CHAPTER 2: A FATHER'S REGRET
Eight months later.
Rain poured heavily outside St. Mary's Hospital.
Sophia gave birth to a beautiful baby boy.
She named him Noah.
Holding her son for the first time, she cried tears of joy.
“It's just you and me now,” she whispered.
Unknown to her, a man stood outside the hospital room.
Ethan.
He had heard about the birth from Sophia's mother.
For eight months he had changed.
He sold his luxury cars.
Resigned as CEO.
Started rebuilding the company honestly.
Most importantly, he spent every day haunted by the memory of the woman he had betrayed.
He didn't come to demand forgiveness.
He didn't come to take anything.
He only wanted to see his son.
Sophia spotted him through the glass.
Their eyes met.
Neither spoke.
Minutes later, she stepped outside.
“You have five minutes.”
Ethan's eyes became red.
“Thank you.”
He entered quietly.
The moment he saw Noah sleeping peacefully, his entire body trembled.
His son.
His little boy.
Tears rolled down his cheeks.
“I don't deserve this,” he whispered.
“No,” Sophia answered honestly.
“You don't.”
He lowered his head.
“But I want to spend the rest of my life trying.”
For the first time, she saw no arrogance.
No excuses.
No lies.
Only regret.
Months turned into years.
Ethan never missed a birthday.
Never missed a school event.
Never tried forcing Sophia to return.
He simply became a father.
Slowly, Noah grew into a cheerful child.
And although Sophia never forgot the pain…
She noticed something strange.
The selfish man she once married no longer existed.
Life had humbled him.
And perhaps…
Pain had changed him.
But trust, once broken, is not rebuilt with words.
It is rebuilt with time.
And time was still testing them both.