Chapter 22
BAILEY
The mountains had always been my refuge when my thoughts grew too loud.
I spent the afternoon hiking near my cottage, letting the narrow trail pull me higher and farther away from the weight pressing against my chest. The view was breathtaking, the kind that stole your breath and silenced your worries for a fleeting second or two.
Despite the town growing more modern by the day, nature here remained stubbornly untouched, as if refusing to bend to anyone’s chaos but its own.
I stopped to catch my breath and pulled out my phone, calling Sissy. I gave her a quick update on the past few days and, as usual, unloaded every anxious thought cluttering my mind.
“An angry Ashton I could handle,” I said. “But a quiet Ashton? That was what terrified me.”
“Maybe he just needed time to cool off,” Sissy replied calmly. “You were overthinking.”
“It made me anxious, you know. Who knew what he was planning right now? He could have been gathering an army of lawyers somewhere in a secret underground bunker, plotting strategy. Next thing I knew, he would storm into my cottage demanding I hand over his only heir.”
“Oh please, Bailey,” she scoffed. “You were overreacting. You watched too many K dramas.”
“Excuse you. Who does not love K dramas?” I shot back. “And if you wanted real emotional damage, C dramas existed.”
“You are impossible,” she sighed. “I do not watch things like that. See? This is exactly how it influenced you.”
“Of course,” I replied. “You were more into romance novels. No wonder you fell head over heels for your Adam.”
Sissy laughed. “It helped, did it not? At least we were married.”
“Seriously, Sissy, I might be right about this,” I said. “Ashton was planning something. He had been quiet ever since he found out he had a son.”
“Then go and ask him.”
“Are you crazy? I was not seeking him out. And I definitely did not want to bump into Lynda.”
“Well, Ashton already knew the truth. Were you not curious about what happened next? Especially between the two of them?”
“I honestly did not care,” I said. “They had been together for a long time. I doubted anything would change.”
“Uh huh,” she hummed. “Keep telling yourself that.”
I lowered my voice. “It was just… his words kept replaying in my head. He said he had been planning for my return. That he knew the truth long before I came back. It was messing with my head.”
“That,” Sissy said, suddenly serious, “was why you two needed to sit down and talk like adults.”
“Do you think I should prepare myself?” I asked. “Maybe hire a lawyer or something?”
She snorted. “With his money? Bailey, even if you hired a lawyer, he could probably buy the entire firm.”
I groaned. “Great. I was doomed. Maybe I should ask Adam for help. I was sure that among his billionaire clients, one of them owned a private island. I could hide Tristan there.”
“Now you were being dramatic,” Sissy sighed. “Adam was just a junior accountant. I highly doubted he had billionaire clients.”
“Hey, I would do anything for my son, okay?”
Then a voice sounded behind me.
“I dare you to try that and see what I would do, Bailey.”
“Argh—”
I nearly screamed and almost dropped my phone when I turned around and saw Ashton standing right behind me.
He looked furious. Slightly out of breath. Sweat glistened on his face beneath his casual clothes, his presence overwhelming even without a single word.
My heart sank.
Please tell me he had not been listening to that entire conversation.
I barely had time to recover from the shock of his presence before everything spiraled again.
“You… you son of—”
I was dangerously close to throwing a punch at him. Sneaking up on me like that nearly gave me a heart attack. The growl in his voice had been so deep and sudden that, for a split second, I honestly thought a bear was about to pounce on me from behind.
Ashton almost laughed at my outburst. A flicker of amusement broke through his expression, but he reined it in quickly, schooling his face back into something unreadable.
“Do not ever do that to me again,” I snarled.
I grabbed my water bottle from the ground and started heading back down the trail, deliberately ignoring him.
“It is not my fault you were oblivious to your surroundings,” he replied coolly as he followed. “Typical. You were always careless about your own safety.”
That made me stop dead.
I turned to face him and found him far too close for comfort. “What are you even doing here?” I snapped. “Do not tell me you decided to take a stroll in those shoes.” I pointed pointedly at his feet.
“Of course not,” he scoffed. “What kind of idiot do you think I am? I went to your cottage first. When I saw you climbing this hill, I figured I could catch up.”
His eyes swept over me, then he smirked.
“Who knew those short legs of yours could move that fast.”
I was about to snap back when I noticed what he was holding.
A document.
“What is that?” I asked sharply. “You finally had the finalized offer ready?”
“Do you really think I gave a damn about the shop right now,” he snapped back, “when I just found out I had a son?”
His jaw tightened.
“You were right. I had been busy these past few days. Gathering information about our son.” He held the document out to me. “This is the custody agreement. Read it. Sign it.”
The world tilted.
I went pale, frozen as I stared at the paper in his hand. This had to be a nightmare. I had never imagined it would happen this fast. I had never thought he would actually do the very thing I feared most.
I was going to lose my son.
“I… I need a moment—”
The words broke apart as my breath suddenly slipped away from me. My chest tightened painfully, as if an invisible band were crushing my ribs. Panic surged without warning. I pushed at him, desperate, as my vision blurred and dizziness rushed in all at once.
I barely registered myself going limp before a pair of strong hands caught me, keeping me from hitting the ground.
“Hey. Bailey,” Ashton said urgently. “Breathe. You are having a panic attack.”
“Can’t… can’t breathe,” I gasped. “Go… away.”
I tried to shove him off, but there was no strength left in my arms. He did not budge.
“Listen to me,” he said, his voice dropping, steady and calm. “Just breathe through your mouth. Slowly. Do not fight it.”
