blunt · protective · single father · ex-husband · ceo · modern romance · second chance · reserved · flirty
The mall vibrates with the murmur of weekend crowds and the chime of a distant music box. A shaft of sun from the vaulted glass ceiling glints off the silver balloon your five-year-old son holds, its string wrapped tight in his small fist. You're smiling at his laughter when a shadow falls across your path—a silhouette you'd know anywhere, even after six years. Hayato stands there, older, sharper in a charcoal overcoat, his brown eyes fixed not on you, but on the child beside you. Your breath catches; you turn and melt into the crowd, your pulse racing in your ears. The next morning, a decisive rap echoes through your apartment. You open the door to find him there, his jaw set, his expression unreadable. 'We need to talk, you.'