Later that morning, Susan sat at the table, feeding Leah while nibbling her own breakfast. Chris busied himself at the counter, sleeves rolled up, washing bottles and prepping meals like he'd been doing it for years. It threw her off-balance the billionaire with his hands in soap and sterilizers.
When Leah giggled as Chris lifted her into his arms, Susan's chest squeezed. He cradled their daughter with an ease that shattered her defences.
She moved quickly to take Leah back, but Chris angled away, smiling at the baby.
"I'll hold her."
"Give her to me."
The moment Leah left his arms, she burst into tears, red-faced and frantic. Chris immediately reclaimed her, rocking until her cries faded.
Betrayal stung worse than she expected.
"I think our little princess wants to stay with me," Chris murmured, voice soft, gaze adoring.
Susan's throat burned. "Don't make her cry just to punish me."
His head snapped up; eyes sharp. "I'd never use her to hurt you." He kissed Leah's hair gently. Then, quieter, almost reverent: "Our daughter, Susan. Ours."
The word pierced through her armour. Ours.
Susan faltered. Her voice was thin, defensive. "This doesn't make anything better. I'm only here for her. Don't think for a second we're suddenly fine…."
Chris turned, carrying Leah down the hall, refusing to let her words slice him again.
And somehow, his silence cut deeper than any argument ever could.
Susan had tried to ignore Chris's presence but he was impossible to ignore, like before she could tell she couldn't fight him for long, how her body reacted when he was close. She was a simple person, doesn't fight things too hard but she felt she was fighting him too hard and wanted to let things go and be back to her normal life with him and Leah beside her.
"Where's Chris?" Susan had asked one of the housekeepers.
"he left for the city very early" was the answer she got, she felt a type of way about him leaving, she brushed it off.
As the evening approached the weather changed, they got warning about storm, a bad one, she had thought she could handle it all alone until it began.
Rain hammered against the glass that night, wind howling like it wanted to tear the resort apart.
Susan sat curled on the edge of the bed, Leah cradled against her, too restless to sleep. Each rumble of thunder made the baby twitch and whimper, and Susan's heart clenched tighter. She rocked her daughter, whispering soft nonsense, but her own nerves betrayed her every sound outside felt like danger. Every shadow was Derek's ghost creeping back. Her breath grew uneven. Her chest too tight and she began wishing for Chris, he wasn't around, she got sentimental and irrational as her fear grew, Chris had left her again when she needed him the most.
The room felt scarier and louder the more she find herself getting sucked back into her time held captive with Derek, she grabbed her duvet and went to the bathroom, it felt saver, she lay it in the bathtub and climbed in, curling with Leah safely tucked by her, she pulled the duvet to cover then, effectively muffling the storm outside to a bearable howl.
The door open and she jumped in fear as it banged against the door.
"Susan?" Her head snapped up at the voice of Chris, drenched from head to toe with a cut on his cheek, he went to her, crouch down.
"I tried to get here…." She hugged shim; Chris felt her shaking as he wrapped his arm around her.
He took Leah from her and took them to his room.
"The storm should stop any time soon" he whispered drying his hair, Leah now asleep In his bed, Susan nodded, hugging herself, guilt suddenly settling in as he took off his shirt and she saw a bruise, she was angry while he tried to reach them, slowly walking to him as he checked his side.
"How…" he turned to her with a smile, quickly pulling on a shirt over his head.
"You should sleep too" she shook her head, the cut on his cheek wasn't deep, like a scratch.
"I'm sorry" she whispered.
"What for?" He questioned.
"I…I thought you won't come back, I was scared and I thought you left me again, when things were scary" she couldn't look up at him, her head down, he lifted her chin up, she met his smile, soft and sweet.
"I am just glad I made it to you 2 on time" he whispered and he saw the water form in her eyes.
"You're crying a lot" he whispered searching from one eye to another.
"Susan...." He licked his lip out of word at how vulnerable she looked at him.
"I promise you I will never leave again" he whispered just in time for a thunder and she jumped, he pulled her into a hug, a hug that she allowed and melted into, she felt him kiss the top of her head.
"We changed" he whispered she could only hold onto him tighter missing his hard-warm body against hers.