Glitch in His Heart

Ms. Nadine said parents have a legal and moral obligation to raise their kids!

Six years later, at dusk, a little boy with a bright yellow backpack knocked on my door. He tilted his flawless little face up and negotiated with deadpan seriousness. My dad doesn't want me anymore. Can I stay with you?

Staring at a face that was a carbon copy of Rhys, I knew.

This was my own flesh and blood. The son I abandoned just to survive.

Six years ago, Skylar showed up. The woman destined to be his true love. And Rhysthe man who once loved me like his own lifesuddenly loathed the very sight of me.

I thought I'd outrun fate.

I didn't expect fate to come knocking on my front door.

Chapter 1

Rowan pursed his lips, clearly annoyed. He tilted his perfect little face up and recited mechanically. "Ms. Nadine said parents have an obligation to raise their kids"

I swung the door the rest of the way open, cutting him off. Stepping aside, I kept my voice flat. "Come in."

The warm, dim light of my apartment caught his widened eyes. A flicker of something crossed his gaze. He lifted his chin, let out a soft huff, and obediently stepped inside.

The lock clicked shut. I turned to find Rowan scanning the small space with obvious curiosity.

Catching my eye, he instantly snapped his attention back. His small knuckles turned white around his backpack straps. His jaw tightened. "I'm Rowan."

It sounded like an introduction. But it hit like a warning. A stark reminder that he was the child Rhys and I made.

I knew.

I pinpointed exactly who he was the second I saw him. He was a miniature, breathing replica of Rhys.

My lack of reaction seemed to crush him. He turned his head away, his small shoulders slumping, refusing to look at me.

I slid the tiny yellow backpack off his shoulders and set it by the entryway. I guided him to the sink to wash his hands. "Let's eat first."

"Okay," he mumbled.

By the time I brought the plates out, he had already scrambled up onto a dining chair. I asked him why he showed up out of nowhere.

Rowan buried his face, aggressively poking at the steamed broccoli on his plate. His dark, round head stayed bowed. His voice came out muffled. "I fought with him. He started throwing things and told me to get out. He told me never to come back."

So he ran away after a tantrum. That meant Rhys would be here to pick him up any minute.

It made sense. Six years ago, his family fought me tooth and nail for his custody. It was a vicious, bloody battle. There was zero chance they didn't want him now.

My fork hovered over my plate. I paused, unable to describe how I felt at that moment. I couldn't even name the emotion tearing through my chest.

I hadn't planned for company tonight. Dinner was just simple grilled chicken and roasted veggies. He was incredibly picky. He pushed the onions and carrots to the edge of his plate until there was nothing left.

Rowan glared at the mangled broccoli florets like they had personally offended him. He stole a quick, guilty glance at me. Then, he forced himself to swallow a bite.

He had arrived with that arrogant, spoiled little attitude. Now he was throwing a silent fit over vegetables. He was clearly pampered and catered to back home. They definitely didn't mistreat him.

A tiny fraction of the tension drained from my shoulders. I washed the dishes and waited for Rhys to send someone for him.

I waited until nine-thirty.

Six-year-olds crash early. He dug a pair of pajamas out of his backpack and scanned the apartment again. His lips pulled into a pout. "You only have one bedroom. Are we squeezing into the same bed tonight?"

I checked the clock on the wall. For some reason, nobody had shown up.

I sighed, caving. "Yeah. You're sleeping with me tonight."

I fully expected a meltdown. My cramped one-bedroom apartment was a far cry from his massive, luxurious mansion. But Rowan just pressed his lips together.

His eyes lit up.

He scrubbed his face, wrestled his way into his pajamas, and scrambled onto the mattress. It was just like dinner. He looked disgusted by the vegetables, but he ate every single piece I put on his plate without a single complaint.

He burrowed under the blankets, shifting around until he formed a tiny mountain. He pulled a storybook out of nowhere. Peeking at me over the covers, he couldn't hide his impatience. "Aren't you going to read me to sleep?"

He actually looked thrilled.

I stared at the blank screen of my phone for a long time.

I never made the call.

Chapter 2

It had been six years since Rhys and I split.

At first, we both thought we could fight fate. My family suddenly went bankrupt. His family canceled our engagement and secretly arranged for him to marry Skylar.

He tore up that arrangement for me. He threw away his inheritance. Reginald beat him so badly with a golf club he couldn't walk for two weeks.

I cried beside his bed. He swallowed the pain, flashed a lazy smile, and whispered sweet nothings to coax me out of my tears.

I thought we would be fine. The bankruptcy, Rhys, our future.

But we weren't.

We eloped in secret. His unwavering devotion gave me strength. When I found out I was pregnant, I never once considered getting rid of the baby.

Until the night my water broke.

Pain ripped through my abdomen. I called him over and over. He never picked up.

My neighbor rushed me to the ER.

When I woke up, Rhys stood over my bed.

His eyes held zero warmth. Only cold, suffocating disgust.

