Chapter 235

I woke up with fragments of memory still swirling in my head. The flashes of that yacht party, the champagne, the cold water… they felt distant yet painfully real. My hand automatically went to my stomach, a protective gesture that was becoming instinctive.
“You want to talk about what you remembered?” Hazel asked softly, noticing my faraway look.
“I fell overboard that night,” I murmured, stirring the remaining soup absentmindedly. “Someone pushed me. I’m certain of it.”
Hazel’s eyes widened, her hand trembling as she set down her spoon. “Pushed? Are you saying someone deliberately—”
“I can’t be sure,” I interrupted, not wanting to upset her further. “Everything’s still so fuzzy. Maybe I just lost my balance.”
But deep down, I felt it. That sudden force against my back hadn’t been my imagination. Someone had wanted me gone that night.
The sound of my phone ringing broke the tense moment. Ryan’s name flashed across the screen.
“I should take this,” I said, excusing myself from the table and stepping into the living room. For some reason, my heart was racing. “Hello?”
“Serena.” Just the way he said my name, deep and tender, made something flutter inside me. “How are you feeling?”
“Better,” I answered truthfully. “Just had dinner with my mother.”
“I miss you.” The words were simple, direct, sending an unexpected warmth through me. “I had quite the interesting evening with your brother and sisters.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “They didn’t go easy on you, did they?”
“Let’s just say I’ve never consumed that much alcohol in one business meeting before,” Ryan chuckled, the sound surprisingly relaxed. “Your brother Ethan drives a hard bargain, but I think I’ve earned their provisional approval.”
“Provisional?” I teased.
“Very provisional,” he confirmed with another laugh. “But enough to secure permission to see you tomorrow.”
I bit my lip, fighting a smile. “Is that so? And what exactly are your plans for this approved meeting?”
“I thought we might go shopping,” Ryan replied casually. “Your mother mentioned you might need some things, considering… well, your condition.”
My hand automatically went to my barely-there bump. “Shopping? The mighty Ryan Blackwood voluntarily offering to go shopping?”
“Don’t sound so surprised. I’ve been told I have excellent taste.”
“In business acquisitions, maybe. But maternity clothes?” I couldn’t help the laughter bubbling up.
“I’m a man of many talents, Serena,” he countered, his voice dropping lower, more intimate. “Some of which you’re quite familiar with.”
The heat that rose to my cheeks was instantaneous. “Ryan!”
“What? I’m simply referring to my negotiation skills,” he said innocently, though I could hear the smile in his voice. “Which store would you like to ruin me at first?”
I settled into the couch, suddenly realizing how much I’d missed our banter. “I’m thinking Barneys to start. Then maybe Saks.”
“Trying to bankrupt me before dinner? At least feed me first.”
“I thought you were a billionaire,” I teased.
“Even billionaires appreciate a good meal before financial ruin,” he shot back smoothly.
We fell into easy conversation, discussing plans for tomorrow, carefully avoiding the heavier topics that hovered between us. For those few minutes, it felt almost like before—before my memories started returning, before the complications of family loyalties and past secrets.
“I should let you rest,” Ryan said finally, his voice softening. “Tomorrow at ten?”
“Ten is perfect,” I agreed, surprised by how much I was looking forward to it.
After hanging up, I sat there for a moment, phone still warm in my hand. The fragments of memory that had surfaced earlier seemed temporarily pushed aside by the anticipation of tomorrow.
“Was that Ryan?” Hazel appeared in the doorway, her expression carefully neutral.
I nodded, suddenly feeling like a teenager caught talking to a crush. “He’s taking me shopping tomorrow.”
Her face softened. “Good. You need someone looking after you right now.” She hesitated, then added, “You know, he came here every day while you were staying with us. Even when Ethan and the girls wouldn’t let him see you.”
This surprised me. “He did?”
“Just sat in his car outside for hours sometimes,” she confirmed with a small smile. “That’s not the behavior of a man who doesn’t care, Serena.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that. The Ryan I’d known during our marriage had been cold, distant—nothing like the man who’d called me just now, whose voice warmed when saying my name.
“Get some rest, sweetheart,” Hazel said, kissing my forehead. “Tomorrow’s a new day.”
As I climbed back upstairs to my bedroom, I couldn’t help wondering which version of Ryan was real—the cold husband from my returning memories, or the caring man who’d apparently sat outside for hours just to be near me.
Maybe tomorrow I’d find out.
* * *
Meanwhile,Ryan loosened his tie as he leaned back in his office chair, still holding his phone. The call with Serena had lifted a weight he hadn’t realized he’d been carrying.
“I take it the meeting went well?” Simon asked, entering with a stack of documents.
“Better than expected,” Ryan admitted. “Though I may never recover from that whiskey Ethan Quinn produced at the end.”
Simon smiled knowingly. “And the shares transfer paperwork?”
“Ready to be finalized tomorrow,” Ryan confirmed, glancing at the documents Simon placed before him. “Thirty percent of Blackwood Group. Make sure the legal team understands this isn’t negotiable.”
“The board won’t be pleased,” Simon pointed out carefully.
Ryan’s eyes hardened. “The board doesn’t need to be pleased. They need to understand that Serena is my priority now. I won’t have her questioning her place in my life ever again.”
Simon nodded, knowing better than to argue. “Will there be anything else, sir?”
Ryan turned to look out at the city lights. “No. That will be all.”
After Simon left, Ryan opened his desk drawer and took out a small velvet box. Inside was not the massive diamond he’d given Serena during their first marriage—a ring chosen more for status than sentiment. This one was smaller but infinitely more meaningful: a sapphire surrounded by tiny diamonds, matching the exact color of the ocean where he’d found her.
Where she’d nearly died because he’d failed to protect her.
Ryan closed the box, his jaw set with determination. He wouldn’t fail her again. Not Serena, and not their child.
Tomorrow would be just the beginning.