After a long stay at the hospital, Rosaline and their baby were finally free to leave.
Shaan smiled as he folded her clothes into a bag. His eyes lingered on the tiny human lying in the cradle, and he couldn't get enough of how much she looked like Rosaline.
His princess.
He already knew he was going to love her to death.
Gently, he slipped his index finger into her tiny palm, and she instinctively curled her fingers around it. A tiny smile played on her sleeping face.
God, he was in love.
His phone buzzed in his pocket, alerting him to a notification. It was probably his mother.
Kayid had been over the moon when the nurses brought his baby sister into the room two days earlier. Although he'd already seen her through the glass, nothing compared to finally being allowed to touch her.
It had taken considerable effort to convince him to leave with Noura a few hours earlier.
Considering the size of their family, one would have expected everyone to show up to take Rosaline home. They'd offered, of course, but Shaan had declined.
His wife and newborn daughter needed some peace and quiet. They deserved a little time to themselves without the entire family descending on them.
Rosaline walked in just as he finished packing, having returned from her final examination with the doctor.
"Everything's swell," she announced.
Shaan chuckled. "I need details on swell ." He did an air quote.
She rolled her eyes playfully. "I just need to bring her in if anything happens, normal or otherwise."
She'd almost said abnormal, but decided against it.
"Naturally." He nodded, then took her hands in his. "I'm asking about you."
"I'm fine. It's just the usual warnings, that's all."
Her gaze wandered over his shoulder to the bag.
"Done packing?"
He smiled and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
"Pretty much. Just check in case I missed anything." He pulled out his phone from his pocket while Rosaline double-checked the bag, intending to text his mother and let her know they were on their way.
Rosaline inspected the contents, checking for her medications and cleaning supplies. Everything was there, neatly packed and accounted for.
She looked up at him with a smile.
"You're the best."
She leaned forward and kissed him.
He raised an eyebrow. "You're being nice. Why?"
She jabbed him in the shoulder.
He burst out laughing.
A little while later, they were finally on their way to his family's villa.
There was no way Rosaline was returning to the Campbells', even if she'd wanted to—which she didn't. Shaan wouldn't have allowed it anyway.
And who could blame him?
After everything that had happened, the last thing he wanted was to take his wife and newborn daughter back to a place where she might be subjected to further distress.
The only thing Rosaline disliked about the arrangement was the inconvenience it would cause her family.
Her parents and siblings would have to travel all the way from the Campbells' to Shaan's residence just to visit her and the baby. And while her siblings could manage the journey, she worried about her parents.
They weren't getting any younger, and she couldn't bear the thought of the stress taking a toll on their health.
She hadn't even voiced her concerns when they arrived at the villa.
Yet, somehow, it seemed as though someone had anticipated them.
Her parents and siblings were already there, all except Renee.
Rosaline froze at the sight of them.
"Mom? Papa?"
A smile immediately spread across her face as she hurried over to embrace them.
"What are you guys doing here?"
Her mother laughed softly, returning the hug.
"You didn't expect us to stay at Gina's when you're here, did you?"
Rosaline pulled back, blinking in confusion.
Her father smiled.
"Noura said it was all right."
Rosaline glanced at Noura, silently asking if it was really okay for her family to stay.
Noura caught the look and raised an eyebrow.
"What're you looking at me for?. Ihna ahl."
"You didn't forget about us, did you?" Kenneth asked, pulling Rosaline into his embrace.
The rest of her siblings quickly joined in, turning it into a massive group hug.
Rosaline hadn't realised just how much her siblings loved her until that moment.
Or how tall they were.
"Oh, goodness! I can't breathe!" Her muffled voice came from somewhere in the middle of the human pile.
They immediately broke apart, laughing.
Their attention soon shifted to the newborn nestled in Shaan's arms.
"A mini mommy!" Jessica exclaimed.
Rosaline smiled at the sight of her daughter, but her thoughts soon wandered elsewhere.
"What about Renee?"
The question came after several minutes of thinking. A lump formed in her throat as she waited for an answer.
Her siblings exchanged glances.
Why did she always have to be left out of things like this?
"And what about the wedding?" she added.
"Girl, you've got enough on your plate already." Zoe shook her head. "You gotta stop worrying about everything and everyone except yourself."
"But she's my sister, and—"
"And she almost killed you," Beatrice interrupted.
She let out a weary sigh.
"God knows we'd all love to know where she is, too." Sean comforted his wife by patting her shoulder
Rosaline's palms grew sweaty.
