“We take care of each other,” Emma said firmly. “People think he needs help, but he’s the best dad ever. He learned how to braid hair from YouTube.”
They arrived at a small blue house with a tire swing in the yard.
It wasn’t a mansion.
It was a home.
Warm. Lived-in.
Real.
Upstairs, in a modest bedroom—
There he was.
Blake Lawson.
Sweaty, pale… and completely mortified.
“Oh no…” he groaned, trying to sit up. “Please tell me they didn’t—”
“We went to the restaurant!” Emma announced proudly.
“We told her you were sick,” Ava added.
“We brought you soup,” Chloe said.
“And she drove us home!” they finished.
Blake covered his face.
“I’m so sorry… I can’t believe they did this. I swear I’ll ground them until they’re thirty.”
Natalie smiled softly, stepping closer.
“They were very convincing. And very brave.”
She placed her hand on his forehead.
“You have a fever.”
The simple gesture stunned them both.
For the next hour, everything changed.
The powerful CEO kicked off her heels, sat beside his bed… and fed him soup.
They talked.
Not about business.
About life.
Loss.
Survival.
He told her how he left construction to build furniture so he could be home every night.