The air outside Romero was crisp, the kind of chill that cut through coats. Bella had Jessy on her hip, his small hand tugging at her hair, while Chris walked beside her with Arabella's fingers looped through his.
They had barely crossed the street when Bella froze.
He was there again.
The man she had seen thrice before in fleeting moments. Same hard jawline, same storm-grey eyes. Older now, lines carved deep into his face, but so achingly familiar that Bella's chest twisted.
Her voice shook. "Chris..."
Chris followed her gaze. Instinct hardened his body in a second, his protective presence blocking her from the man's path. "You know him?"
Bella's lips trembled. "He looks like my dad... my real dad."
The man flinched as if the words had been aimed like a blade. "Ella," he whispered, stepping forward, his voice cracked with years of regret. "My daughter."
Chris's arm shot out, stopping him cold. His tone was ice. "Don't."
The man lifted his palms in surrender. "I'm not here to hurt her. I just... I couldn't stay away anymore. I've been watching all these years. I needed to come back."
Bella's throat burned. Rage broke through her shock. "Back? You left. You abandoned Mum with three kids and a broken life. You stole everything she had everything Grandpa left her. And you disappeared with a divorce paper on the table."
He winced, guilt carving his face deeper. "I made mistakes. Terrible ones. I thought I was smart, thought I'd multiply what I had. I gambled, I invested wrong, I lost it all. By the time I realised, I was ashamed to crawl back. But I never stopped watching."
"You watched?" Bella's voice cracked into fury. "You watched while Mum cried herself to sleep. While she worked herself raw to feed us. While Jayden and Kayden sacrificed everything. While we grew up without a father. You watched her break, and did nothing."
Tears welled in her eyes, but her anger was steady. "She doesn't need you. We don't need you."
Chris stepped in front of her, his voice lethal. "You left your rights as a father the morning you walked out. Stay gone."
The man's lips parted, trembling. "I just wanted to apologise. To beg Vera's forgiveness. To tell her..."
"Don't you dare say her name," Bella snapped, tears spilling. "You don't get to speak it like it belongs to you anymore."
For a long moment, silence crushed the space. Then, broken and powerless, the man stepped back into the flow of the street, vanishing into the blur of strangers.
Bella collapsed against Chris, shaking. "I have to tell Mum. She deserves to know."
Chris kissed her temple, his grip solid. "Then we'll do it together."
Later, at the Walter Residence
The Walter home felt heavy when Bella arrived with Chris and the children. Joe was out, Raquel at a friend's, the twins at the library. Only Vera was home, folding laundry in the living room when the knock came.
She opened the door, her face lighting at the sight of Bella, Jessy, and Arabella. But the light dimmed when she saw Bella's expression.
"Mum, sit," Bella said softly. Her voice was calm, but her eyes were storming.
Something in her tone made Vera obey without question.
"Mum," Bella began, her throat thick. "I saw him today."
Vera's hands stilled. "Who?"
"My father. Your ex husband."
The basket of clothes slipped from Vera's hands. Colour drained from her face.
"He...he came back?" Her voice was a whisper, disbelief tangled with horror.
Bella nodded, her tears breaking loose. "He begged to come back. Said he was watching us all these years. Said he wanted forgiveness."
Vera's lips trembled before rage cut through her sorrow. "Forgiveness? After stealing everything my father left me and Joanna? After leaving me with nothing but a paper and three children to feed?"
Her voice rose, shaking with old wounds. "That man destroyed me, Ella. I was thirty-one, and he took everything I had, everything my father worked for. He didn't just leave me poor he left me broken."
Bella knelt beside her mother, tears matching hers. "You carried us, Mum. You didn't need him. You never did."
Vera's tears spilled, her hand cupping her daughter's cheek. "You're right. I survived him. We all did. But if he thinks he can walk through that door after twenty years he'll regret it."
And as if summoned by fate itself, the doorbell rang again.
Chris moved instantly, protective, but Bella and Vera both knew before the door opened who it would be.
The man stood there, older, weaker, regret in every line of his face.
"Vera," he breathed, his voice low, broken. "I'm sorry. Please, just listen..."
Vera stood tall, her grief hardened into steel. "You have no right to say my name. You killed that right the day you left. You stole my father's legacy, my children's security, my peace. And you expect me to listen? To forgive?"
He swallowed hard, tears streaking his face. "I thought I'd make it right. I thought I'd come back with more. I lost everything. I lost you."
"No," Vera said, her voice sharp as glass. "You threw us away. Don't come here begging for scraps of forgiveness. You don't deserve even my hatred. You deserve nothing."
Chris's hand tightened on Bella's shoulder, but his eyes never left the man ready, lethal if needed.
Vera stepped closer, her voice trembling but strong. "Turn around. Walk away. Don't ever come back. If you do, I'll treat you like the stranger you are."
The man's lips quivered, his body shaking with silent sobs. But he obeyed. Step by step, he turned, disappearing down the street until he was gone once more.
This time, for good.
Vera's body finally gave way, her sobs loud and aching. Bella caught her, wrapping arms around her as Chris silently led Arabella and Jessy upstairs to give them space.
And in that moment, mother and daughter clung to each other, not because of the man who left but because of the strength they found in surviving him.