"What do you mean?"
Silence fell over the room.
For a moment, nobody seemed willing to be the one to tell her.
"She left when you were rushed to the hospital," Rudy finally said. "When we got back, she was gone."
He watched Rosaline carefully. She deserved to know, even if the truth hurt her.
"So none of you saw her leave?"
"No one. Not even Mom. She took advantage of all the confusion and slipped away."
Rosaline slowly sank onto the sofa.
The pain from her stitches, the ache in her heart, and the sudden onset of a migraine seemed to hit her all at once.
As though the emotional weight of everything she'd been through wasn't enough, her body had decided to join in.
"Noah was looking for her," Rudy added quietly. "He's already given up."
"Why?" Rosaline asked, bewildered. "She's his wife-to-be."
"Was," Richie corrected, visibly irritated by the conversation. "She already called off the wedding. If she doesn't want to be found, so be it."
Rosaline stared at him.
She'd completely forgotten about Renee's announcement before the incident.
Sensing her discomfort, Shaan carefully handed the baby to Beatrice, who passed her on to Noura.
Beatrice didn't want to hold her granddaughter while her mind was occupied with such unpleasant thoughts. She wanted to enjoy holding the baby without the weight of everything else pressing down on her.
"That's enough pondering for one day."
Shaan helped Rosaline to her feet.
"My wife and I will retire for the day. We'll see you all at dinner."
He picked up Rosaline's bag before anyone could offer to help.
"Is Kayid sleeping upstairs in our room or yours?" he asked his mother.
She'd told him earlier, when he'd asked about Kayid before they left the hospital.
"He's with Majed."
Shaan nodded.
With that settled, he led Rosaline upstairs.
A little while later, Shaan came back downstairs to bring their daughter up.
**. **. **.
Noah's pov
He downed the fourth glass of whiskey.
The burn travelled down his throat, settling somewhere in his chest, but it did little to quiet the thoughts that had been plaguing him for days.
He stared at the amber liquid swirling inside the glass.
Four glasses.
And somehow, Renee Moore was still the only woman on his mind.
That damn woman.
He let out a bitter laugh, leaning back against the sofa.
He didn't know whether he loved Renee or hated her. Perhaps it was both. Maybe that was what made everything so damn complicated.
He loved the woman she used to be. The girl who had laughed at his terrible jokes, stolen food from his plate, and looked at him as though he was someone worth keeping around. The woman he had imagined growing old with.
But he hated what she'd become.
No, that wasn't entirely true.
He hated what she'd done and he just found out he only knew the part of her she showed him.
There was a difference, and he was beginning to understand that he might never be able to separate the woman he loved from the woman who had hurt him.
Renee had called off their wedding.
Fine.
He could live with that. It would've hurt like hell, but he would have survived. People fell out of love. People changed their minds. It wasn't a crime to realise you no longer wanted to spend the rest of your life with someone.
But the way she'd done it?
The way she'd disappeared without so much as a proper conversation, leaving him to wonder what he'd done wrong and whether any of the promises she'd made had ever meant anything?
That was the part he couldn't forgive.
He had spent so long trying to figure out where he'd gone wrong that he'd almost forgotten to consider the possibility that the problem had never been him.
And then there was Rosaline.
God, Rosaline.
He closed his eyes.
If there was one thing he regretted more than anything else, it was not confessing his feelings for her sooner.
He'd had opportunities. So many of them.
Moments when they'd been alone, when she'd smiled at him in that easy, familiar way, when he'd wanted to tell her that he loved her.
But he'd always found a reason to keep quiet.
She was like a sister to him.
And now she was his best friend's wife.
And Noah had convinced himself that some feelings were better left unspoken, especially when acting on them could ruin something as precious as their friendship.
So he'd buried them.
He'd told himself that he could live with loving Rosaline from a distance. That he could watch her find happiness with someone else and be content knowing she was happy.
He'd even convinced himself that, eventually, the feelings would fade.
What a fool he'd been.
Because when Shaan had come into the picture, Noah had realised just how deeply he'd underestimated the situation.
He'd watched his best friend fall for the woman he'd secretly loved for years.
And he'd watched Rosaline fall for him, too.
There had been no dramatic betrayal. No deliberate attempt to steal anything from him. Shaan hadn't known what Noah felt, and Rosaline had never promised him anything.
They'd simply fallen in love.
And Noah had been left to deal with the consequences of his own silence.
