The contracted wife who left first

Morning sunlight filtered through the gauzy curtains of Aria's apartment, casting gold lines across the polished wood floor.

Aria sat on the edge of the couch, her fingers curled around a mug of tea gone cold. She hadn't touched it since she poured it nearly an hour ago.

Her eyes remained on the closed bedroom door.

Eli was still asleep. He'd had a long night—restless, the way he got when something shifted in her. He always seemed to sense it, even without words. A frown here, a longer silence there. Her little boy noticed everything.

And he asked questions.

Like he had the night before.

"Mommy… who is my daddy?"

Her throat tightened at the memory.

She had pretended not to hear him at first. Had pulled the blankets higher around his chin and kissed his forehead.

But he'd asked again, sleepy, soft, and achingly curious.

She had no answer that wouldn't break him—or herself.

So she'd whispered the one truth she could offer.

"You have me."

And for now, that had to be enough.

She closed her eyes.

How much longer could she protect that truth? How long until Elias connected the dots?

She had seen the flicker in his gaze yesterday. The moment her name—her new name—landed in the space between them like a chisel against glass.

He had seen the difference. Felt it.

And he wasn't a man to leave threads loose.

A sharp knock broke her thoughts.

She blinked, placed the mug down, and rose quietly. A glance at the time. Too early for anyone she knew. No deliveries are expected.

She opened the door, heart already bracing.

It wasn't Elias.

But it was a ghost from the past.

"Madeline?" she whispered.

The woman standing on her doorstep looked almost exactly as Aria remembered—poised, elegant, every dark curl in place. Elias's older sister. And once, Aria's closest confidant.

Until the day Aria left without a goodbye.

Madeline's arms were folded, her expression unreadable.

"I had a feeling you wouldn't call me," she said.

Aria swallowed. "How did you…?"

"I still have contacts at Blackwood Industries. You thought I wouldn't hear about your reappearance?"

Aria stepped back, unsure. "Do you want to come in?"

Madeline didn't move. "Do you want me to?"

Aria nodded once.

Madeline stepped in.

The apartment was small compared to the penthouse Aria had once shared with Elias, but it was warm. Lived-in. A framed drawing of a treehouse, scribbled in crayon, sat proudly on the shelf near the TV. Madeline's eyes landed on it.

"He drew that?" she asked softly.

Aria didn't answer. She didn't need to.

Madeline turned back to her. "He doesn't know, does he?"

"No."

"How long were you planning to keep it that way?"

Aria's fingers curled at her sides. "I didn't come back to reopen old wounds. Calyx Tech—"

"Oh, don't give me the business talk," Madeline snapped. "This isn't about the company, Aria. This is about you disappearing, and now pretending like none of it happened."

Aria's voice rose, trembling. "I had to disappear. You think it was easy?"

"You had his child."

"I know."

"You think I don't remember the way you looked before you left? Pale. Quiet. Always touching your stomach like it was a secret. And then one day, gone."

"I was scared."

Madeline's expression softened. "Of what?"

"Of what it would do to him. To me. To all of us."

There was a beat of silence.

"I didn't want him to think I stayed because of a child. I didn't want him to think I was using him. You know what our marriage was."

Madeline shook her head. "What it started as. Not what it became."

Tears brimmed in Aria's eyes. "He wouldn't have believed me. He would've questioned everything."

"And now?" Madeline asked. "What about now?"

"I don't know."

They sat on the couch, silence thick between them.

Madeline looked at the closed door to the bedroom. "What's his name?"

"Elijah," Aria said, her voice barely audible. "I call him Eli."

Madeline smiled faintly. "He has your eyes?"

"No. He has his."

She didn't need to say Elias's name.

Madeline reached out, taking her hand gently. "You have to tell him."

"I know."

"Soon."

Aria nodded.

"Have you spoken to Elias again since yesterday?"

Aria shook her head. "No. But I know I'll have to. Soon."

Madeline arched an eyebrow. "You think he hasn't started putting the pieces together already? He's Elias. He probably ran a background check on you before you left the building."

Aria let out a breathless, humorless laugh. "God, that sounds like him."

"I saw the way he looked at you yesterday," Madeline said. "He's confused. And he's not going to stay confused for long."

"I don't know if I'm ready."

"You don't get to wait until it's convenient, Aria. That ship sailed the moment you stepped back into his company."

"I didn't expect to be face-to-face with him," Aria whispered. "I thought… I thought he'd send someone else. I didn't think he'd even remember me."

Madeline scoffed. "You relieve that?"

Aria looked away.

"You broke him, Aria. And I say that not to guilt you, but to make you understand that you mattered to him. More than you knew. He just… didn't know how to show it all the time."

Aria's voice cracked. "I know."

Just then, Eli's door creaked open.

Small footsteps padded into the room, and a sleepy little boy with tousled curls and a wrinkled dinosaur shirt stepped out, rubbing his eyes.

"Mommy?" he mumbled.

Aria immediately stood and walked over, kneeling before him.

"Hey, baby. Did you sleep well?"

He nodded, clinging to her neck. His eyes drifted past her to Madeline.

"Who's that?" he whispered.

Aria hesitated.

Madeline stepped forward, smiling. "I'm… a friend of your mommy's. You can call me Maddie."

Eli studied her for a moment, then gave a shy nod.

"Are you staying for pancakes?" he asked.

Madeline laughed, caught off guard. "Pancakes?"

"Mommy makes smiley ones. With banana eyes."

Aria managed a small laugh. "He's very specific."

"I can see that," Madeline smiled. "Well, I wasn't planning to stay…"

"But you can," Eli interrupted, his arms still wrapped around Aria. "Mommy doesn't mind."

Aria glanced at Madeline. "It's up to you."

Madeline exhaled. "Maybe just for a few minutes."

Eli grinned and buried his face in Aria's shoulder. "I like her."

"She likes you too," Aria whispered into his curls.

As she carried him toward the kitchen, Madeline followed and leaned against the doorway.

"I missed this," she said quietly.

Aria looked over her shoulder. "Missed what?"

"This version of you. The soft, grounded Aria. The one who laughs."

"I forgot her for a long time."

Madeline smiled sadly. "Then it's time you remember her. And let Elias meet her too."

Aria didn't respond right away. Instead, she turned toward the stove, reaching for a pan.

The past had returned. And with it, choices.

She wasn't sure she was ready.

But the truth? The truth was knocking louder now.

And it would not wait forever.