Chapter 99


    When Matilda woke up the next day, she found herself draped in a luxurious nket, the kind only


    Yvan would custom order, monogrammed with his initials at the


    corner.


    The letters Y.B seemed to scorch into her field of vision like branding iron, and with a jolt, she flung the


    nket to the floor, gasping for breath.


    Logan, startled by her action, blinked his eyes open and lifted his head to look at her, “Mommy, what’s


    wrong?”


    “I’m fine.” Matilda gathered her wits about her, scoffing at the idea that Yvan would cover her with a


    nket. How could that be possible?


    “I must’ve fallen asleep with youst night.” Matilda caressed Logan’s face, “Has your fevere


    down? I should be going now.”


    “Don’t go, Mommy!”


    Logan clutched the hem of Matilda’s clothes, his voice barely above a whisper, “Can you stay with me


    just one more day, please?”


    Seeing the longing in Logan’s eyes, Matilda couldn’t help but sigh, “I won’t stay the night, but I’ll stay


    with you until the afternoon, okay?”


    Logan nodded, his eyes rimmed with red, “I don’t want you to leave. I don’t want to be alone in this big


    house.”


    It felt so empty, devoid of family warmth and affection.


    Matildaforted him for a moment before heading downstairs to whip up some breakfast, her


    movements as fluid as if she’d done this countless times before.


    Yvan, who had risen early, was taken aback when he saw the figure bustling about in the kitchen. For a


    moment, he was transported five years back, to the days when Matilda would rise at dawn to make him


    breakfast, even though he never once took


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    it with him.


    But now, as he watched her from the staircase, a wave of familiarity washed over him, and he found


    himself lost in a daze.


    Matilda emerged from the kitchen with a te of sunny–side–up eggs and bacon, her voice cold as she


    saw Yvan, as if she was merely performing a routine, “I apologize for using the ingredients from your


    fridge.”


    12:49


    Chapter 99


    Her words were t, but she remembered everything, every piece of furniture in the


    kitchen, each steeped in memories.


    Matilda’s shoulders trembled as she faced Yvan. She told herself not to be afraid; she


    had nothing left to lose.


    Yvan noticed Matilda’s slight quiver and stared at her for a long while before uttering an indifferent


    “Mm–hmm“.


    There he was, looking fearless as ever.


    Matilda felt like a fool, wounded by memories that, it seemed, had only ever affected her.


    She took the breakfast back to Logan’s room, swiftly kicking the door shut with her foot, leaving Yvan


    on the other side.


    As if nothing had happened, Yvan continued downstairs, but when he saw another set of sunny–side–


    up eggs next to the stove, a crack appeared in his usually impassive facade.


    Medium–cooked eggs, with runny yolks… that had been his most familiar breakfast five years ago.


    Memories, like fleeting shadows, burst forth from the recesses of his mind, and in that split second, his


    heart seemed to quiver, a sudden pang of ache spreading.


    unbidden.


    A flicker of surprise crossed Yvan’s handsome face, his pupils contracting slightly as his fingers


    involuntarily tightened at his side.


    Those life details he’d never bothered to look at twice were now the objects of his nostalgia. Was


    Matilda deliberately leaving this for him?


    She never ate her eggs runny; only he preferred eggs cooked soft.