Alex felt a knot in his stomach. Five years. That meant he’d been conceived just before he left her, just as his company was starting to take off and he’d convinced himself he didn’t have time for relationships, that Sofia was a “distraction” on his path to the top. Guilt choked him.
“Is… is it mine?” the question slipped from her lips before he could stop her, though the answer was already seared into his heart.
Sofia straightened up, her eyes fixed on his, without a hint of hesitation. “Yes, Alex. He’s yours.” Her gaze was a mixture of resentment and a deep sadness that broke his heart. “He’s our son.”
He staggered, leaning back against the sofa. “But… why? Why didn’t you tell me anything? Why did you keep it a secret?” Indignation mingled with shock, a defense mechanism to avoid succumbing to the avalanche of emotions.
“Tell you what, Alex?” Sofia replied with a bitter, hollow laugh.
“When I told you I thought I was pregnant, what did you say? Do you remember your exact words? ‘Sofia, this is a distraction. I don’t have time for this. My future is in the company, not in diapers and bottles. If it’s true, fix it.’ Do you remember that, Alex? Or does your memory only retain the successes and the millions?”
Sofia’s words struck him like daggers. Each phrase an echo of his own cruelty, his selfishness. He had erased that conversation from his memory, justified it as the “necessary decision” for his success. Now, the stark truth confronted him in the form of an innocent child and a wounded woman.
“I… I didn’t mean that,” Alex stammered, feeling cold sweat on his forehead. “I was under a lot of pressure. I was young, stupid.”
“You weren’t stupid, Alex. You were ambitious. And selfish,” Sofia corrected him, her voice taking on a firmness he remembered well. “When they confirmed the pregnancy, and after your reaction, I decided I didn’t need you. That Daniel didn’t need you. I didn’t want him to grow up with an absent father, or worse, with a father who saw him as a burden. I didn’t want him to know that his father had rejected him before he was even born.”
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