One Night Stand, Eight Surprises: Pampered by My CEO Husband --- - Chapter 115: Chapter 115

It began with silence.
The kind of silence that built between bricks of unspoken thoughts and years of swallowed words.
Elijah stood by the cliff’s edge, overlooking the ocean as the sun began its slow descent. The waves below crashed rhythmically, their thunderous music drowned only by the louder pounding in his chest.
He didn’t hear Damien approach. But he knew.
There was something about a father’s presence you never forgot.
Damien stopped beside him, hands tucked into the pockets of his loose linen pants. “Beautiful view.”
Elijah didn’t respond. His jaw clenched.
They stood like that for a long time—two men bound by blood and distance.
Until Elijah spoke.
“I hated you for leaving.”
Damien’s breath caught. He didn’t reply.
“I hated you even more for staying gone. Every night I tucked Jonah in, told Lily a story, helped Iris paint through tears—I kept thinking, ‘Why the hell isn’t he here?’”
His voice trembled. “Why did I have to become the man of the house?”
Damien didn’t try to defend himself. He turned, eyes rimmed with guilt. “Because I failed you.”
“You didn’t fail,” Elijah spat. “You disappeared.”
He turned sharply now, face inches from his father’s.
“We thought you were dead! I watched Mom break and rebuild herself with duct tape and prayer. I watched our family almost fall apart—while you were out there, breathing, somewhere.”
Damien’s shoulders collapsed. He sank onto a nearby bench, burying his face in his hands.
“I didn’t know who I was anymore,” he whispered. “They drugged me. Kept me isolated. Told me you’d all moved on. And after I escaped... I was ashamed.”
Elijah’s voice cracked. “We didn’t want perfect. We just wanted you.”
The pain was raw now. Too loud to contain.
“I cried, every damn night for months. I held Mom when she collapsed in the hallway. I read your old letters like they were scripture. And when we finally heard your voice again...”
His voice broke.
“...I didn’t know if I still loved you, or if I just missed the idea of you.”
Damien stood slowly.
“I know I can’t fix what I did. I can’t give back the years you lost. But I’m here now, Elijah. And I will be until the day I die.”
His voice wavered. “If you’ll have me.”
They stared at each other. And for a moment, Elijah’s fury still burned bright.
But then—
He saw the tremble in his father’s hands.
He saw the years written in Damien’s eyes.
He saw him.
And he moved.
One step.
Then another.
And he collapsed into Damien’s arms like a wave returning to shore.
They sobbed.
Together.
Not as father and son.
But as two broken boys learning to become men again.
Later that night, Elijah sat with Arielle in the nursery.
“He’s trying,” he murmured.
Arielle nodded, stroking his hair like she used to when he was five. “So are you.”
Outside, laughter echoed from the rest of the house.
But underneath it, healing had begun.
In whispers.
In tears.
In love that refused to die.