I couldn't understand how a person could change so completely overnight.

Skylar visited me once. She laid out the sickening truth of our reality.

A System deployment error. She was the destined female lead, arriving too late. By the time she showed up, he had already fallen in love with me.

The universe demanded a correction. It inverted his feelings.

The passion he harbored for me mutated into pure, unfiltered hatred.

Skylar stared at me with dripping pity. Right before she left, she leaned in. "Have you thought about what happens to your kid?"

I froze, feeling a bit lost.

Who was I supposed to hate? Rhys? His own mind wasn't even his anymore. The universe? My anger couldn't rewrite reality.

That same day, Evelyn and my dad crashed their car on the way to the hospital. They were comatose, doomed to rely on life support for the rest of their lives.

I was on the verge of a breakdown. Skylar's words kept echoing in my mind.

I just felt so incredibly exhausted by this twisted world. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't exist in this twisted reality for one more second.

I shoved the hospital window open. Wind whipped my face. I stared at the concrete drop.

A shrill wail shattered the silence.

My baby.

My vision blurred. If I jumped, what would happen to him? Would this glitchy universe even let him survive? Would Skylar torture him? Would Rhys discard him like trash? Would he swallow years of abuse only to die silently, exactly like they all wanted?

Uncontrollable tremors shook my body. I stumbled back to the bassinet. My hands hovered over his fragile, pulsing throat. I needed to take him with me.

He stopped crying. Puffy, red-rimmed eyes locked onto mine. He just stared. A desperate, silent plea to stay with his mother, no matter where we went.

Footsteps pounded against the linoleum. The hospital security guard shoulder-charged the door open and shoved me away. My spine slammed against the plaster.

I stared at my shaking fingers. I felt sick to my stomach.

Skylar's psychological manipulation had almost pushed me to murder my own son.

Word reached the estate instantly. Reginald demanded a meeting. He mobilized his lawyers for full custody.

I fought for nothing.

I threw away the man who looked at me like garbage. I surrendered my parental rights. I dragged the pen across the divorce papers without a single flinch.

I only asked for two million.

Naivety was a luxury of the young.

Maeve, the untouchable heiress who used to drop millions on a whim, was now suffocating. Backed into a corner, desperate for a few grand just to keep the hospital from pulling the plug on her parents.

Chapter 3

Rhys never showed up. Not once.

The mere thought of looking at me probably made his stomach turn. So, I caved. I severed the toxic attachment. I even surrendered my own son.

I let him go. I let myself go.

A soft, warm weight settled against my chest, snapping me back to reality.

Rowan shoved his face against my ribs with a sleepy whine. He curled into a tight ball, finally finding a comfortable spot, and dropped into a deep sleep.

His tiny fists clutched the hem of my shirt tightly. Like he was terrified I'd evaporate the second he opened his eyes.

I stared at his flawless, innocent face. I let out a soft sigh.

If he knew I almost choked the life out of him the day he was born, would he still run to me? He'd probably sprint in the exact opposite direction.

I couldn't figure out Rhys's endgame. His family waged a ruthless, bloody war for full custody. Now they were just tossing him out like trash?

I woke Rowan up early and ordered an Uber to his kindergarten in a neighboring city, which thankfully only took an hour without traffic.

In the backseat, he relentlessly demanded promises that I'd pick him up. He clung to my arm, whining softly.

Then, his eyes locked onto a black SUV pulling up to the school gates. He sparked to life.

He dragged me out of the Uber, rushing the curb. The second we got close, he slammed on the brakes. He casually positioned himself right in front of Brantley, who had just hopped out of his own ride.

Making absolutely sure he had an audience, Rowan grabbed my hand and swung our locked fingers right in the kid's face. He cranked his volume, making sure every parent in the drop-off line heard him. "Mom, you're picking me up after school, right?"

It was the very first time Rowan called me Mom.

I had been absent from his life for six straight years. Even when he showed up at my door last night, he refused to use the word.

Brantley gaped at me. He crossed his arms, oozing skepticism. "If you have a mom, how come she never drops you off?"

Rowan let out an arrogant scoff, shooting him a look of pure disdain. "My mom works a real job. She specifically took time off today just for me." He hit the word "specifically" with brutal emphasis.

He dragged me toward the main entrance, parading me in front of the entire courtyard. Like he was showing off his absolute favorite prize.

Just before the glass doors, he fidgeted, suddenly looking incredibly small. "You're actually coming back, right?"

I didn't answer immediately.

Panic hijacked his features. He glared at me, his voice dropping into a frantic whisper. "You swore in the car! Grown-ups aren't allowed to lie!"

I let out a defeated breath and crouched down to his eye level. I smoothed down his popped collar and ruffled his hair. It was thick, dark, and shockingly soft against my palms. "Yeah. I'll be here."

A huge smile threatened to break across his face. He fought it down, forcing his lips into a tight, mature line. He lifted his chin, playing it cool. "Fine. I'll wait for you."

