Emily's POV
I had been trying to avoid Ethan in every possible way, but it was becoming unbearable. Everywhere I turned, he seemed to be there. His presence was inescapable, his gaze persistent, and every time our eyes met, I felt my walls cracking.
During his lecture, I tried to focus on anything but him, yet I couldn't shake the feeling of his eyes on me. It was as if he knew where I was in the room at every moment. And when I couldn't resist looking back, there he was, his piercing gaze locked onto mine.
Those eyes.
They had always been my favorite part of him. They could be so gentle, so full of warmth, and yet so intense, like they could see through every layer I tried to hide behind. Now, those same eyes were all over me, and the pull was overwhelming.
I wanted to keep running, to avoid the risk of falling apart, but it was so hard. Seeing him again after all these years, feeling that same magnetism I once knew, had shaken me to my core. My heart ached with the weight of everything I wanted to say but couldn't.
I wanted to run to him. To ask if he was okay, if life had been kind to him. To tell him how much I had missed him. And more than anything, to tell him about him.
Our son.
Our perfect little boy with his eyes and his smile. The boy who had Ethan's curious mind and his kind spirit. The boy who didn't even know his father existed. I wanted Ethan to know, to meet him, to see the child we had created together. But fear gripped me like a vice.
What if I told him and everything fell apart? What if I couldn't keep my emotions in check? What if I let myself feel everything I'd been suppressing for so long and it consumed me?
What if opening up to Ethan put our son in danger?
But deep down, I knew I was being unfair. I was letting my fear dictate my actions, punishing Ethan for something that wasn't his fault. What happened back then—it wasn't on him. He hadn't chosen to leave. He hadn't chosen to be kept away from me or from our son.
It wasn't his fault.
I had spent years protecting myself, protecting Alex, building a life that kept us safe from the chaos that once surrounded us. But was it fair to keep Ethan in the dark? To pretend like I didn't even know him? I made a silent decision. I'd give him a chance atleast to hear what he had to say, what was my reason to keep running?