Page 28

Kairi

The knock came fast and hard, startling me out of my thoughts. Standing, I wiped my sweaty hands down the tights I was wearing and smoothed my T-shirt. I had invited Atlas over to talk. I was hoping to talk some sense into him.

I opened the door slowly, my hand trembling as I gripped the handle. Atlas stood with his back straight, and his eyes were dark.

“Come in.”

He stepped inside. I closed the door and made my way to his side.

“You can have a seat,” I offered, but he shook his head. He was staring a hole through me.

“I guess I’ll just start, then. I’m sorry,” I said quietly, my voice barely above a whisper. “I know I should have told you about Dion. I should have said something. There is no excuse for what I did.”

Atlas nodded. “So you understand what you took from me?” he asked, his voice cold. “You had three years to tell me, Kairi. Three years. Do you even understand how much this hurts?”

I swallowed, trying to find the words that would make this right. “I understand, and I don’t want to fight you,” I said, stepping toward him, desperate to bridge the gap. “We can figure something out. A compromise.”

He didn’t move. He just stood there, staring at me with that same cold expression. “I don’t want to fight either,” he finally admitted, but his tone was flat, devoid of any warmth. “Can I just see my son? Spend some time with him without all of this…”

I exhaled. “Of course. He’s upstairs.”

Atlas followed me up the stairs to Dion’s room, and when he saw him sleeping peacefully, something in his face softened—just for a moment. I watched as he crouched next to the bed, brushing his hand over Dion’s hair. It was the first time I’d seen Atlas look anything close to human in weeks.

“Do you want to stay for dinner? That’s when I’ll wake him. You can eat with him and play with him,” I offered. “I’m about to cook.”

He stood up, looking at me like he was trying to figure out my angle. After a pause, he nodded. “Yeah. I’ll stay.”

We went back downstairs, and I moved around the kitchen, trying to act normal, like this was just another evening. But my hands were shaking as I chopped vegetables, my mind racing. Atlas sat at the table, watching me. I could feel his eyes on me the entire time. It felt like when we were in school. He watched me then—all the time. He had me feeling like that same insecure girl I was back in college, but this time, there was no Ashlen to distract him—or for him to distract himself with.

Dinner was quiet, almost normal. He ate while I told him little things about Dion—how he loved dinosaurs, how he was already reading small words. Atlas fed Dion as I talked, nodding occasionally, but never saying much.

After dinner, I started washing the dishes while Atlas took Dion upstairs to get him ready for bed. I could hear them laughing, Dion’s small giggles mixing with Atlas’s deep voice. For a moment, I let myself believe that maybe things would be okay. Maybe he’d forgive and forget, and we could figure out how to move forward.

“Ki, I’m going to the car.”

I jumped at the sound of Atlas’s raised voice from the living room.

“Yes?”

“I said I forgot something I have for you in the car. Be right back.”

I heard the front door open and close. I wiped my hands on a towel and made my way to the living room.

When he came back inside, I was expecting him to have something simple in his hand. Instead, he was holding a duffel bag. He dropped it on the floor and unzipped it, pulling out something. He dropped one box, and then another, and another on my sofa.

“Atlas… what’s that?” I asked, my voice tight.

“An ovulation kit.”

He pulled out several more.

“What… what are they for?” I stammered, stepping back instinctively. I knew what they were for.

Atlas looked at me, his eyes colder than I’d ever seen them. “First,” he said, his voice calm, “you’re going to take that.” He gestured to the kit. “Then, you’re going to take off your clothes.”

I took several steps back. “What do you mean?” I asked, feeling the panic rise in my chest. “You really are insane if you expect me to actually do this.”

“No, Kairi,” he said, his voice calm and measured. “I’m not insane. I’m a father. A father who was robbed of three years with his child. I want a do-over. I want to see it all from the beginning.”

I shook my head, my back hitting the wall behind me. “No. This… you’re not doing this. You can’t do this.”

His expression didn’t change. Atlas stepped forward, crowding me against the wall again, his body towering over mine. He leaned down, his lips brushing against my ear as he whispered, “I’m very serious, Kairi. You let me suffer,” he hissed. “You let me fall apart, cry over every fucking miscarriage, and you said nothing. You let me grieve while you kept my son a secret. You can do what I want, or…”

He stepped back. He reached into the bag again, pulling out a folder and tossing it onto the table with a loud smack.

“These are the custody papers,” he said, his voice still eerily calm. “My lawyer can file them in the morning. I’m asking for full custody.”

I stared at the papers, my heart racing. Tears welled up again. I couldn’t stop them from spilling over.

“Please,” I whispered. “Don’t do this.”

“It’s your choice, Kairi. Do what I say, or watch me tear your world apart.”

“Why are you doing this? You know I wasn’t being malicious by not telling you,” I choked out. “This is malicious.”

I shook my head, forcing myself not to wring my hands. I felt like my head was about to explode.

“I was trying to do what was best,” I whispered.

Atlas shook his head, stepping closer until he was towering over me again.

“Was putting subliminal messages about me in everything you wrote not malicious? You should have opened the door instead of forcing us both to suffer. Instead of lying.”

And just like that, I felt my fear and sadness shift to anger. I suddenly felt like my new self again. He had no power over me unless I let him.

“And there it is. This has more to do with me not saving you from the life you didn’t want. Because you were too much of a coward to save yourself. This isn’t going to turn out how you want it. But I’ll do it.”

I didn’t even hesitate when I reached for my shirt, yanking it over my head. I stood there in my bra, panties, and tights. I let him look. Let him take it all in.

“You want this, Atlas? Is this what you’ve been waiting for? Got a taste and can’t get it off your mind?”

I didn’t wait for his answer. My hands were already at my waist, tugging down the tights, slow enough to make sure he was watching. I could feel the heat from his gaze like a spotlight.

I stepped out of the tights and stood there, feeling like I should be ashamed—but I wasn’t. I ran my hands down my sides, fingers brushing over the curves of my thick hips.

“You like this, don’t you?” I asked, voice full of venom, cupping my breasts through the thin fabric of my bra. “This is what you wanted, right? All these years, you’ve been craving my body?”

I moved closer, every step slow. His anger was thick in the air, but I didn’t care. I was daring him to do something.

“I’ll take your little test,” I spat. I grabbed his hand. He let me take it and guide it between my legs. I let him feel the wetness. I shouldn’t have been turned on, but I was.

“I’ll have your babies. I’ll play along, be your good little whore, and pretend housewife for three years. What’s three years, huh? Nothing.”

I stepped back and reached behind to unfasten my bra, my nipples almost touching him, taunting him. He licked his lips, his hand fisting at his side.

“But when it’s all over, you’ll still be this man. The man I didn’t open the door for. The man whose world is in shambles. And I’ll still end up living my life without you. And you’ll have to see that every time you pick up my kids.”

I straightened up, holding the test in my hand like it was a weapon, then turned and walked away, each step intentional, my hips swaying with the kind of confidence I knew would haunt him.

Fuck compromise. Atlas didn’t want compromise. He wanted to be petty, wanted to push me until I broke. So I’d break him back.