Chapter 567
te that night, Winter lay with her arms around Richie curled against her.
He was fast asleep.
Before drifting off, he had turned onto his side and struggled against her chest, one tiny hand clutching we collar of her pajamas.
Even in his sleep, he refused to let go.
The sight made her heart melt.
Winter lowered her head and kissed his hair.
How could he be this adorable?
She closed her eyes.
Then Chris’s voice suddenly echoed in her mind.
Unless it’s necessary, I won’t show up in front of you.
In the darkness, Winter pressed her lips together.
A trace of the bitterness she had buried deep inside began to surface.
She took a slow breath and gave a faint, self-mocking smile.
A thought crossed her mind.
Maybe it was better not to see someone at all when there were still feelings involved.
That was exactly how things were between her and Chris.
They had been wrong from the very beginning.
After the monitor in Richie’s room had been unplugged, Chris never asked anyone to reconnect it.
It was already half past midnight.
By now, Winter and Richie were probably asleep.
Chris pushed open the glass door leading to the terrace.
A freezing gust swept across the ground, sending loose snow skittering over the floor.
The entire hillside was buried beneath a thick blanket of white.
On a night this cold, other men were probably home with their wives and children.
Chris had the child.
He just didn’t have the wife.
And the woman he wanted to see was only a few rooms away, yet he couldn’t go to her.
Nathan’s words came back to him.
Keep your distance from her as much as possible.
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Chris lowered his head and lit a cigarette.
He leaned back against the wall and slowly exhaled.
The light reflecting off the snow caught in his dark eyes, bringing out a faint redness there.
Nathan had only told him to see her less.
He had never said Chris could not see her at all.
Winnie, how could I ever let you go?
Early the next morning, Winter felt something soft and damp against her cheek.
It tickled.
And it was warm.
“Mommy… Mwah p>
“Mmm p>
She slowly opened her sleepy eyes.
Richie’s chubby little face filled her vision.
Still wearing his sleep sack, he had climbed on top of her and was holding her face in both hands, planting kiss after kiss on her cheeks.
“Mwah! Mwah p>
Winter’s heart nearly melted.
She wrapped both arms around him and covered his cheeks with kisses.
“My sweet boy smells so good p>
She had expected it to take several nights before Richie could sleep through the night with her.
Instead, after just one day together, he had slept peacefully until morning without crying once.
Maybe she really could take him away from Blackwood Manor soon.
“Happy birthday, baby p>
Winter kissed his forehead.
Richie had just woken up and was full of energy.
His cheeks were pink from sleep, making his already big eyes look even rounder.
At the sound of Winter’s gentle voice, he looked up at her.
Then he pushed himself upright, wrapped his little arms around her head, and planted a firm kiss on her forehead.
A knock suddenly came from outside the room.
Winter had no idea who it was.
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She glanced down and started straightening the pajamas that had gotten rumpled in her sleep.
By the time she looked up again, Richie had already crawled to the edge of the bed.
The toddler bed was low enough that he climbed down easily.
Barefoot, he padded over to the door, stretched both arms up toward the handle, then practically hung from it with his whole body to push it down.
He looked like a little monkey.
The latch clicked.
The door opened.
Chris’s gaze flicked past Richie toward Winter, who was sitting on the edge of the bed looking over.
His expression remained perfectly calm.
He bent down and picked Richie up, supporting him with one arm while using the other hand to tug down the pant leg that had ridden up around his ankle.
“Happy birthday, baby p>
Richie blinked.
Daddy had said the same thing Mommy had.
Then he suddenly wrapped his arms around Chris’s head and planted a hard kiss on his forehead, with exactly the same enthusiasm he had used on Winter.
Grinning, he announced, “Mommy kiss! Daddy kiss p>
Chris gave a low hum.
So Winter had kissed him like that too.
But then Richie started squirming in his arms.
He pointed to his own cheek and repeated in his sweet little voice, “Mommy kiss! Daddy kiss p>
“You want Daddy to kiss you p>
Chris lowered his head and kissed Richie’s left cheek.
“Hehe p>
Richie giggled and poked his right cheek with one finger.
Then he turned toward Winter.
“Mommy kiss p>
Winter froze for a second.
Richie immediately started wriggling even harder in Chris’s arms.
“Mommy kiss! Mommy kiss p>
At that moment, Gavin came upstairs, intending to report something to Chris.
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The moment he looked up, he saw Chris standing in the doorway with Richie in his arms while Winter leaned over and kissed Richie’s cheek.
For a brief second, they looked exactly like a happy family of three.
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Sara Lili
Sara is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.