Chapter 19
SADIE
I sit in the sleek, sunlit office of Empowered Publishing, palms damp, heart thudding like I’ve smuggled a secret into the building. Which I suppose I have. Me.
Dressed in a pale-blue, linen shift dress and white trainers – my busy-mum version of boardroom chic. Taylor was horrified when she saw me (‘You’re meeting a publisher, not doing the school run!’), but even she had to admit, with an OTT sigh, that it was ‘very you’.
As for Lucile Baldwin, she’s exactly how I imagined her – composed, warm, quietly fierce.
Bobbed, blonde hair. Piercing, blue eyes.
Mid-fifties. She’s already walked me through their vision: how they see the blog evolving, how the book could push my reach even further.
She talks like I’m some movement leader when all I did was write. Write and survive.
‘I hope we’ve made it clear,’ she says gently, ‘that your story is safe with us. You are safe with us. And we believe in what you’re doing.’
My throat tightens. Not because of her words, but because I’ve heard similar before – from someone else. Someone who looked at me like I was worth every good thing.
It’s been three days since I last saw Theo, and not a single hour’s passed without his face breaking through. Or the memory of what I said. What I accused him of.
Just like Danny.
‘Sadie?’
I snap back into the room. Lucile’s watching me closely, brows knitted in concern.
‘Sorry,’ I murmur, becoming aware of my fists clenched tight upon the desk. I smooth them out, place my palms against the cool, glass surface. ‘You were saying?’
‘There are ways we can publish anonymously, if that’s what feels right.
But like I mentioned in my email, if you did want to go public, we’d support you completely.
Full press, media training, PR… extra security if you feel you need it.
’ Her eyes flick to Mike – my close protection detail courtesy of Axel, stationed in the main office behind us, just visible through the glass.
‘You’d control every step. The message, the moment. ’
I nod slowly, my pulse picking up.
‘Sometimes,’ she adds, ‘stepping into the light changes everything. It makes the story more real. It shows people that the woman behind the words isn’t just a survivor, but someone who took her voice back. And maybe inspires others to do the same.’
I close my eyes, take a breath, and I see it.
Me, standing in front of a room. Face no longer hidden. Speaking up. I feel fear, sure. Nerves, too. It’s been so long since I’ve shown myself. Longer still without the fear of ridicule. But beneath it all, I feel something else. Power. Possibility. Pride.
And one name rises to the surface: Theo.
Because he was the first to believe I could do this. Even when he faltered, it wasn’t doubt – it was fear for me. He wasn’t trying to silence me. He was trying to shield me from someone else’s venom.
And wouldn’t I do the same for him? Stand between him and anyone who’d try to hurt him? God, yes. In a heartbeat.
He’s not Danny.
He’s nothing like Danny.
But I let my pain speak for me. And I let him think I believed the worst.
Because in reality, I was terrified. Not of Danny, but of him. Terrified that he was going to break my heart again.
I ended it, not because of what he did. I ended it because ultimately, it meant leaving on my terms. Staying in control. And then I wielded that control like a weapon, hurting Theo in the process. Now who’s like Danny…
My breath escapes me in a rush.
‘Sadie?’ Lucile prompts softly.
‘Yes.’ I nod swiftly. ‘Let’s do it. Let’s go public.’
Her perfectly made-up lips stretch into a smile. ‘Excellent. Let’s get into the details.’
‘Actually…’ I’m already rising. ‘Would you mind if we did this another day? There’s somewhere I need to be.’
Because I can’t bear another second of him thinking the worst – thinking he’s the worst – because of me .
I owe him the truth, my full truth. Even if it means reliving the heartbreak I’ve been trying to run from the moment I crashed back into his life with my daughter in tow.
He may not want my love, but there’s no escaping it.
My heart was always meant for him.
Minutes later, I flee the fancy tower block, heart racing, feet pounding. Mike gestures to the blacked-out Range Rover pulling up, and I make a beeline for it.
But the moment it stops, the rear door swings open – huh?
A figure steps out…
Dark-blond hair, mussed like it’s been manhandled for days.
Tall, broad frame. White tee. Faded jeans. That easy slouch I’d know in my sleep.
My feet falter. My heart too.
Theo.
He straightens fully, his ravaged green gaze capturing mine and stealing the last of my breath. The ache of everything unsaid barrels through me all at once.
‘Theo?’ I whisper, the name torn straight from my chest.
‘Sadie,’ he breathes, as if it almost breaks him. ‘Please don’t be mad at Axel for telling me where you were. I had to see you. I didn’t want to do this at Taylor’s – not with Lottie there – and this felt like the only chance to?—’
‘You don’t need to explain,’ I cut in, my heart lurching at his guilt when it should be me suffering it. Not him. Never him.
Tears spill faster than I can stop them.
I take a step closer, then another. ‘I was coming to find you.’
His eyes widen into mine. He’s so close now, I can feel the warmth radiating off his body, catch his familiar scent curling through the air. The desperation to lean in, to touch him, to breathe him in fully, is like nothing I’ve ever known.
‘You were?’
‘There’s so much I need to say to you?—’
A horn blares across the street. People bustle past. Mike stands a discreet distance away but hears every word. It all presses in on a moment I don’t want us to share.
I swipe away the tears and ask, ‘Would you take a drive with me?’
He doesn’t hesitate. Just pulls the door open wider…
‘Home, Miss Stone?’ the driver asks as I slip inside, and Mike takes the front seat.
I glance at Theo as he gets in beside me.
‘Please, but would you mind taking the long way?’
‘No problem.’
The privacy glass slides up, sealing us into a quiet, humming stillness.
I clasp my hands in my lap and turn?—
‘Sade,’ he says.
‘Theo,’ I say at the same time.
