A sharp knock on the door jolted Reese out of her dream.


    Still half-asleep, she yawned and shuffled over, peeking through the peephole. Brady was outside, holding a document envelope. That''s when Reese remembered the agreement with Sebastian fromst night—this must be the paperwork.


    She opened the door just a crack. "Hand it over."


    She skimmed through the pages, making sure Sebastian was really giving up his right to buy the ne from Zach. Satisfied, she signed at the bottom, kept a copy for herself, and slid the other one back through the gap.


    "Tell Sebastian I''ll be waiting for Robbie at the school gate tomorrow."


    She was about to close the door when Brady spoke up. "Ma''am, wait."


    She frowned. "What is it?"


    Brady tucked the papers away. "Mr. Ratcliff asked me to drive you to the office."


    "That''s not necessary. I''d rather drive myself."


    Without another word, Reese shut the door. They were about to get divorced; she wasn''t about to let people think she was still arriving in Sebastian''s car.


    Brady''s polite smile faltered. He could only turn and walk downstairs.


    In the car, Sebastian didn''t look up from his paperwork. "Where is she?"


    "She said she''s driving herself to work."


    The temperature in the car seemed to drop. Brady felt a chill run down his back. After a long pause, Sebastian finally said, "Let''s go."


    As the ck sedan pulled away, a white SUV rolled out of the parking lot behind


    it.


    Reese was up early that morning. When she got to ckOak, the office was still quiet. She headed into theb, surprised to find Matthew already there.


    He handed her a folder. "This is thetest iteration. If all goes well, we''ll have preliminary data in a couple of days and can start integrating with Ratcliff Global''s Vault."


    Reese flipped through the report. "Looks good. By the way, I have something to take care of tomorrow will you be okay here on your own?"


    Matthew''s eyes flickered. "Yeah, I''ll be fine."


    The next morning, Reese waited by the school gate at the time Sebastian had told her.


    A familiar ck car pulled up, but it was Sofia who got out first. She turned to help Robbie out of the back seat. Robbie said something that made herugh, and she yfully tapped his nose, clearly close with him.


    As soon as Robbie saw Reese, his smile vanished. He jogged over.


    "What are you doing here?"


    "Your dad asked me toe for your first day."


    But judging by the scene, she probably wasn''t needed anymore.


    Reese nced over at Sofia standing behind Robbie.


    Just then, a few of Robbie''s ssmates walked over. One of them looked at Reese, curious. "Robbie, is that your mom?"


    Robbie stepped away from Reese, putting distance between them. "No," he said, pointing at Sofia. "She''s my mom."


    Once his ssmates left, Robbie let out a breath and frowned at Reese. "You should go. I don''t want people to see you here."


    Reese didn''t respond, her gaze falling on Sofia.


    Robbie noticed and immediately moved in front of Sofia, like he was protecting her. "Don''t bother Auntie. You''re the one who ignored me first. That''s why I decided I don''t want you as my mom anymore. Auntie''s my mom now."


    "Robbie, don''t say that," Sofia said quickly, taking his hand. "Ms. Meyer, I''m really sorry. I didn''t know you''d be here today. If I had, I wouldn''t havee."


    "You don''t need to apologize to her!" Robbie tugged Sofia toward the school. "Let''s go. Don''t talk to her."


    Reese just stood there, a bitter little smirk on her lips. Robbie was the one pushing her away. It wasn''t her who broke any promises.


    She turned to leave, but a voice called out nearby. "Annie? Is Annie''s parent here?"


    Reese looked over. Annie was standing alone at the end of the line, wearing a pink dress and a bunny backpack, nervously twisting the corner of her uniform.


    Reese didn''t know Annie went to this school too. She remembered how Matthew hesitated yesterday when she mentioned needing the day off. He must have wanted to be here for Annie''s first day, but after she spoke up, he probably didn''t want to dy theb work.


    A wave of guilt and tenderness swept over Reese. She hurried over.


    "I''m a colleague of Annie''s dad," Reese exined. "He got caught up with something urgent and asked me toe for her today."