He couldn't even bring himself to resent Shaan for it.
That was the most frustrating part.
Shaan was a good man. An infuriatingly good man, sometimes. Loyal, dependable, and protective to a fault. He'd been Noah's friend long before either of them understood what it meant to be an adult, and he'd stood beside him through some of the worst moments of his life.
He'd never deliberately hurt Noah.
And now, he was making Rosaline happy.
Noah had seen it for himself.
The way Shaan looked at her. The way he instinctively reached for her, as though his body had memorised her presence. The way his entire expression softened whenever she spoke.
And Rosaline?
She looked at Shaan as though she'd finally found somewhere she could rest.
How could Noah possibly begrudge them that?
He couldn't.
It hurt. Of course, it hurt.
But beneath the ache, beneath the jealousy he'd be ashamed to admit to anyone, there was something else.
Relief.
Rosaline was happy.
And Shaan, his best friend, was the man who'd made her that way.
If Noah had to lose the possibility of being with the woman he loved, at least he could take comfort in knowing she'd ended up with someone who would love her properly.
He raised his glass to his lips, only to discover it was empty.
"You're going to drink yourself into an early grave at this rate."
Noah froze.
He turned his head towards the doorway.
His younger sister stood there, arms folded across her chest, staring at him with an expression that was equal parts concern and disapproval.
He hadn't even heard her come in.
"How long have you been standing there?" he asked.
"Long enough to know that you've had more than enough to drink." Nara sighed
"I'm fine."
"Of course you are." She walked into the room, glanced at the bottle on the table, and raised an eyebrow. "And I'm the Queen of England."
Despite himself, Noah snorted.
"Didn't know you had royal aspirations."
"Didn't know you had a drinking problem."
"I don't."
"Then why are you drinking like someone just informed you that the world is ending?"
He looked away.
She studied him for a moment before her expression softened.
"Is it Renee?"
Noah said nothing....He didn't have to.
His sister sighed again and sat beside him.
"I thought so."
"Please don't."
"Don't what?"
"Give me a lecture. I really don't have the energy for it."
"I'm not going to lecture you....i hate the idea of school or giving advice" She nudged his knee with hers. "I'm going to tell you something you probably don't want to hear."
"Wonderful."
"You're not responsible for what Renee did."
His jaw tightened.
"She was your fiancée, Noah. You loved her. You were ready to marry her. You didn't force her to stay with you, and you didn't make her call off the wedding the way she did. Whatever happened between you two, she could've spoken to you. She could've been honest."
"Maybe I should've seen it coming."
"Why? Because you loved her?"
He looked at her.
She shook her head.
"Noah, you can't spend the rest of your life punishing yourself for someone else's choices. You can acknowledge that things went wrong without taking responsibility for every single thing that happened."
He swallowed.
It was a simple thing to say.
It was much harder to believe.
Because some part of him still wondered whether he'd missed something. Whether there had been signs he'd ignored. Whether Renee had been unhappy long before she'd finally admitted she didn't want to marry him.
But perhaps that didn't matter anymore.
Perhaps he would never get the answers he wanted.
And perhaps he had to learn to live with that.
Nara leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees.
"Have you spoken to Shaan?"
Noah gave her a look.
"Seriously?"
"Yes, seriously."
"My engagement just fell apart, and you're asking whether I've spoken to my best friend?"
"Exactly. Your best friend. The man who's probably worried sick about you right now."
Noah scoffed.
"He has a wife and a newborn to worry about. He's got enough on his plate."
"And he also has you."
Noah fell silent.
"You're always there for him," she continued. "Whenever he needs you, you're there. But the moment you need someone, you lock yourself away and pretend you're perfectly capable of handling everything on your own."
"I can handle it."
"Then why are you sitting here drinking your problems away?"
He had no answer for that.
She reached for his hand.
"Call him, Noah. You don't have to tell him everything at once. Just talk to him. Let him be your friend."
Noah stared at their joined hands.
He missed Shaan.
It was ridiculous, really. They hadn't stopped being friends. There hadn't been a fight or some grand falling-out. But between Renee's disappearance, the broken engagement, and everything happening with Rosaline and the baby, Noah had retreated into himself.
He'd convinced himself that everyone else had moved on while he was still struggling to put the pieces of his life back together.
Perhaps he hadn't given Shaan enough credit.
Perhaps he had forgotten that friendship wasn't supposed to be a competition over who was suffering less.