We smile. The smallest of gestures. The biggest of aches.
‘Please let me go first,’ I say quietly. ‘Because I owe you an apology…’
His eyes rake over my face, searching, trying to understand.
‘I hate that it’s taken me this long to see through the pain to all that I did wrong.’
‘You didn’t?—’
‘I did.’ I hold his gaze, a single tear escaping.
‘Don’t tell me I didn’t, Theo. I did .’ I take a shaky breath.
‘Even saying your name in the same breath as Danny’s was wrong.
You’re nothing like him. You never were.
I was scared, and I lashed out. I said the one thing I knew would push you away.
Because I was afraid. Not of you hurting me… ’ I swallow ‘…but of loving you again.’
His eyes flash, his mouth parting to speak, but I throw up a hand to stop him.
‘Please. I need to get this out. All of it. What you and Taylor did… it gave me the excuse I needed to end it. To run. And I’m sorry.
So, so sorry. You believed in me, even when I didn’t,’ I whisper.
‘Even when you kept Danny from me, it wasn’t because you doubted me.
It was because you were scared for me. And I wasn’t honest with you. ’
I take his hand, needing to hold onto him as I say, ‘I know you didn’t want to hear this seven years ago, and maybe you still don’t. But I can’t keep it in.’
I wet my lips, take one last steadying breath.
‘I’m in love with you, Theo. My heart belongs to you. It always has. Whether you want it or not, I?—’
He surges forward before I can finish, both hands diving into my hair as his mouth slams into mine. Hard. Desperate. Like he’s terrified I’ll disappear if he waits another second.
And I feel it too. The hunger, the ache, the need that’s lived beneath my skin for far too long. I whimper against him, taking his all, giving my all. No fear. Just this. My love for him.
When he finally pulls back, we’re gasping, breaths mingling, foreheads pressed together as his hands cradle my face.
‘That wasn’t quite the reaction I expected,’ I say, breathless.
He lets out a hoarse, broken laugh. ‘You just handed me my every dream in one breath.’
‘It was definitely more of a speech…’ I laugh softly, my voice trembling. ‘But your every dream?’
He leans back just enough to take me in, that reverent look in his eye – the one I’ve come to adore.
‘I love you, Sadie Stone. I loved you seven years, and I wouldn’t let myself have you.
I’m not making that mistake again. I love you, and I want you.
And I’m sorry if you can’t handle my protection, because I will guard you and Lottie with everything I have and everything I am.
Nothing and no one gets to hurt you again. ’
‘You want to be our knight in shining armour?’ I tease through the tears.
‘I’ll be whatever you and Lottie need me to be,’ he says without hesitation. Then he kisses my forehead, my cheek, my lips. ‘Seven years of loving you, of knowing you were out there and not mine, I don’t want to spend another without you. You and Lottie – you’re my world now.’
I shake my head, joy swelling in my chest. ‘I can’t believe this is really happening.’
‘You better bloody believe it,’ he murmurs, kissing me again. This one slower, more thorough – a claiming and a homecoming.
I melt into him, into the warmth of everything I thought I’d lost.
And for the first time in years – maybe ever – I let myself believe in happy endings.
The car slows. Mike’s voice crackles through the speaker. ‘We’re here. Want us to circle the block again?’
Theo breaks away to say, ‘What do you think?’
‘There’s a girl I know who’s been desperate to see you…’
He smiles. ‘She and me, both.’
I smile with him. ‘We’re good to get out, thanks, Mike.’
We step into the lift of Taylor’s building, hearts still thundering, bodies close but nerves high. When the doors open onto my sister’s penthouse, I can already hear Lottie’s laughter.
We follow it to find Taylor sprawled on the floor in top-to-toe Chanel, hair piled on top of her head in a way I’ve never seen it before, helping Lottie build what appears to be an elaborate cardboard city.
There are juice cartons. There’s glitter.
Tiaras and stray plushies. It’s chaos. But it’s happy chaos.
Taylor looks up, startled. ‘Oh! Hey— How did it—?’ She freezes mid-sentence, eyes landing on Theo. On our hands.
Lottie turns, her face lighting up. ‘Uncle Feo!’ she shrieks, abandoning the glittery mess and launching herself at him. ‘I knew Mummy would find you!’
Theo catches her midair, hugging her tight to his chest, his eyes closing like the moment is too much to hold in.
‘She found me,’ he whispers.
‘Well,’ Taylor breathes, brushing off her Chanel as she gets to her feet.
‘Look who finally pulled their heads out of their arses.’ She crosses her arms and zeroes in on Theo.
‘Just so we’re clear, I’m thrilled you two have figured things out.
Love, healing, happily ever after – big yay.
But we’re still going to have words. Because when I said, “watch out for my sister,” I didn’t mean with your penis. ’
Theo chokes as I groan.
‘Tay,’ I say, ‘there are little ears about.’
Taylor shrugs, all faux innocence. ‘Just stating facts. And I’m happy for you.
I’m also legally obligated to make him sweat a little.
Now go make out or whatever. I’ll be in the kitchen opening wine and not thinking about any of this.
’ She turns on her heel, tossing over her shoulder, ‘Though, Theo, you hurt her, there won’t be a third-act reconciliation. There’ll be a shovel.’
He watches her go, wide-eyed, and I smother a laugh.
‘Now you know how I felt growing up. It’s a bit different when she’s related to you, hey?’ I say. ‘Welcome to the family.’
‘Are we a weal family now?’ Lottie says, eyes darting between us, her tiny index finger pointing. ‘Mummy. Daddy. Me.’
My heart stumbles as I meet Theo’s gaze.
‘The realest,’ he says.
And I know, deep in my bones, it’s true.
No more running. No more fear.
Just us. Just love. A family and a home.