Chapter Six
Zora
I listen to Levi babbling in the stroller as I walk up the street toward Wilder House, my bag slipping down my shoulder. My mind is still half on work, half on the thought of seeing Jax again. The idea alone makes something warm settle in my chest, something I don’t fight anymore.
Because I know what it is. I’m in love with him.
The realization didn’t hit all at once. It crept in quietly. In small moments. The way he looks at Levi like he matters. The way he takes care of me without making me feel weak. The way he fits into my life like he was always supposed to be there. Like he could be my family.
Even his sister likes me. Sienna came by last week, and I spent the first ten minutes waiting to be assessed. It never came. She just sat on the floor with Levi and asked me what I was reading.
But the worst part about this is that I think he feels it too. Maybe not as deeply. Maybe not as recklessly. But it’s there. I see it. And that’s what scares me. Because I’ve never had something like this before. And people like me don’t get to keep things like this.
“Zora Norwak?”
The voice stops me mid-step. My entire body goes still.
Slowly, I turn. The woman standing a few feet away from me is…
familiar. Not because I know her. But because she looks like him, like Jax.
Same sharp features. Same careful expression.
Same presence that feels like it takes up more space than it should.
My grip on my bag tightens slightly. “Yes?” I answer carefully.
She studies me like she’s assessing something. Her gaze flicks briefly to Levi before returning to my face. “We need to talk.”
Everything in me goes tight. “I don’t think—”
“You’re involved with my son.”
The words land clearly. Precise. Almost foreboding. My stomach drops. “Excuse me?”
“Jaxon Corbin,” she says, like that explains everything. “You know him as Jax, I assume.”
My heart starts pounding harder. “I don’t know what you’re—”
“Don’t insult me,” she cuts in smoothly. “I know exactly who you are.”
Silence stretches between us, heavy and suffocating.
I swallow. “What do you want?”
Her lips curve slightly, but there’s no warmth in her expression. “Good. Straight to the point. I appreciate that.”
Levi shifts slightly, letting out a soft sound. I adjust him automatically, my attention splitting between him and her.
“I’ll make this simple,” she continues. “You and my son, whatever this is, ends. Immediately.”
My chin comes up. “That’s not your decision.”
“No,” she agrees calmly. “But this is.”
Her gaze drops briefly to Levi again, sharper this time. “I know he’s not legally yours.”
Everything inside me freezes. My breath catches. “What?”
“You heard me,” she says, her tone unchanged. “You have no legal claim to that child. No documentation. No custody.”
My heart starts racing. “How do you—”
“I know everything I need to know,” she interrupts. “Including how quickly I could make one call and have him taken from you.”
The world tilts. “No,” I whisper, shaking my head slightly. “You can’t—”
“I can.”
The certainty in her voice goes through me like cold water. Levi lets out a small whine, and I take him out of the stroller. I want him close to me, like I can shield him from her words.
“Why are you doing this?” I ask, my voice shaking now despite my effort to stay steady.
Her expression doesn’t change. “Because you’re a distraction.”
“A distraction?” I repeat, my voice tighter now. My grip stays firm around Levi like she might somehow take him right here in the street.
“Yes,” she says calmly, like we’re discussing something trivial. “My son has responsibilities. A future that does not include…this.”
Her gaze sweeps over me briefly, not cruel, just dismissive in a way that stings more.
It’s the same look the woman in the hallway—Jax’s sister—gave me. The one who didn’t see me at all. I understand now that she learned it from somewhere.
Heat rises up my neck. “You don’t know anything about me.”
“I know enough,” she replies. “You’re a daycare worker, barely supporting yourself, raising a child that isn’t legally yours, living in a place like Wilder House.” She pauses, tilting her head slightly. “Do you really think you fit into his world?”
My heart stumbles. Because I don’t know his world. I never asked. And he never told me.
“What are you talking about?” I ask, quieter now, something uneasy settling in my stomach.
Her lips press together briefly before she answers. “Jaxon is not just some man renting a temporary apartment. He is the heir to a multibillion-dollar company. His father is stepping down soon. That makes Jax the next CEO.”
The words hit like a physical blow. I stare at her.
“No.” I shake my head slightly. “That’s not…he would have told me.”
“Would he?” she counters smoothly. “Or are you exactly what I said…a distraction? Something to pass the time before he returns to his real life?”
My mind starts racing, replaying everything. The way he avoids certain questions. The way he never talks about his family. The way he just…appeared.
