Chapter 4 - THE INVITATIONEthan didn't chase her this time. He let her drive away. But an hour later, as Maya sat inside the quiet children’s section of the Bellevue Public Library while Noah played with wooden blocks, her phone buzzed against the table.
An unknown number.
She stared at the glowing screen. Her pulse hammered against her throat. With trembling fingers, she slid the green bar to answer.
"I know you're there, Maya," Ethan's voice came through the speaker, low, controlled, but impossibly broken. "I'm sitting in my car across the street. We can do this the hard way—with my lawyers, a battery of paternity tests, and a custody battle that will tear both of our lives apart in the public eye—or you can meet me for coffee at the corner diner in ten minutes."
Maya’s breath caught. "You wouldn't."
"Try me," he replied flatly. "I’ve spent three years being a coward, Maya. Don't mistake my patience now for weakness. I want to see my son. And I want to look you in the eye while you explain why you kept him from me."
May you like
The line went dead.
Maya stared at the phone, tears of sheer frustration blurring her vision. She looked over at Noah, who was laughing as a wooden fire truck crashed into a tower of blocks. She knew Ethan. She knew the terrifying, unstoppable force he became when his mind was set on an objective. Fighting him in court would be a bloodbath, and she refused to let her son become collateral damage in a billionaire's war.