I watched his tiny backpack bounce down the hall until he disappeared completely.

I tracked down Ms. Nadine to ask how he was holding up in class.

She hesitated, shifting her weight. Finally, she exhaled sharply, her brow deeply furrowed. "Look, I know his family has endless money and power. Bringing this up might be totally useless. But Rowan's mom, I don't care how crazy your schedule is. You can't just abandon your kid. Since his very first day, not a single person has shown up to a parent-teacher conference! Half the kids in his class are convinced his mom is dead. This kind of massive red flag is going to severely stunt his emotional development."

Chapter 4

Nobody attended his parent-teacher conferences?

No matter how insanely packed Rhys's schedule was, no matter how deeply he despised the kid, he couldn't even bother commanding Preston to show his face?

A tight knot formed in my gut. I frowned, feeling for the very first time that I might have made the wrong decision.

Maybe surrendering my parental rights was a massive, catastrophic mistake.

But back then, my bank accounts were wiped clean. Evelyn and my dad were trapped in comas. I couldn't even keep myself alive. How was I supposed to raise a fragile infant?

I pulled up Rhys's contact in my phone. My thumb hovered over the screen. Then, I hit dial.

I needed to confront him. If Rhys truly wanted to discard Rowan, I'd take him back. I couldn't hand him a billionaire's trust fund anymore, but I pulled in enough cash to give him a real, stable life.

The line didn't even connect before a ringtone echoed directly behind me.

My fingers trembled slightly.

I whipped around.

Rhys stepped out of a sleek black Bentley.

Six years. He seemed like a stranger, yet felt incredibly familiar. He glanced down at his illuminated screen through half-lidded eyes. The sharp cut of his jawline stayed buried in the shadows. His prominent wrist bone flexed against his cuffs.

He took his time. He arched a single brow, his dark gaze snapping up to mine. "You've been dodging me for years. Let's talk."

While I spent the last six years clawing my way out of the dirt, Rhys remained entirely untouchable. His features mirrored the ghost in my memories. But the way he stared at me now carried a heavy, suffocating weight. Even the dappled sunlight filtering through the canopy seemed to worship his profile.

The rumors painted a picture of absolute dominance. He seized Reginald's entire empire. He launched a global luxury brand. He had secretly married young and kept his billionaire life ruthlessly private.

A decade of deliberately ignored memories hit me like a tidal wave.

A dull ache spread through my chest.

At that moment, I finally realized.

I thought I had buried him.

I hadn't.

I remembered the boy who twisted dandelion stems into a ring for my finger. The boy who viciously kicked Shane into the deep end of the pool just for looking at me wrong. Nobody could have predicted this shattered, toxic wreckage we became.

He hadn't mutated. He just stopped loving me. That was the lethal blow.

It had been a brutal, agonizing eternity, Rhys.

We sat in a nearby cafe. The barista hadn't even brought our lattes before I forced the words out, desperate to construct a shield. "Do you still want him?"

I had practically tortured myself for six years choreographing this exact reunion. My emotional armor was finally thick enough to fake total apathy.

Rhys flicked his gaze up. He didn't blink. "Obviously."

I clamped my jaw shut. I stared at the rusted street sign through the floor-to-ceiling glass. A hollow "Okay" slipped out as I pushed my chair back. "Make sure you pick him up. If you're too busy for the parent-teacher conferences, text me. I won't disrupt you and"

I still couldn't bring myself to say Skylar's name naturally. I drove my fingernails into my palms. The sharp sting yanked me back to reality. "I won't disrupt your life."

I checked my watch. I needed to run.

My shoulder brushed past his suit jacket.

"So, Rowan is the only thing you want to discuss with me?"

Rhys's voice sliced through the air, freezing me in my tracks.

My mind went blank. We finalized our wreckage six years ago. He obsessed over his destined soulmate. I grabbed a two-million-dollar buyout and walked away. It was a clean, brutal transaction.

Outside of Rowan, what the hell was left to say?

Rhys let out a slow, controlled breath. His pitch-black eyes locked onto mine, tracking my every micro-expression. "Fine. I don't want him anymore."

He delivered the line with terrifying entitlement. Like he wasn't the one violently rewriting the rules of the game right then and there.

Chapter 5

My brows knitted together. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Rhys tilted his chin, gesturing to the empty chair across from him. "Exactly what it sounds like. You want to raise him? Fine. He's yours. But for his psychological well-being, I'll be staying at your apartment every Friday night to co-parent Rowan. I'll drive back to the office on Monday mornings."

He delivered this absurd demand without blinking. My patience snapped. "We are divorced."

"Are we?" Rhys let out a low, ambiguous scoff. "I never signed the papers."

It took me a moment to realize what he meant. When Reginald forced those divorce papers in front of me, I assumed Rhys was too disgusted to even look at me one last time. I thought he skipped the final meeting out of pure hatred