expected.

"They sent that letter to you to make sure you walked away," he continued, his voice quieter now. "Because they knew if they broke you, they'd break me too."

Audrey felt the ground tilt beneath her feet. All those nights crying into her pillow, clutching her belly and whispering to the baby she carried. All those years of hate and heartbreak... built on a lie.

"You're saying someone... planned it?"

"I'm saying," he said, stepping closer until his cologne wrapped around her like a memory, "I never stopped loving you. Not for one second."

Her breath hitched. His words cracked something inside her something she had buried beneath layers of anger, fear, and survival.

But love wasn't that simple anymore.

"You don't get to say that," she whispered, voice shaking. "Not after everything. Not after missing him grow up."

Vincent froze. The mention of Ethan wasn't just a jab it was a blade. His jaw clenched, and for the first time that night, his control slipped. Just a little.

"You're right," he admitted softly. "I can't undo the past. But I can be here now. For him. For Ethan. For us."

Audrey flinched at that last word. "There is no us anymore."

His gaze softened, though his voice remained steady. "Maybe not. But we both know this story isn't finished."

Her chest heaved. She hated that part of her still responded to him. That a single look from Vincent could still reach places in her heart she thought were sealed shut.

He took a careful step forward, close enough for her to feel his warmth through the cool night air. "I'm not asking you to forgive me tonight. But I am telling you this I won't let my son grow up not knowing who I am. And I won't let you run from me again."

Audrey backed away, blinking fast, her heart a war zone between past and present.

"I need time," she whispered.

His jaw tightened, but when he spoke, his voice was quiet almost gentle. "Then take it. But understand this, Audrey... the silence ends tonight."

The heavy ballroom doors creaked open behind her. Laughter spilled out, soft but sharp against the tension between them. Zara's voice carried through the night, warm and worried.

"Audrey, Ethan's asking for you."

She turned. Her heart ached at the thought of Ethan, their little boy who had no idea his world had just shifted forever.

When she looked back, Vincent was still there.

His shoulders squared. His eyes unblinking.

And in them, she saw it clearly

This was only the beginning.