Page 43 of Broken Destiny

The thought made my stomach tighten.

After preparing breakfast, I dropped Lucas off at school. I planned to spend the rest of the day playing with Emma and checking on the restaurant and cafés. With access granted by Liam, I had planned to work from home, juggling household responsibilities plus all the businesses, while trying to maintain some sense of normalcy.

When I returned home, I sat down on the living room couch and picked up the paper.

A knock on the door shattered the quiet.

“I’ll get it,” I called to Geeta, who was busy feeding Emma her breakfast.

I walked toward the front door, Oreo and Milo padding faithfully beside me. Their presence always made me feel safer, as though they could sense danger before I could.

I opened the door.

And froze.

Standing in front of me were Caleb and Greg.

A prickle ran across my scalp, followed by a sudden twist in my stomach that left me momentarily unsteady.

What the hell? How did he find me?

Milo barked loudly at the unfamiliar visitors.

The moment Oreo saw Caleb, recognition hit instantly. His tail wagged wildly as he bounded toward Caleb and jumped against his chest.

Caleb steadied him automatically, scratching behind his ears while Milo hung back a few feet away, watching the unfamiliar men cautiously from beside me.

“Hi,” I said, trying to sound calm, even though my pulse had begun racing uncontrollably.

This was my home—my sanctuary, the one place where I felt protected—and Caleb had no right to show up here.

“What are you guys doing here?” I asked, angling my body slightly away from them while keeping a polite smile fixed on my face.

“We… umm… we were… umm… in the neighbourhood to umm… celebrate his bachelor party,” Greg said. “We thought umm… we’d stop by and say hello. Isn’t that right?” He nudged Caleb with his elbow.

The last thing Caleb would ever do was stop by simply to say hello.

So why was he here, standing on my doorstep?

He was the one who was unfaithful to me. He was the one who had continued his relationship with Caroline while making me believe otherwise. Even so, I had forgiven him and tried to move forward with my life. It had taken every ounce of strength to get over him after that heartbreak. Emma was a reminder of him every single day. Still, I had managed to move forward with Cole’s help, patience and love.

Caleb’s eyes narrowed at me.

“Can we come in?” he asked.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I replied.

My instincts were screaming at me to keep the door closed, to protect what was inside these walls. I didn’t know the real reason they had come, and until I did, I wasn’t about to let my guard down.

“Why don’t we meet another time?” I suggested, biting the inside of my lip. “I’m busy right now.”

My biggest fear, however, was not myself.

It was Emma.

Letting him inside the house posed a risk I was not willing to take. What if he became suspicious of her? What if he started asking questions I couldn’t answer? What if he discovered the truth and decided to take her away from me?

The thought alone made my breathing quicken, and a wave of heat rushed through my body.