Chapter 14
Audrey gave birth eleven weeks later.
A healthy baby boy.
Rocco met him in the hospital with tears he pretended were caused by lack of sleep.
Audrey named him Julian.
No Reed surname.
Her divorce was not final yet.
The name was still her choice.
Preston requested access through attorneys.
No one screamed.
No bodyguards blocked a hospital corridor.
No one made decisions in anger.
Temporary parenting arrangements would be determined through the appropriate process with the safety allegations considered.
Rocco hated not controlling it.
He accepted it.
Brenda was prohibited from contact with Audrey and the baby under conditions arising from the case.
Her event business entered bankruptcy months later.
For years she had feared losing it enough to justify increasingly cruel choices.
Then she lost it anyway.
Preston lost most Moretti-connected contracts almost immediately after the separation.
Several legitimate clients remained.
His company survived at a smaller scale.
That consequence bothered him more than Rocco expected.
Preston had spent years confusing access with achievement.
Once Audrey left, he discovered how much of his success had belonged to proximity.
Gary left the family business entirely.
He took a position with an unrelated logistics company outside Chicago.
Before leaving, he sent Audrey one final message:
I’m going to stop asking you to forgive me.
Audrey did not reply.
She kept the message.
That was all.
Rocco visited her apartment three days after she brought Julian home.
He stood at the door carrying two bags of groceries.
Audrey opened it.
“You could’ve sent someone.”
“I know.”
“You could've called.”
Rocco looked at the bags.
“I did.”
Audrey checked her phone.
Three missed calls.
She laughed for the first time in weeks.
“Okay. Come in.”
May you like
Rocco waited until she stepped aside.
Only then did he cross the threshold.
