The Officer's Runaway Wife and Secret Son novel Chapter 394

Rhys stopped in his tracks. "Just stay here and catch your breath. If I come back and you don't look well, I'm sending you straight back to the hospital." Rhys didn't dare move. "Then… come back soon."

Clara left, and the apartment fell quiet again, save for the sound of the two cleaners wiping windows in another room. Rhys stood in the center of the living room, looking around. The cloud-shaped lamp on the ceiling was the same style as before, and the landscape paintings on the wall were the ones they had spent a whole afternoon picking out together. The furniture and layout hadn't changed; time had been paused in this apartment.

But they could not remain suspended in time. They could no longer embrace each other as recklessly as they once had. He slowly walked back to the sofa and sat down. The underfloor heating was strong, making him feel hot and a little sweaty. Rhys lowered his head and looked at his hands.

From the day he graduated the police academy, these hands had caught thieves and unruly drivers. After joining the special forces, they had held sniper rifles, cut bomb wires, and saved hostages. They had held a radiant Clara and a babbling Felix who called him 'Daddy'. Now, these same hands rested on his knees in this newly warmed home, waiting for her and their child to come home.

Home. The word was too heavy. So heavy that just thinking about it made his insides feel like they were swelling. He had thought he would never have a home again in this lifetime. Rhys bent over, burying his face in his hands. He made no sound, but his tall, broad back hunched over. Warm liquid seeped through his fingers, gathering until it could no longer be contained, dripping one by one onto the freshly cleaned floor.

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