[COLE]
The cold air in the room disappeared. The hostility. The accusations. The standoff.
All of it faded the moment he saw her, standing at the bottom of the stairs with his son cradled in her arms.
He didn't blink.
Didn't breathe.
He was mesmerized. Stunned.
His jaw clenched, not from anger—but from the overwhelming surge of emotions crashing through him like a tidal wave.
The fury and betrayal that had fueled his journey here—the rage of being shut out from her pregnancy, from their child's birth—began to crack, giving way to something deeper. Something raw.
Love.
Love for her.
Love for his son.
And beneath it all—a pulsing ache of regret.