“No,” I whisper again, but it sounds weaker now.
“You don’t belong with him,” she continues, her voice softer but no less sharp. “And deep down, you know that.”
I swallow hard, my throat tight.
“And Levi?” she adds, her eyes flicking down again. “Do you think a family like ours would ever accept that situation? A woman with a child she can’t even legally claim?”
My heart clenches painfully. “I’m not giving him up,” I say immediately, my voice stronger now, fiercer. “No matter what you say.”
“I’m not asking you to give him up,” she replies. “I’m telling you that you might not have a choice.”
The threat hangs in the air. Cold. Real.
“What do you want?” I ask again, my voice barely steady.
She watches me for a second, then nods slightly, like I’ve finally caught up. “You will end things with my son,” she says. “Convincingly.”
My stomach twists. “No.” I shake my head, slightly shifting back, “I won’t.”
“You will,” she corrects, “or I will make that call.”
My breath stutters. Tears burn behind my eyes, but I blink them back. I hold Levi closer, pressing my cheek briefly to his head like I can draw strength from him.
“Why?” I whisper. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because he is not thinking clearly,” she says, her tone sharpening just slightly. “And I am his mother. I will not allow him to throw everything away for something temporary.”
Temporary. The word slices deeper than I expected.
“You don’t know him,” I say, my voice shaking now despite everything. “You don’t know what he wants.”
“I know exactly what he needs,” she replies. “And it is not this. My son turns thirty in two days,” she continues. “By then, this…relationship needs to be over. Clean. Final. No confusion.”
I can’t breathe properly. “You want me to break his heart,” I say slowly.
“Yes.” The answer is immediate. Unapologetic.
“And if I don’t…you’ll take Levi.”
“I inform the appropriate authorities,” she corrects. “What happens after that is out of my hands.”
A tear slips down before I can stop it. I wipe it away quickly, my teeth clenched hard.
“You’re a horrible person,” I whisper.
She doesn’t react. “I’m a practical one.”
I close my eyes for a second, my entire body trembling slightly. My hold on Levi tightens. His warmth and small movements are the only thing keeping me grounded right now.
I know exactly how this goes. Somebody makes a call, and somebody else writes it down, and then it’s in a folder with his name on it, and the folder doesn’t care that I’ve fed him every four hours for six months.
Nobody came for me. Nobody’s coming for him either—except her. She’s the only one who ever would.
I won’t let that happen to him. I won’t.
“Two days,” she says again, her voice quieter now but still firm. “Do the right thing.”
She turns without waiting for a response. And just like that, she’s gone. I don’t move right away.
I just stand there, my arms wrapped tightly around Levi. My heart is still racing, my thoughts spinning too fast to catch. The street feels too loud. Too bright, like everything kept moving while my world just…shifted.
“Okay,” I whisper to myself, my voice barely steady. “Okay…think.”
My hands are shaking as I reach into my bag and pull out my phone, my fingers hovering over the screen for a second before I type his name in the search bar. Jax Corbin.
The results load almost instantly. Articles. Interviews. Photos of him. Not the man who cooks in my kitchen and holds Levi like he belongs to him. A different version. Sharper. Polished. Untouchable. I click on one link.
Jaxon Corbin, heir to Corbin Industries…
My stomach drops. Another.
Race car prodigy and billionaire son…
My blood runs cold. It’s all there. Everything she said. My hand lowers slowly, the phone slipping slightly in my grip as I stare at the screen, my reflection faintly visible over his picture.
“He didn’t tell me,” I whisper, the words cracking in the middle.
And suddenly, everything feels different. Every moment. Every look. Every word. Was it real? Or was I just…something easy? Something temporary? Levi lets out a soft sound, and I pull him closer immediately, pressing my cheek to his head as my eyes close tightly.
“It’s okay,” I murmur, even though I don’t know if I’m talking to him or myself. “I’ve got you. I’m not letting anything happen to you.”
Because that’s the only thing I know for sure. I won’t lose Levi. I can’t. A shaky breath leaves me as I force myself to move, walking the rest of the way back to the apartment on autopilot. My mind is already starting to make the decision I don’t want to make.
I can’t risk Levi. Not for love. Not for anything.
Except. I could tell him.
The thought arrives fully formed, like it’s been waiting. I could walk in there tonight and say your mother came to see me, and he’d handle it. He’d make a call of his own. He has lawyers. He has money. He has a last name I didn’t know came with money and power until eleven minutes ago.
And then what?