The MC President's Forsaken Wife (Zara and Knox) novel Chapter 382

Chapter 187-2

Thank you, Willow. That means more to me than you’ll ever know.”

25 Pot

“I mean every word,” she says, wiping her cheek with the back of her hand. “Now, stay right there. I’m buying you a decaf chamomile tea and one of those giant blueberry scones. You’re eating for two, and as your sister, I am officially taking charge of your afternoon snacks.”

“Deal.” I glance over at the display case and my mouth starts to water. “And maybe a carrot muffin too, please? I’m ravenous today, for some reason.”

“You got it.” She waves away my hand as I offer her a ten-dollar bill. “My treat, remember?”

For the next two hours, time seems to stretch out in the most peaceful, easy way imaginable. We drink our tea, split the scone and the muffin, and talk about simple, beautiful things.

Willow tells me about her compound, the garden she’s planning for the spring, and the quiet

meditation and yoga retreats she’s leading. I tell her about the penthouse, and the colors that Jade

and I were looking at for the nursery.

There’s no mention of the past, no awkward tension. It’s a genuine, pure turning point… a true

reconciliation.

By four o’clock, the afternoon sun has begun its slow, golden dip toward the horizon, casting long, amber rays through the café windows.

Willow glances at the wooden clock hanging above the counter and sighs softly. “I should let you

get back to the city, Zara. I have a yoga group arriving at the sanctuary at five, and I have to get set

up.”

“I lost track of time a bit, actually.” I stand up and pull my coat on. “I need to get home and cook

dinner.”

“Thank you for meeting me, Zara. Today was the best gift I could have asked for.”

I

“It was for me, too,” I say. “Let’s not wait so long next time. Come by the penthouse next week?

After we make the official baby announcement to the club?”

Willow’s face lights up with sheer delight. “I would love that.”

We walk toward the front exit together. Willow steps out into the cold wind first, heading toward

her pale blue Volkswagen Beetle parked near the road. She waves back at me with a bright, beautiful smile before climbing inside. The little crystals swing from the rear-view mirror, catching

the fading sunlight as she drives away.

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Chapter 187 2

+25 Point

I watch her until she’s out of sight, my heart feeling lighter and fuller than it has in months, completely at peace. Then I turn to head back inside the café to buy a couple more of those

Scones for our breakfast tomorrow.

I reach for the heavy door and then pause, a sudden, inexplicable prickle of static creeping up the

base of my neck.

It isn’t just the biting cold. It’s an abrupt, heavy stillness in the afternoon air, like the atmosphere dropping ten degrees in a single second. A phrase that Dad likes to say flashes unbidden through

my mind:

A goose walking over your grave.

My breath hitches slightly. I turn all the way around, scanning the quiet perimeter of the parking lot.

The lot is empty. A few dry oak leaves dance across the asphalt in the wind. The dark utility van is still parked fifty feet down near the tree line, its windows tinted opaque, engine off, sitting utterly

motionless in the gray light, no movement inside.

There’s no obvious danger, no reason for my stomach to drop into a sudden, icy knot.

Yet the sensation of eyes on me – heavy, deliberate, and calculating – presses against my skin like

a physical weight.

I tell myself I’m being paranoid. I tell myself it’s just the residual exhaustion of the past few months, or the heightened instincts that come with protecting an eleven-week secret.

My brain rationally breaks down the scene: it’s broad daylight in a public place, and I’m safe. I force a quiet breath into my lungs, shrug off the strange chill, and turn back toward the café.

I tell myself there’s no need to rush, but my feet move faster anyway. My boots strike the ground in

a quick, restless rhythm as I hurry through the door, ducking inside as if trying to outrun a shadow I

can’t even see.

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