Bound By A Broken Night novel Chapter 140

Chapter 140

The moment Cassie recognised the people inside the room, her eyes widened in horror.

Her gaze locked with Ashton Pierce’s.

His eyes were sharp, searching-piercing straight through her, as if stripping away the years, the distance, and every secret she had fought to bury.

“Cassie…?”

His voice was low, almost disbelieving. But beneath that single word was a storm of questions-questions he was demanding answers to, answers she was far too stunned to give.

Cassie could only stare back. Her arms had tightened around Kai without her realizing it, her fingers gripping him as if he were the only thing keeping her from collapsing.

“Mama… I can’t breathe,” Kai protested, squirming against her.

The words snapped faintly through the tension, but Cassie barely seemed to hear.

“Cassie…” Carina called softly, her voice trembling, uncertain—pleading.

Still, Cassie remained frozen, her lips parted but soundless, her mind blank except for the overwhelming shock flooding her

senses.

“Cassie,” Zandrie said more firmly, stepping closer and placing a steady hand on her shoulder.

The touch grounded her slightly, but her eyes never left Ashton.

“Dada… Mom is crying!” Kai’s small voice rose in alarm as he reached up to touch her face.

Only then did Cassie seem to realize the tears streaming silently down her cheeks.

“Cass…”

Ashton took a step toward her. The movement was slow, cautious-but the effect was immediate.

Cassie flinched.

Instinctively, she pulled Kai closer into her arms, her body turning slightly away, shielding him-protecting him.

As if Ashton might take the child from her.

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The reaction struck him harder than any words could. Ashton stopped mid-step. He froze where he stood. For a long moment, he didn’t move. Didn’t speak.

His eyes remained fixed on her on the fear written so clearly across her face.

She looked like a cornered mother bird, wings spread over her young, trembling but ready to fight anything that came too close.

“Mama…”

Kai’s small voice trembled with worry as he tilted his head up to look at Cassie’s face.

“I’m fine, Mama,” he said softly.

He reached up with his little hand and carefully wiped the tears from her cheeks, his touch gentle and patient, comforting her.

“They helped me with my bump,” he continued, speaking slowly so she would listen.

“I feel better now.”

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He took his time; brushing away the tears that kept falling no matter how hard she tried to stop them.

Cassie’s breath shook. Her son… her child… was the one soothing her.

Then Kai spoke again. His next words made the entire room fall still.

“Does the man who looks exactly like me… seare you, Mama?”

Cassie’s eyes widened in shock as she stared down at him. Across them, Ashton stiffened.

Even Madame Carina was taken aback by the boy’s bluntness.

The resemblance between them had already unsettled the adults—but hearing it spoken so plainly, so innocently, was something else entirely.

The silence grew heavy.

“Leave us for a moment.”

Madame Carina’s voice broke through it, calm but firm.

The medical staff immediately understood. One by one, they stepped out, Dr. Demetri giving a respectful nod before closing the door behind them.

The room was left with only those who mattered.

Zab stood quietly to the side, her eyes already wet. She wiped her tears discreetly, the truth she had long suspected now unfolding before her.

Kai turned back to Cassie, his small hands still holding her face.

“Don’t be scared, Mama,” he said gently.

“He won’t take me away from you.” His words were simple. Trusting. Certain.

Then he glanced toward Ashton.

“He looks like an honorable man.”

The innocence in his voice carried no doubt-only quiet faith.

“Baby…”

Cassie finally found her voice, though it came out hoarse, almost breaking from the weight pressing against her chest.

Kai turned slightly in her arms but kept his eyes fixed on Ashton.

“Children are supposed to resemble their parents… right, Sir?” The question was innocent in tone-but not in meaning.

Ashton swallowed.

“Uh… yes,” he managed, clearing his throat. “Yes, they usually do.”

But even that simple answer betrayed him. His voice faltered, his composure thinning under the steady gaze of a six-year-old boy.

“I resemble you,” Kai said plainly.

“And all of you have been giving me peculiar looks. Especially the Madame.” His small hand gestured lightly toward Carina.

The adults shifted uncomfortably. The boy’s calm certainty-his commanding clarity–was uncannily familiar.

“Yes…” Ashton admitted at last, nodding slowly.

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you do resemble me.” He had to swallow hard to steady himself.

In response, Kai nodded as well, a faint smile forming on his handsome little face-as if they had simply agreed on a shared fact.

“You know my Mama, Sir,” he continued quietly, but with unmistakable certainty.

Ashton’s chest tightened.

“Yes,” he answered, his voice almost breathless.

“I’ve known her… since she was four.”

Kai’s brows lifted slightly.

“That was a very long time ago, Sir” he murmured thoughtfully.

“I just turned six. So you knew Mama when she was younger than I am.”

He nodded to himself, absorbing that piece of information as if adding it to a puzzle he had long been assembling.

Silence fell over the room. No one dared interrupt.

Every adult present watched him carefully-waiting, almost bracing-for what he would say next.

It was ironic. The grown-ups, with all their years of experience and buried secrets, were the ones afraid to speak.

“I know Dada is not my real father.”

The words dropped into the room like a stone in still water.

Zab gasped softly, though she had long sensed the boy’s awareness,

Ashton leaned his head back slightly, staring at the ceiling for a brief second before closing his eyes. The tension in his jaw tightened, his hands curling into fists at his sides.

“Mama and Dada told me before I turned six,” Kai continued, his tone steady.

“Mama knew I was smart enough to notice.” He looked up at Cassie, pride shining in his eyes.

“Mama has always been honest with me.” The pride in Kai’s voice was pure and unwavering.

Ashton lowered his gaze, something deep and heavy shifting inside his chest. For a moment, he could not trust his voice.

Then he nodded-once, firmly.

“Yes,” he said quietly, the words meant more for himself than for anyone else. “She has.”

He lifted his eyes to Cassie, the weight of realization settling over him.

“Mama will always be honest with you,” he added softly.

The truth struck him then-sharp and merciless. If only he had asked.

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If only he had searched harder. If only he hadn’t let indulgence, distance, and circumstance keep him away. If only he had tried to find out what kind of life Cassidy had lived all these years… who had been beside her… what she had been carrying alone.

How much time had he wasted?

And now, standing in that hospital room, staring at the boy whose face mirrored his own childhood, Ashton felt the past closing

in on him.

The truth had been there all along. Even four years ago-at the airport, in a brief encounter he had dismissed as coincidence.

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It had been right in front of him. He had simply failed to see it.

The silence in the room grew heavier, thick with unspoken understanding and gathering emotion.

Then Kai spoke again.

“Who am I, Mama?”

The question was gentle. Curious. But it struck the room like thunder.

Everyone froze. Zab’s breath caught. Zandrie stiffened beside Cassie. Carina’s hands tightened on the arms of her wheelchair.

And Ashton-

Ashton felt his heart stop.

Because this time, the question was no longer about resemblance.

It was about truth.

****tbc****

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