Alex couldn't sleep.
Moonlight filtered through the curtains, casting pale shadows across Yuto's bedroom.
She sat beside his bed, watching the steady rise and fall of his tiny chest. One hand clutched his stuffed dinosaur while the other rested beneath his cheek.
Peaceful.
Safe.
Unaware that the fragile world Alex had built around him had begun to crack.
She brushed a strand of hair away from his forehead.
"You really liked him, didn't you?" she whispered.
Yuto shifted in his sleep.
"Mister Tall Boss..." he mumbled.
Alex let out a quiet laugh that quickly dissolved into something more bittersweet.
Of course he did.
Because despite Yujiro's intimidating exterior, Yuto had somehow found the gentleness hidden beneath it.
The same gentleness Alex had seen once before.
Three years ago.
---
It had been raining that night.
The city had glowed beneath neon lights and reflections on wet pavement.
Alex had been twenty-two.
Young.
Exhausted.
Drowning beneath expectations she could no longer meet.
Her family's disappointment had become suffocating.
The pressure to be perfect.
To always excel.
To never fail.
For one night, she'd wanted to forget.
No responsibilities.
No expectations.
No future.
Just freedom.
That's how she'd met him.
Yujiro.
He hadn't introduced himself as a CEO.
She hadn't introduced herself as a Harvard graduate trying desperately to keep her life together.
They had simply been strangers sharing drinks and conversation.
"You look like someone carrying the weight of the world."
Alex had laughed softly.
"And you look like someone who doesn't know how to smile."
Yujiro had raised an eyebrow.
"I smile."
"No."
She'd pointed at him.
"You do this."
She'd mimicked his serious expression so dramatically that he'd almost choked on his drink.
To her absolute delight...
he'd laughed.
A genuine laugh.
Low and warm.
"You think you're funny."
"I know I'm funny."
Hours passed without either noticing.
They spoke about dreams.
Fears.
The lives they wished they could have.
Not once did they ask for last names.
Not once did they mention careers.
Just two lonely people finding comfort in each other's company.
For one night.
The world belonged only to them.
---
The memory shifted.
Morning sunlight.
The empty side of the bed.
Alex sitting alone.
Panic slowly replacing disbelief.
She didn't even know how to find him.
And part of her had convinced herself it didn't matter.
It had been one night.
Nothing more.
Until weeks later.
---
Two pink lines.
Alex stared at the pregnancy test.
Her hands trembled.
"No."
The whisper barely escaped.
"No... no..."
Her knees gave out.
Twenty-two years old.
Fresh out of university.
Starting her career.
No husband.
No fiancé.
No idea where the father was.
Fear wrapped around her throat until she couldn't breathe.
Then...
A knock at the bathroom door.
"Alex?"
Asha's voice.
"Are you okay?"
Silence.
Then tears.
"No."
The door opened moments later.
Asha took one look at the test.
Then at Alex.
"Oh."
Alex covered her mouth to stifle a sob.
"I don't know what to do."
Asha sat beside her.
"You don't have to figure everything out today."
"I'm scared."
"I know."
"I can't do this."
Asha reached for her hand.
"You won't be doing it alone."
Alex cried harder.
Because for the first time since seeing those two pink lines...
someone had told her she wasn't alone.
---
The months that followed weren't easy.
Morning sickness.
Financial worries.
Judgment.
Whispers.
Questions she refused to answer.
Who was the father?
Why wasn't he here?
Did he know?
Alex always said the same thing.
"No."
Because the truth was simple.
She didn't know how to find him.
And eventually...
life moved forward.
---
Then came labor.
Bright hospital lights.
Pain unlike anything she'd ever imagined.
Asha squeezing her hand.
"You can do this."
"I hate you," Alex cried.
"You don't mean that."
"I absolutely mean that!"
Several hours later—
A cry filled the room.
Tiny.
Fragile.
Beautiful.
The nurse placed the newborn in Alex's trembling arms.
Everything stopped.
The fear.
The uncertainty.
The exhaustion.
Yuto blinked up at her with dark eyes.
And Alex fell in love.
Instantly.
Completely.
"Hi," she whispered through tears.
The baby's tiny fingers curled around hers.
"I've got you."
And she meant it.
She would always mean it.
---
Present Day.
Alex wiped away tears she hadn't realized she'd shed.
Yuto shifted beneath his blanket.
"Mama?"
His sleepy voice was barely audible.
"I'm here."
"You okay?"
Alex smiled softly.
"Yeah."
Yuto blinked.
Then sleepily reached for her hand.
"Love you."
The words were slurred with exhaustion.
But they still shattered her heart.
"I love you too."
More than anything.
---
Across the city, Yujiro sat alone in his penthouse.
The crayon drawing Yuto had given him rested on the kitchen counter.
He should have thrown it away.
Instead, he found himself tracing the uneven stick figures.
He remembered Yuto's laugh.
His honesty.
The fierce pride in his voice when he spoke about Alex.
"Mama works hard."
Yujiro closed his eyes.
Without warning, another memory surfaced.
Rain-soaked streets.
A woman laughing.
"You don't know how to smile."
He opened his eyes.
Alexandria.
His grip tightened around the drawing.
The woman from three years ago.
The woman working beneath him now.
The devoted mother who refused to discuss her son's father.
A strange unease settled deep within him.
As though he stood before a locked door.
One he hadn't realized existed.
And somewhere beyond it...
waited a truth capable of changing everything.
He just didn't know it yet.
But fate had already begun placing the pieces into his hands.
Soon, the echoes of the past would stop whispering.
And start demanding to be heard.
— End of Chapter 9 —