Chapter 25
582words
"And now?" she asked hesitantly. "Knowing I can't give you that?"
I moved closer, taking her hands in mine. "When I think about my future, about what I want most in this world, it's you. It's always been you."
Her eyes filled with fresh tears. "But I'm broken now."
"No," I said firmly, squeezing her hands. "You are not broken. You've been hurt, terribly hurt, but that doesn't diminish who you are or what you mean to me."
"And what do I mean to you, Nathan?" she asked, vulnerability naked in her expression.
"You're the love of my life," I said simply. "Even when I signed those divorce papers, I never stopped loving you. Not for a single moment."
A sob escaped her, and I pulled her into my arms, holding her as she cried against my chest. I stroked her hair, feeling her tears soak through my shirt.
"I never stopped loving you either," she confessed, her voice muffled. "I tried. I was so angry, so hurt. But underneath it all, I still loved you."
I tightened my arms around her. "We've lost so much time."
She pulled back to look up at me. "But we're here now. Together."
With a gentleness that broke my heart, Olivia rose on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to mine. The kiss was soft, tentative—a question more than a demand. I responded with equal gentleness, afraid of pushing too far, too fast.
"I'm not ready to make promises," she said quietly when we parted. "There's still so much we need to work through."
"I understand," I assured her. "We have time, Olivia. All the time we need."
As I prepared breakfast, Olivia watched from her seat at the kitchen island. The silence between us was comfortable now, the tension of the past months giving way to something softer, more hopeful.
"I've been thinking about Lily," she said suddenly. "About what will happen to her when all this is over."
"She'll need protection. A safe place to recover."
"She needs a family," Olivia said thoughtfully. "Someone who understands trauma, who can help her heal."
I heard the unspoken thought. "Are you thinking about Lily specifically?"
Olivia nodded. "Is that crazy? I've only met her as a patient, but there's something about her, Nathan. Something special."
"It's not crazy," I assured her. "It's compassionate. It's... you."
She looked up at me. "Would you ever consider something like that? Adoption?"
The question held so much more than the words themselves—it was about our future, about the possibility of us.
"Yes," I said without hesitation. "With you, yes."
A small smile touched her lips—the first genuine smile I'd seen from her in longer than I could remember. It was like watching the sun break through clouds after a long storm.
"We have a lot to figure out first," she cautioned. "Victor, the evidence, justice for my father and Lily's parents."
"We'll face it together," I promised, reaching for her hand across the counter. "One step at a time."
Nathan's POV
I woke to Olivia's screams.
She was thrashing beside me, caught in the grip of a nightmare, her face contorted in anguish. "No, please, not my baby, please..."
"Olivia," I called softly, touching her shoulder. "Liv, wake up. It's just a dream."
Her eyes flew open, wild with fear and grief. For a moment, she didn't seem to recognize me. Then awareness returned, and with it, tears.
