Godmother To His Son Then I Took His Kingdom Chapter 23
Leo was sitting on a sofa in the adjoining room.
Over a year had passed since I’d last seen him. He was taller, and much thinner. At the sound of the door, he jumped to his feet, his fingers twisting the hem of his shirt.
“Mara.”
He didn’t call me godmother.
I sat down a few feet away from him.
“You wanted to see me?”
Leo nodded but didn’t speak for a long moment.
The child advocate started to stay, but Leo shook his head. When the door closed, leaving us alone, he finally asked in a small voice, “Did Graham die because of me?”
My chest tightened.
“Who told you that?”
“People online. They said when he found out I wasn’t his son, he lost everything, and then he got sick.”
“He got sick, Leo. It wasn’t something you caused. And the choices he made were his, not yours.”
Leo stared down at his shoes.
“That day at the museum… Mom told me to hide behind the curtain. She said it was a game, and no matter who called my name, I couldn’t come out.”
His voice began to tremble.
“I heard you calling for me. I didn’t answer. Later, when I came out, I saw you lying at the bottom of the stairs.”
The image of my blood-soaked dress flashed before my eyes, and my fingers went cold.
Leo looked up, and tears finally spilled down his cheeks.
“I’m sorry.”
I drew a slow, deliberate breath before answering, forcing my voice to remain steady.
“Come here.”
He hesitated, then shuffled closer.
I didn’t hug him. I just put a box of tissues into his hands.
“Listen to me. The person who told you to hide was Evelyn. The person who tripped me was Evelyn. You were seven years old, and you were obeying your mother. You do not have to carry her guilt.”
“But if I had come out sooner—”
“There is no ‘if.’”
The moment I said it, the words cut deep into my own heart.
How many nights had I asked myself the same thing?
If I had seen Graham clearly sooner. If I had never gone to that gala. If I had just told him about the pregnancy.
Would my child still be alive?
But guilt is not a burden to be passed from the perpetrator to another child.
“Leo, you are not anyone’s punishment. And you are not anyone’s compensation.”
He cried for a long time.
When the tears finally subsided, he asked, “Will you be my mother?”
“No.”
The hope in his eyes died at once.
I didn’t soften the blow with a lie.
“I am not the right mother for you right now, and you don’t need to find a replacement for Evelyn. What you need is a safe place to live, a normal school, and a guardian whose only responsibility is you.”
“So you don’t want me either?”
“I won’t adopt you. But if you want, I can be your emergency contact.”
I met his gaze.
“Not because of that file. Not because of Graham. Not because I owe the Cabots anything. Only because you asked for my help, and I am willing to say yes.”
Leo stared at me for a few seconds, then slowly nodded.
For the first time, the connection between us wasn’t something announced by Evelyn, applauded by a room full of strangers, or defined by a lie on a birth certificate.
It was something we chose for ourselves.