Ethan's POV
His hand hovered near her cheek.
She was breathing fast. Her amber eyes were locked on his. Everything in him wanted to pull her close and consume her the way he had that night three years ago. To remind her body what she'd been trying to forget. To make her understand that she belonged to him.
That Sophie belonged to him.
Two feet away, his daughter slept.
The reality crashed into him like a wave.
Ethan dropped his hand and stepped back. The loss of contact was physical. It was like ripping skin away from skin. Like tearing something that had just started to heal open again.
He turned toward the window before he did something they couldn't take back.
His reflection stared back at him from the glass. Dark eyes. Clenched jaw. A man who was barely holding himself together.
"We need to set boundaries," he said. His voice was rough like he'd been screaming.
Lily was silent behind him.
"This is complicated now," he continued. "We're not those people anymore."
He heard her move. Heard her breathing settle into something more controlled. When he finally turned back to face her, her expression was carefully blank. But her hands were shaking.
She didn't believe him. And he couldn't blame her because he didn't believe himself either.
Ethan pulled out his phone. He needed something to focus on that wasn't the way her lips were still slightly parted. Wasn't the marks his fingers had left on her cheekbone.
"I've made some adjustments to your contract," he said, switching into business mode because business was something he could control. "New terms. New expectations."
"What kind of expectations," Lily asked quietly.
"You'll work from the mansion as my personal marketing advisor. Your salary is triple what you were making before. Sophie has a nanny available if you need her, but I assume you'll want to care for her yourself."
Lily nodded slowly.
"Dinner with me and Sophie at six every evening. I want us to be a family unit at meals."
"Ethan, that's not necessary. Sophie and I can eat separately."
"No." The word came out harder than he intended. "We're a family. We eat together."
She flinched at his tone but didn't argue.
"You have access to every room in the mansion except my private office and my bedroom," he continued. "Those spaces are mine. The rest is yours."
"What about leaving. Can I take Sophie somewhere. To the park or to see my mother or—"
"Your mother can visit here. As for outside the mansion, that requires my approval. Public appearances need to be coordinated with security."
"So I'm a prisoner," Lily said flatly.
"You're a mother protecting her daughter," he corrected. "The media has your face now. They have Sophie's face. Every time you leave this building, it becomes a story. Every time a photographer gets a clear shot, it becomes ammunition. I'm protecting both of you."
He wasn't lying. That was the truth. But it was also true that he liked the idea of her here. Contained. Safe. His.
Lily's jaw tightened. "You said I wasn't trapped. You said I could leave."
"You can. But Sophie stays. And you know you won't leave without her."
She went pale.
"That's not fair," she whispered.
"No," he agreed. "It's not. But it's the reality of your situation now. You made choices three years ago that led to this moment. Now we're dealing with the consequences together."
He regretted the words immediately. They sounded cruel when he said them out loud. They made him sound like the monster he was terrified of becoming.
"I protected her," Lily said, her voice shaking with anger now. "I protected her from being used. From being a tool in your world."
"Is that what you think I'd do."
"I think you do everything with intention. You own things. You acquire things. You don't love them. You possess them."
The accusation landed because it was partially true.
"Then I'll learn," Ethan said. "I'll learn how to love instead of possess. But I need you to stay so I can try."
Lily turned away from him. She was wrapping her arms around herself like she was cold.
"What about my life," she asked quietly. "What about the things I wanted. The person I was trying to become."
Ethan moved closer. Carefully. Like she was something wild that might bolt.
"Your life is here now," he said. "With our daughter."
The word hung in the air between them.
Our.
It was the first time he'd claimed her. Not just Sophie, but the two of them together. As his. As ours.
Lily flinched like he'd hit her.
She didn't turn around but he saw her shoulders tense. Saw her fingers dig deeper into her own arms.
"Our daughter," she repeated slowly. "Not your daughter. Ours."
"Yes."
"You can't just claim her like that. You can't rewrite the last five years because you found out she exists."
"I'm not trying to rewrite anything. I'm trying to be honest about what she is. She's mine, Lily. Our daughter. That doesn't erase what you did. It doesn't erase the three years you kept her from me. But it also means she's not just yours anymore. She belongs to both of us now."
Lily turned to face him and her eyes were bright with tears that weren't falling.
"She's a person, Ethan. She doesn't belong to anyone. She's not a thing you can own."
"I know." And he did know that. Intellectually. But emotionally he was drowning in the need to claim her, to protect her, to make sure she was always his. "But she's my responsibility now. She's my family. And so are you."
"I'm not your family. I'm your employee."
"You're the mother of my child."
"Because of a contract. Because of lawyers and threats. Not because I chose you."
The words were meant to hurt and they did. They landed perfectly in the space where his heart was exposed.
But Ethan didn't let it show. He straightened. He pulled the businessman back on like armor.
"Sophie will need breakfast at seven. School starts Monday at eight thirty. I've enrolled her in the best program in Manhattan. Her supplies are already there."
He was changing the subject because if he didn't, he was going to say something that would make this worse. He was going to tell her that she did choose him. That she'd chosen him by staying. That she could have left that first night and she didn't.
"I'll be working in my study in the mornings," he continued. "James will brief you on your projects. You start work tomorrow."
"Tomorrow," Lily said. "My daughter just moved into a new place. She's scared and confused and you want me to start working tomorrow."
"You work from here. You're in the same building as Sophie. It's not like you're leaving."
"It's still abandoning her for work."
"It's showing her that you have a life. That you're not just consumed by being her mother. That you can be a whole person and still be present for her."
Ethan saw the moment his words hit something true in her. Her expression changed. Softened slightly.
"I'll give you time," he said. "One week. You and Sophie can settle in. Then you start your new position."
"And if I don't want to."
"Then the financial terms of the contract become void. You'll lose your salary. You'll still be living here, still be bound by custody agreements, but you'll have no income and no independence."
It was a threat dressed up in reasonable language. It was exactly the kind of thing that made him feel like a monster.
But it was also true.
Lily looked out the window at the city below. All those people living their lives. All those people with choices.
"You're not the man I thought you were," she said quietly.
"I know."
"You're worse."
"Probably."
She looked back at him and there were tears streaming down her face now.
"I should hate you," she whispered.
"You should."
"I'm trying to."
They stood across from each other in Sophie's room with their daughter sleeping between them and the truth hanging in the air. Ethan had everything he wanted. His daughter. Lily in his home. Control over his world.
And it still felt like he was losing her.
Like every word he said pulled her further away.
Like the harder he tried to keep her, the more he was pushing her into wanting to escape.