I clung to his words, forcing myself to follow them. One shaky inhale. Two slow exhales. Three. The tightness eased just enough for air to slip back in.
He grabbed my water bottle, twisted it open, and carefully tipped it to my lips. The cool water grounded me. My vision sharpened as the spinning finally slowed.
“Let me up… please,” I whispered.
“Are you sure you are alright now?” he asked, still holding me.
“Yes,” I said weakly. “I think I was fine… just my ego bruised.”
“Does this happen often?” His brow creased with concern as he helped me to my feet. “The panic attacks?”
“Only when I was around you,” I muttered.
“This was not the time for jokes, Bailey.”
“I know,” I said quietly, meeting his eyes at last. “It was time for us to talk too… do you not think?”
And hour later…
Look at us. Two perfectly civilized adults, sitting across from each other without yelling.
A miracle, really. Never mind the fact that I was glaring holes through his face and clutching my arms across my chest like a shield.
We were in a local diner, the one he had insisted on after we finally made it down the hill.
At last, Ashton sighed, worn down by the silent battle stretched between us. He slid the document across the table, this time slowly and carefully. He was probably afraid I might spiral again.
“Read the agreement, Bailey,” he said. “And do not make assumptions until you understand what is written there.”
No. I was not touching the damn thing.
“Not until you explain what you meant the other day,” I said. “What plan were you talking about?”
“Chase confessed everything,” he said quietly. “He conspired with my late father. They worked together to break us apart.”
“Of course it was your father,” I said bitterly. “He hated me that much. But even then, I understood. He thought he was protecting you.”
“Do not justify him, Bailey.” His voice hardened. “He was a vile man who believed power and money gave him the right to control other people’s lives. Including his own son.”
I almost laughed. We truly had been shaped by our fathers. One too controlling. One too weak. I kept the thought to myself.
“What happened when you found out the truth?” I asked.
“I was destroyed,” he admitted. “I thought the baby you were carrying was mine and that you chose to end the pregnancy. I was not angry. I blamed myself. I chose not to believe you, and I let others brand you a cheater. I mourned our child, Bailey. And in that grief, I realized the only thing left for me to do was beg for your forgiveness.”
He swallowed before continuing.
“Before I looked for Chase, I went to see Marie. She wanted me to find the truth. You know how she held grudges like no one else. Even when you were gone, she defended you from every ugly word this town threw at you. She hated me with a passion.”
A faint, sad smile crossed his face.
“But she still believed there was hope for us… and all I had to do was fight for it.”
My breath caught. I pictured Marie fragile and pale in a hospital bed, clinging to her final moments. Ashton had been there. He had gotten to see her one last time.
Where was I?
How could I have left her? How could I have disappeared like that?
Tears spilled freely, and I did not stop them. She deserved every one of them.
Ashton went quiet, giving me the space I needed. His hands were clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white.
“Go on,” I whispered.
“She wanted me to fix what was broken so she could forgive me,” he said softly. “She wanted me to bring you back. She believed you needed closure. We agreed on that. She told me she was leaving you the bakery and that I needed to handle the rest.”
He paused.
“When she passed away a few days later, I put everything into motion. I hired a lawyer on her behalf and made sure there was no possible way for you to contest her will. Her legacy was meant for you, no matter what.”
“So it was always your plan,” I said slowly. “To make sure I kept the bakery. Tell me something, Ashton. Did Eva know about this?”
“She agreed because it was Marie’s wish,” he answered. “And believe me when I say she was not particularly fond of me either.”
“Then why all the hostility?” I asked. “Why push me to leave town?”
“I needed it to be believable,” he said. “I know you, Bailey. When you are pushed, you fight back. I did not want you to give up and run away again.”
“Why not just tell me the truth?” I asked quietly. “Why not beg for forgiveness like you said?”
“Because you are stubborn,” he said, almost sadly. “And after what I did to you, forgiveness would never come easily. I thought I needed to earn it. I bought back your childhood home. I secured the bakery for you. And I swore I would make those who destroyed our future pay.”
I let out a hollow laugh.
“Well, I will give you this. You planned it well. Should I applaud you for suddenly becoming my knight in shining armor, just as I discovered that nearly everyone I trusted was playing a role?” I shook my head.
“Who else was involved, I wonder. The police? The restaurant owner? It is terrifying, realizing how much power you hold.”
I met his eyes, my voice steady but broken.
“You said you would punish everyone who hurt me. So answer this for me, Ashton. Who will punish you for breaking my trust and my heart?”
I exhaled slowly.
“Because from where I was sitting, you kept blaming everyone else. And yet all I ever needed was one person I could trust. One should have been enough.”
The words hung between us, heavy and unforgiving.
Ashton did not respond right away. His jaw tightened, then loosened, as if he were struggling to hold himself together. When he finally spoke, his voice was rough.
“I know,” he said quietly. “And I failed you.”
His shoulders sagged, the fight draining out of him all at once. The man who had spent years controlling outcomes and shaping plans suddenly looked exhausted by the weight of them.
“I thought I could fix everything by controlling the ending,” he continued. “By making sure you were safe. That you were provided for.” His gaze dropped to the table, shame etched into every line of his face. “I did not realize I was becoming exactly like him.”
The confession landed harder than anger ever could have.
“I lost you once because of his control,” he said, voice barely above a whisper. “And now I risk losing you again for the same reason.”
He finally looked up at me.
“And this time,” he added, “I have no one to blame but myself.”