"I'll think about it," he muttered.
His sister squeezed his hand.
"Good, I'm gonna go text him and tell him you'll call when you're ready. And for the love of everything holy, put the bottle away."
He glanced at it.
"No promises."
She gave him a warning look.
He sighed and set the glass on the table.
"Happy?"
"Ecstatic."
She rose to her feet, then paused.
"And Noah?"
He looked up.
"You are allowed to be hurt. You're allowed to be angry. You're even allowed to miss her, if that's what you feel. Just don't let what happened with Renee convince you that you're not worth loving."
For a moment, he couldn't speak.
Then he managed a small nod.
She smiled faintly before leaving him alone with his thoughts.
Noah sat in silence for a long time.
He thought about Renee, about the life he'd imagined with her, and about the future that had vanished before he could even begin to understand why.
He thought about Rosaline, too.
About all the things he wished he'd said when he still had the chance.
But wishes were useless things. They couldn't change the past, and they certainly couldn't rewrite the present.
Rosaline was Shaan's wife now.
She had a daughter to love, a family to return to, and a husband who looked at her as though she were the best thing that had ever happened to him.
And Noah?
He would learn to be happy for them.
He had to.
He loved Shaan too much to let his own heartbreak poison their friendship. And he loved Rosaline too much to wish her anything less than the happiness she had finally found.
As for himself, he wasn't sure what came next.
The thought of loving another woman felt impossible.
How was he supposed to open his heart to someone new when he wasn't even certain he could trust his own judgment anymore?
He couldn't imagine looking at another woman and feeling what he'd felt for Renee.
Or looking at anyone and seeing Rosaline the way he always had.
Perhaps he would love again someday.
Perhaps he wouldn't.
For now, he was tired of imagining futures that never came to pass.
He picked up his phone, stared at Shaan's name for a few seconds, and considered calling him.
Then he set it back down.
Not tonight.
But maybe soon.
For the first time in days, that possibility felt like enough.
---
Gina stood by the bedroom window, staring out into the darkening evening.
The house was quiet.
Too quiet.
She had always thought that silence was a blessing. After years of raising four children, managing a household, and trying to keep everyone from tearing each other apart, a little peace had once seemed like a luxury.
Now, she wasn't so sure.
Because the silence reminded her of everyone who wasn't there.
Rosaline was at Shaan's family villa with her husband and their newborn daughter. The thought brought a small smile to Gina's face, but it was quickly swallowed by the ache that had settled in her chest.
Renee was gone.
And Noah...
Noah was hurting.
She could feel it, even from a distance.
He hadn't said much since everything had fallen apart. He'd withdrawn, stopped talking as often, and barely responded when she tried to check on him.
She knew he needed time.
She knew that.
But knowing something and accepting it were two very different things.
She had already lost the easy closeness she'd once shared with her children. Somewhere along the way, the family had become complicated, the relationships strained, and the house that had once been full of laughter had begun to feel like a place where everyone was simply waiting for something else to go wrong.
Now, she was terrified of losing another person she loved.
And the worst part was that she couldn't help wondering whether she'd brought some of it upon herself.
Had she been a bad mother?
The question had haunted her for longer than she cared to admit.
She'd loved her children. She still loved them, more than anything in the world.
But love wasn't always enough, was it?
Perhaps she'd been too distracted by the demands of life. Perhaps she'd failed to notice when one of them was struggling. Perhaps she'd made mistakes that had seemed insignificant at the time but had grown into something far more painful.
She could think of a dozen moments she'd handle differently if given the chance.
A dozen conversations she'd have with more patience. A dozen times she'd put aside whatever was troubling her and simply listen.
But the past was the past.
And no matter how desperately she wished otherwise, she couldn't go back and become the mother she sometimes feared her children had needed.
"You're doing it again."
Gina turned.
Jonathan stood at the bedroom door, watching her with the patient expression that had carried her through more difficult days than she could count.
"Doing what?" she asked, even though she knew.
"Blaming yourself for everything."
She looked away.
"I'm not."
He gave her a look.
"Gina."
She sighed.
"Fine. Perhaps I am."
Jonathan crossed the room and stood beside her, following her gaze towards the window.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then Gina said quietly, "I don't want to lose them."
"You won't."
"You don't know that."
"No," he admitted. "I don't know what tomorrow will bring. But I know our children. And I know Noah."
Her eyes stung.
"He's barely speaking to me."
"He's hurting."
