The chatter in the grand hall fell to a hush as Lila Monroe entered with her children—Noah and Nora—flanking her like little stars orbiting a calm moon. Their presence was quiet but commanding. Not flashy like the influencers and tech moguls around them. But real.
Alexander’s smirk faded the moment he saw them.
Nora clutched a small stuffed panda. Noah adjusted his tiny blazer, eyes scanning the towering ceiling, the marble, the polished pretension of it all.
Cassandra blinked. “Alex, they look just like you.”
Alexander forced a laugh. “Coincidence.”
But his hands trembled.
Lila didn’t head straight to the front. She stood in the back, politely refusing champagne, calmly answering shallow questions from curious guests.
Eventually, Alexander made his way over. Alone.
“You really showed up,” he said, stiffly.
“You invited me,” she replied, eyes never leaving his.
He nodded toward the children. “And them?”
She raised an eyebrow. “What about them?”
“They’re not mine.”
“They are,” she said, evenly. “Born six weeks after the divorce was finalized. You’d know if you ever cared to ask why I left.”
He swallowed hard. “You said nothing.”
“I said everything in the silence. But you were too loud with your ego to hear it.”
He looked at the twins. Noah met his gaze with quiet curiosity. Nora tilted her head, studying the man who looked exactly like her drawings.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You had a choice,” Lila said. “To be a husband. A partner. A man. You chose to be a brand.”
Alexander opened his mouth to protest, but no words came.
“And I chose to protect them. From your chaos. From the tabloid kisses. From growing up thinking love is disposable.”
“I… I want to know them,” he said, his voice quieter.
Lila’s expression softened slightly. “That’s up to them. But today’s not the day.”
She turned, gathered her kids, and began to walk out. The guests stared. Cassandra was whispering furiously to her stylist in the corner. And the photographer, unsure whether to keep shooting or stop, froze mid-snap.
As they reached the exit, Nora turned around.
“Bye, Daddy,” she said gently, not fully understanding the weight of her words.
And just like that, they were gone.
Alexander stood in the center of the marble aisle, surrounded by opulence and applause meant for a man who had it all—yet had just learned how much he’d truly lost.