“No.”
The word was sharp.
Immediate.
Protective.
“They’re not ready.”
“I’m their father.”
“And I’m the one who raised them.”
Silence crashed between them.
Then—
slowly—
Eliza lowered her voice.
“If you come into their lives… it changes everything.”
“It should.”
“It also puts them in danger.”
That stopped him.
“What?”
She glanced around the park.
Lowered her voice further.
“I didn’t just leave because of your family.”
A beat.
“I left because of what I found out.”
Julian’s chest tightened.
“What did you find?”
Eliza hesitated.
Then—
“They didn’t just lie to you about being infertile.”
His pulse spiked.
“They paid for it.”
Everything went still again.
“They paid the doctor,” she said.