"I know he's hurting, Jonathan. That's what frightens me." She pressed a hand to her chest. "He's always been the one who tries to hold everything together. Even when things are falling apart, he tries to be strong for everyone else. And now look at him."
Jonathan's expression softened.
"He's allowed to fall apart sometimes."
"But what if he doesn't get back up?"
"He will."
The certainty in his voice made her turn to him.
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because he's our son."
Gina let out a shaky breath.
Jonathan took her hand and gently drew her away from the window.
"Listen to me. Noah has been through something painful. He thought he was going to marry Renee. He built a future around that promise, and now he's trying to understand how everything went wrong. He doesn't need us to force him to be okay before he's ready."
"I just want to help him."
"I know."
"But every time I reach out, I feel like I'm making things worse."
"Then give him a little space."
She looked at him helplessly.
"How am I supposed to do that? He's my son."
"And he'll still be your son tomorrow. And next week. And next month." Jonathan squeezed her hand. "Giving him space doesn't mean abandoning him, Gina. It means allowing him to come to you when he's ready."
She lowered her head.
Perhaps that was what she struggled with most.
She wanted to fix things. To gather everyone around her, smooth over the cracks, and make the family whole again.
But her children were no longer little. She couldn't solve every problem for them, and she couldn't make their pain disappear simply because she loved them.
Sometimes, all she could do was wait.
"I keep thinking about Rosaline," she admitted after a while. "About everything she's been through.And Catherine and Nolan. Now Renee..." Her voice faltered. "I look at our family, and I wonder where I went wrong."
Jonathan turned towards her fully.
"You made mistakes, Gina. So did I. We're parents, not saints."
She gave a small, humourless laugh.
"That doesn't make me feel better."
"It isn't supposed to erase your regrets. But you can't keep using them as a reason to condemn yourself."
He brushed a strand of hair away from her face.
"You love those children. You've always loved them. And whatever mistakes we've made, we can still do better. We can listen more. We can apologise when we need to. We can give them room to make their own decisions without assuming every bad thing that happens is a reflection of our parenting."
Gina blinked rapidly, trying to hold back her tears.
"What if Noah never comes around?"
Jonathan's gaze remained steady.
"He will come around when he's ready."
"And if he doesn't?"
"Then we'll keep loving him. We'll keep the door open, and we'll remind him that he doesn't have to face everything alone." He paused. "But we cannot drag him through his grief just because we're frightened of watching him suffer."
That struck a little too close to home.
Gina had spent so much time worrying about what might happen that she'd barely allowed herself to consider what Noah needed right now.
Perhaps Jonathan was right.
Perhaps her son didn't need another person asking him to explain himself, another person telling him how he ought to feel, or another reminder of everything he'd lost.
Perhaps he simply needed to breathe.
She leaned against her husband's chest, and he wrapped his arms around her.
"I miss when everyone was under one roof,when the Moores were here" she whispered.
Jonathan kissed the top of her head.
"I know."
"I miss the noise. The arguments over silly things. The way they used to crowd around the table and talk over one another." She smiled sadly. "I used to complain about never getting a moment's peace."
"And now you want the noise back."
"More than anything."
He held her a little tighter.
"They're growing up, Gina. Their lives are changing. That doesn't mean they're no longer ours."
She closed her eyes.
She wanted to believe him.
She wanted to believe that Rosaline's marriage wouldn't take her too far away, that Renee would eventually find her way home, and that Noah would heal from the pain he was carrying.
She wanted to believe that their family could survive all of this without losing the love that had held them together for so many years.
Jonathan pulled back just enough to look at her.
"We've raised good children," he said. "Imperfect children, yes. Stubborn children, certainly. But good children. And even when they make mistakes, even when they hurt, even when they need to walk away for a while, they know where home is."
Gina's tears finally spilled over.
He wiped them away with his thumb.
"Let Noah have his space. Don't stop loving him. Don't stop checking in when the time is right. Just give him the chance to come to you on his own."
She nodded against his chest.
For tonight, she would try.
She would resist the urge to check up on Noah again, resist the temptation to ask someone to check on him, and trust that the boy she'd raised was still somewhere beneath all that hurt.
And perhaps, when he was ready, he would come home.
Not because she had demanded it.
Not because she had guilted him into it.
But because he knew he was loved.
Because no matter how far her children wandered, no matter how complicated their lives became, Gina wanted them to know one thing above everything else.
There would always be a place for them in the Campbell family.
Always.