The Blake estate was unusually silent beneath the soft glow of the garden lights, the kind of silence that should’ve felt peaceful but instead settled heavy in Jason Blake’s chest. He pushed open the door himself—no driver, no assistant—wanting for once to walk into his home like an ordinary man returning from work.
But he wasn’t prepared for what waited inside.
Jason paused in the foyer, his polished shoes clicking once on the marble floor before he froze. From somewhere deeper in the house came a sound—soft, rhythmic, impossible.
A child’s voice.
His child’s voice.
Jason’s heart lurched. Every specialist he’d hired said Ethan’s progress would be slow. “Limited mobility,” they repeated. “Maybe one day he’ll stand. But don’t expect much.”
Jason had accepted that truth the way he accepted stock market losses—with numb efficiency and a growing ache he buried beneath work.
But now…
Now he heard something that didn’t make sense.
A tiny breathless laugh.
Water splashing.
And the gentle, steady voice of a woman he’d hired only months ago.
“Easy, sweetheart. One step at a time. You’ve got this.”
Jason’s pulse hammered as he followed the sounds through the living room and out to the backyard. When he crossed the threshold, his breath caught in his throat.
