Lily's POV

I watched Daou carefully, every line of his face tense but controlled, every gesture deliberate. He had changed since he returned to my life sharper, smarter, colder in the ways that mattered. And yet, there was this warmth, this quiet tenderness reserved only for me, that made my chest tighten every time he glanced my way.

“We have to end this,” he said quietly one evening, as we sat together in the room of my apartment. His hand held mine, in a casual way more like a promise. “For you. For our baby. For us.”

I swallowed hard, nodding. “I know,” I whispered. “But… how? How do we...