I Stopped Loving Him When He Let Me Bleed Out novel Chapter 5

Finn carried a child down the stairs, with Chloe trailing right beside him.

It was a little boy, around four or five years old, with striking features.

He looked exactly like Finn...

The boy squirmed in Finn's arms, his little hands playfully grabbing at his collar.

Finn didn't get angry; he just looked down and coaxed him softly, a faint smile playing on his lips.

A picture-perfect family of three.

Sienna gripped her coffee cup so tightly her knuckles turned white.

She had fantasized about this exact scene countless times. It had finally come true, just with another woman in her place.

"Sienna," Zachary's mother said, pulling her back to reality. "His father and I adore you. We genuinely hope you'll join our family."

Sienna forced a smile, but before she could speak.

A piercing gaze dropped down from the second floor.

Finn stood at the landing of the staircase, holding the child. His eyes cut straight through the crowd and locked onto her.

The moment their eyes met, the smile froze on his face.

He looked as if he had just been punched in the gut.

He watched her sitting by the window across from the two elders, with that 'Dr. Vance' right beside her.

They looked exactly like a family. That cozy, intimate scene violently stabbed at his heart.

The boy continued to squirm in his arms.

"Daddy, Daddy, are we going or not?"

He didn't move.

He just stared down at her.

His gaze dragged across her face, fell onto her coffee cup, and finally settled on Zachary sitting next to her...

That seat was supposed to be his.

Chloe followed his line of sight, and all the color immediately drained from her face.

Sienna met his gaze head-on, refusing to look away.

She lifted her coffee and took a slow sip.

Her movements were poised and graceful, as if she were looking at an absolute stranger.

Finn's Adam's apple bobbed, his arms suddenly feeling entirely numb around the child.

She was wearing a light blue blouse today, a small pearl brooch pinned to the collar.

A faint ripple disturbed the surface of the dark coffee in her cup.

She set the cup down and casually tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, acting as if nothing had happened.

After Finn brought York out of the restroom, Chloe cornered him in the hallway.

She tried desperately to act unfazed, but her expression twisted into something ugly and defensive.

"Sienna's already meeting the parents. It looks like a wedding is right around the corner. Can you finally let it go now?"

Finn slowly lifted his gaze.

His eyes were terrifyingly cold.

Chloe instinctively took half a step back.

Finn had been so gentle with her over the past few years that she had almost forgotten what kind of man he truly was deep down.

The Fletcher elders called him a ruthless devil and a reckless heir; those titles hadn't come from nowhere.

"Chloe, I have eyes. I can see for myself." The words ripped from his throat. His brow was tightly furrowed, his entire body radiating a suffocating, crushing tension.

Chloe's eyes immediately grew red.

"Finn, you've never spoken to me like this! You were never like this! It's because she's back, isn't it? You two broke up years ago. We are a family of three now. You need to remember that."

"Of course I remember," he clipped out, syllable by syllable. "Otherwise, I wouldn't be standing here right now. But I strongly suggest you remember it, too."