Page 83 of Broken Destiny

I reached out and cupped his cheek gently. “But I’m still here, and I’m not going anywhere.”

My son smiled at me, and that simple expression of trust made my heart swell.

“Mama?” Lucas asked. “Does Caleb still not know about Emma?”

Coldness hit my core.

I slowly knelt in front of him.

I did not want to lie to him, not about something this important.

“No, he doesn’t know.”

“Are you planning on telling him?” he asked.

I bit the inside of my cheek.

“I don’t know,” I admitted quietly. “I’m not sure, especially now since he’s getting married.”

“Okay,” Lucas said thoughtfully. “But you should know something.”

I waited, watching his serious expression.

“Cole is always going to be Emma’s Dada first,” he said firmly, then smiled.

“I couldn’t agree with you more, baby,” I said, leaning forward to kiss his forehead.

“I love you, Mama,” he said.

Just then, Emma came running toward us, repeating his words as she wrapped her small arms around my leg. “I wuv you, Mama.”

I laughed softly and crouched down to her level. “Oh, really? How much?”

Emma stretched her arms out as wide as they could go. “Dis much!”

Lucas groaned. “That’s cheating, Emma.”

She giggled before climbing into my lap. “Mama my best friend.”

My heart melted.

“I love you both,” I said, pulling them into a tight embrace and kissing each of them.

As I held them close, an ache settled inside me. They were not going to have a permanent father figure in their lives again.

I had closed and sealed my heart after Caleb had cheated on me. Cole had opened it again with his keys of kindness, strength, and unwavering love. After his death, I had sealed it shut once more, locking away the pieces of myself that had once believed in forever.

I told myself no one would ever open it again.

I brushed Emma’s hair back gently and looked over at Lucas, trying to focus on something practical instead of the emotions pressing against my chest. Summer holidays were starting soon, and planning his eleventh birthday party that weekend had already consumed most of my attention.

Caleb knew about the party only because Liam had mentioned it during one of our meetings about Cole’s project. I still did not know whether he would come, and I had not been brave enough to ask him myself.

He would be turning thirty-five the following week.

I let out a quiet sigh, memories drifting back to his thirty-first birthday, back when life had been simpler, and love had seemed unbreakable.

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