Chapter 994

Silas puffed out his cheeks. “Dad has been so busy lately.”

I gave him a faint smile without answering.

A little while later, the front door finally opened. Ethan had returned. He slipped out of his suit jacket, hung it neatly by the entrance, then headed toward the walk-in closet to change.

I followed him and paused at the doorway, quietly watching as he loosened his shirt and changed into something more comfortable. The fatigue in his movements was impossible to miss, and something inside me tightened at the sight.

I walked up behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist, resting my cheek against his broad back. His body stilled for a moment. Then he covered my hands with his and asked gently, “What’s wrong?”

I didn’t answer. I simply held him tighter.

My heart hurt for him. He was already buried beneath the pressure of managing the company, yet he still had to keep dealing with Melisa while carrying the weight of everything happening because of me. He looked completely worn out.

He turned to face me and gently cradled my cheeks between his palms. His thumb brushed beneath my eye. “Are you still thinking about Tracy?”

I shook my head. “No. I just wanted to hold you.”

He lowered his head and pressed a kiss to my forehead before drawing me into a deep kiss against the wall.

There was something urgent about the way he kissed me, as though he were trying to shed the strain that had followed him home.

I didn’t resist. Instead, I slipped my arms around his neck and kissed him back, letting the warmth between us chase away the exhaustion of the day.

The atmosphere gradually became more intimate.

He gathered me into his arms, carried me to the bed, and lowered me gently onto the mattress. His lips moved from mine to my neck, leaving a trail of warmth across my skin. I closed my eyes, a faint tremor passing through me beneath his touch.

Just as the moment deepened, he pulled back and reached toward the bedside drawer for protection.

When I watched him, a thought I had kept buried for a long time suddenly rose to the surface.

“Ethan, I really hope the poison leaves my system soon. I want us to have another baby.”

His hands stopped while he was opening the packet.

He turned toward me, an unreadable mixture of emotions passing through his eyes. After a long pause, he leaned closer, planting his hands on either side of me as his gaze locked with mine.

“Lianne, I’m doing everything I can to find the antidote,” he said quietly, his expression solemn. “But it’s never been about giving me another child. I want you alive. I want you healthy. I want you beside me for the rest of our lives. Whether we have another baby doesn’t matter to me. You do.”

The conviction behind his words washed over me, filling my chest with a warmth I couldn’t contain.