The MC President's Forsaken Wife (Zara and Knox) novel Chapter 380

Chapter 186-2

Sure thing, big Daddy.”

Jade turns around, tossing the bakery bag onto the kitchen island and slides onto a barstool. She looks at me, her sharp eyes taking in my flushed cheeks and the blueprints stretched across the dining table.

“Did I interrupt a moment?” she asks. “Because if you two were being ridiculously sappy again, I could have waited in the freezing cold garage a bit longer.”

“You’re fine, Jade,” I say, stepping over to the island to grab the bakery bag. “Locke was just assuring me that our child’s crib will withstand a category five storm.”

“Oh, absolutely,” Jade snorts, leaning her chin on her hand. “Knowing Locke, he’s probably forging the frame out of rebar and titanium. But speaking of heavy-duty softies…”

She pauses, looks over toward the living room sofa, where the fluffy, bright pink stuffed alpaca

covered in iridescent sparkles sits proudly on an accent cushion,

“Please tell me you’re finally taking that home to Mayhem,” I say, setting a cinnamon roll onto a

plate for her. “He was so devastated when he realized he forgot it here after the New Year’s Eve

party.”

“Oh, I’m under strict orders from the Vice President himself,” Jade declares. “He sent me up here

today with a specific tactical mission to retrieve his sparkly alpaca. He’s been brooding over it for

days.”

I shake my head fondly. “The VP of The Grinning Skulls, territorial over a glittery stuffed animal.”

“Hey, he adores that thing,” Jade says. “It’s the most surreal, hilarious thing I’ve ever seen. But back to business… Zara, we need to talk paint palettes. Now that I officially get to help you plan this nursery, I’m thinking warm neutrals with soft sage greens, or maybe soft yellows?”

“I do love yellow.”

“Yeah, I know you do. Let’s start there, huh?”

For the next hour, the kitchen is filled with warm, bubbly chatter. Jade and I flip through magazine pages, spread out swatches, and gossip about the club. Having Jade in on the secret since New Year’s Eve makes everything feel so light and celebratory.

It’s our secret cover operation: two women quietly orchestrating a nursery under the noses of a full motorcycle club.

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Eventually, Jade glances at her phone clock and gasps softly as she gets to her feet. “Shoot, I have

to run. I start work at noon and it’s quarter-to.”

She scoops up the sparkly pink alpaca and tucks it securely under her arm like a prized possession. She wraps her faux-fur leopard print coat back around her shoulders and gives me a tight, careful hug that avoids pressing against my waist.

“Keep resting, momma. I’ll text you later about those organic crib sheets!”

“Thanks for the cinnamon rolls, Jade.”

I watch her step back into the private elevator, and she gives me a cute little wave with the alpaca’s pink paw before the doors close.

The apartment falls into a quiet, peaceful silence once more. The sunlight has shifted, washing the room in a bright, winter gold. I walk over to the kitchen sink to rinse our coffee mugs, feeling a profound sense of calm settling deep in my bones.

My phone, resting on the granite counter beside the fruit bowl, buzzes softly with a text message. I wipe my hands on a dish towel and pick it up.

Willow.

My thumb hovers over the phone, and I recall that we ended our last conversation on a really

optimistic note.

I told her about finishing my last scheduled chemotherapy session, and that I was going to do all the final tests about two weeks later. That was over a month ago now, and so much has happened,

and we haven’t spoken since.

I unlock the phone and read the message, my chest tightens with a sudden, warm ache at the

words:

Hi Zara. It’s a new year, and I really want to start fresh. No heavy talk, no past baggage… just two sisters sharing space. Are you free to meet up at The Daily Grind Café around two today? It’s out near the valley road, close to the Solstice Sanctuary. My car’s acting up, so I can’t drive far. My treat.

I stare at the screen. It isn’t a frantic text, and it isn’t formal or distant.

It sounds like Willow, the soft, spiritual, caring sister that I liked so much at the Chinese food dinner, before everything got weird. It’s a genuine olive branch for a new beginning.

I type out a quick reply:

I’d love that. See you at two.

I set my phone down for a second, feeling a wave of relief wash over me. I want things to be good

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Chapter 186-2

between us. After all, despite it all, she’s my sister. With everything changing, with the baby

coming… I want her in my life. I want us to be a real family again.

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walk into the bedroom, pulling on a thick gray wool coat, wrapping a scarf around my neck, and sliding my silver cuff bracelet onto my wrist. It’s warm and reassuring against my skin.

I grab my purse and my car keys, pulling out my phone to send Locke a quick message as I take

the elevator down to the garage:

Heading out to meet Willow for coffee at The Daily Grind out by the valley road. Love you.

A few minutes later, I’m behind the wheel of my car, navigating out of the underground garage and onto the city streets. The drive out toward the valley is peaceful. As the high-rise buildings give way to sprawling pine groves and snow-dusted open fields, the sky stretches wide and bright

above the highway.

Everything feels right. The road ahead is clear, the nursery is taking shape, and today, I’m going to extend a hand to my sister and bring her a little bit closer to us.

I turn off the main highway onto the scenic valley route, pulling into the quiet back parking lot of The Daily Grind Café. The rustic wooden building sits tucked near the edge of the tree line, and I can see the buildings of Willow’s spiritual compound in the distance.

I shift the car into park and cut the engine. Glancing around the sparsely filled lot, my eyes idly brush past a black utility van sitting in the shaded edge of the lot near the pines, its windows heavily tinted against the winter sun.

I pull my purse over my shoulder, open the door, and step out into the biting air, heading toward the warm light of the café entrance.

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