Chapter 0316

As the words left my mouth, I was surprised to feel a pang of disappointment. Why did I feel this way when all I had wanted lately was to escape? My heart seemed to betray me, caught between the freedom I had sought and a longing for something I thought was lost.

Noah nodded solemnly, rising to his feet. “I don’t want you to spend your life feeling like a prisoner, Hannah. I won’t force you to stay and work on our marriage. So, if you really want to leave, then leave.”

He paused, as though weighing his next words carefully. “But I do have one request. Would you consider staying with me for the duration of the pregnancy? Just so I can take care of you and ensure your health and safety. For you and for the child.”

I remained silent, although not by choice; my mouth worked uselessly, opening and closing like a fish out of water. Noah continued, “We also need to discuss custody. I’m willing to let you have the majority custody of our child, but I’d still like to have some part in their life. And I’d like to leave Nightcrest to them someday.”

My mind felt like it was on fire, each conflicting thought adding fuel to the flames. This was everything I had wanted, wasn’t it? Freedom, fair custody, a chance to start over without making a big deal about it. So why did it feel so… hollow? Like a dream slipping through my fingers?

Noah dusted off his pants, gathering the damp washcloth and half-eaten crackers. “You don’t have to decide now,” he said. “Just… consider it, okay?”

I watched him go, a strange aching somewhere deep in my chest for reasons I couldn’t fully understand. Later that night, after a long, hot bath, I emerged from the bathroom feeling refreshed but emotionally drained.

To my surprise, I found Noah already asleep on the sofa in my room. A book lay open on his chest, his brow furrowed even in sleep. I approached quietly, picking up a blanket from the foot of my bed. As I draped it over him, I paused a moment to study his face. In sleep, he looked younger, more like the boy I had fallen in love with all those years ago. The lines of worry seemed softer, the harsh edges of his usual demeanor smoothed by the calm of sleep.

Sighing, I stared down at him, clutching the blanket in my hands as his chest rose and fell steadily. More than anything, I wished I knew what had happened between us, why things had gotten so complicated. Where had that boy gone—the one who watched the stars with me, the one whose palm was clammy against mine as we snuck into his mother’s hospital room, the one who wrote me all those letters? Why, when I had been so elated to discover that we were getting married, had he… treated me like a stranger?

As I draped the blanket over him and made my way back to bed, I thought back to his words earlier. He was willing to let me go, to give me the freedom I had been craving. But now that it was within my grasp, I found myself hesitating. The Noah I had come to know over the past few years—cold, distant, controlling—didn’t align with the man I had seen today. This Noah was caring, considerate, and seemingly genuine in his desire to do right by me and our child. I didn’t want to believe all the nice things he had said earlier. It would be easier to assume the worst, that that gentle boy had died all those years ago and that this was just a ploy to get what he wanted. But I couldn’t help but wonder if I was mistaken.

Chapter 0317