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Selene looked away.
Caspian felt something inside him tear. “You knew she was carrying my child.”
“She claimed many things.”
“You stole my child’s first months from me.”
Selene stood. “I protected you.”
“No.” His voice shook now. “You protected your name.”
Her face sharpened. “You would have thrown away everything for a woman who never fit this family.”
Caspian stepped closer. “She was my family.”
“She weakened you.”
“No, Mother. I was weak when I let you speak louder than my wife.”
That silenced her.
The letters were in a storage room. A housekeeper helped him after Selene refused.
A small box.
No label.
Inside were envelopes with Naira’s handwriting.
Caspian sat in his car and opened the first one with trembling fingers.
Caspian, I don’t know what they told you, but I need you to hear me. I did not steal from you. I did not betray you. Please do not let them turn us into strangers.
He opened another.
I went to your office today. They would not let me in. I am scared, but I am still trying because I believe there is a part of you that knows me.
Then the last one.
His breath caught before he finished the first line.
I’m pregnant.
Caspian pressed the letter against his chest.
For the first time since he was a boy, he cried without trying to stop it.
Not because he had been fooled.
Because part of him had wanted the lie to be easier than the truth.
If Naira had betrayed him, he was the victim.
If Naira had tried to reach him, he was the man who failed her.
And that truth hurt more.
That evening, Caspian found Naira’s apartment above the bakery.
He stood outside apartment 3B with her letter folded in his coat pocket. For the first time in years, he felt afraid to knock.
Not because of what she might say.
Because she had every right to say it.
He knocked twice.
Slow footsteps.
The door opened a few inches, chain still locked.
Naira stood behind it.
Her face changed when she saw him.
Not shock.
Not softness.
Protection.
“How did you find me?”
“Your letter,” he said quietly. “One of the letters I never received.”
Her eyes moved to his pocket.
Pain crossed her face, then disappeared.
“You need to leave.”
“Naira, please.”
She stared at him.
That word sounded too small after everything.
Please.
Where had she been when she begged him to believe her?
Where had he been when divorce papers arrived with his signature?
“I know about the calls,” he said. “The letters. The money trail. The cloned pass. I know Belle and my mother did this. I know you tried to reach me.”
Her eyes filled for half a second.
Then she looked away.
“Good,” she whispered. “Now you know.”
The door began to close.
Caspian placed his hand against it, not pushing, only stopping it gently.
“I came to apologize.”
Naira looked back at him. “Then apologize.”
He dropped his hand.
“I am sorry.”
The hallway went quiet.
Naira waited.
Caspian’s voice roughened. “I am sorry I believed them. I am sorry I made you defend your character to the man who should have known it. I am sorry I let my mother and Belle speak louder than you. I am sorry I signed those papers. I am sorry I was not there when you found out about our child.”
A tear slipped down her cheek.