A Loveless Ultimatum

Stella stared at the tall figure blocking her path, finding the sudden offer laughable. She stepped back into the shadows and tightened her grip on the sleeping little girl. "No need."

Declan's expression darkened under the dim streetlamp. He pointed toward the empty, quiet street beyond the pavement. "It is almost impossible to hail a cab around here at this hour. Do you really want the child to suffer the biting wind out in this open lot?"

Stella hesitated, pulling her coat tighter around her daughter. She had driven herself here, but wrestling a sleeping May into a car seat without waking her up would be a struggle. The freezing night air was already biting at her cheeks, making it a terrible option for her fragile daughter. Weighing her practical choices, she bit her lip and followed Declan toward his sleek black car.

As he reached for the chrome door handle, the harsh parking lot lights illuminated his injured, hastily bandaged hand. Dark blood still seeped through the white fabric, staining the edges. Stella stepped forward and blocked his hand.

"I will drive. You sit in the spacious back seat and hold May."

Declan paused. His dark eyes widened in raw surprise. "You know how to drive?"

His shock hit Stella like a dull knife to the ribs. During the four agonizing years they lived together under the Vance family roof, he had ignored her existence so much that he did not even know she possessed a driver's license. She swallowed the bitter lump forming in her throat, offered a noncommittal hum, and snatched the keys right out of his grasp.

A lost and confused Declan slid into the back seat. Stella carefully passed the sleeping child into his arms. He froze, his broad shoulders rigid and unsure of what to do with the delicate weight.

Stella adjusted his stiff arms from the open door to cradle May properly. "Hold her head against your chest."

Declan held his breath. He looked down at the soft, fluffy hair brushing against his expensive tailored suit. Her flushed, pink cheeks rested right over his beating heart. A rare hint of softness pierced through his hardened exterior, warming his chest in a way he had never experienced before.

Stella slipped into the driver's seat and started the engine. She had zero intention of letting him discover where they lived now. Steering through the dark streets, she kept her eyes on the road until she spotted a lit intersection with a busy taxi stand. She pulled the heavy car over to the curb and killed the engine. She unbuckled her seatbelt and reached over the center console, moving to take her daughter back.

"We are here. Thank you, Mr. Vance."

Declan raised his uninjured hand and blocked her reach. He stared at her, his voice low and commanding in the tight space of the cabin. "I will make up for what I owe May, but my children will never need someone else acting as a father. I will have someone revoke our divorce tomorrow morning. You will move back immediately, and I will try my best to spend time with May."

Stella froze in place. A half-smile crept onto her face at the sheer absurdity of his arrogant demand. She pulled her hands back and looked him straight in the eyes. "Does Miss Croft agree with this major decision? You two are already engaged. Asking her opinion is the bare minimum level of respect for your new fiancée."

Declan frowned, clearly caught off guard by her knowledge of the situation. He dismissed the massive rumor with a wave of his hand, his tone turning gruff and impatient. "Just do as I say and do not worry about anything else!"

Unfazed by his authoritative tone, Stella tilted her head. Her gaze bored deep into his, searching for any shred of genuine emotion. "Let me ask you a question I am more concerned about. Mr. Vance, are you revoking our divorce because you love me?"

Declan shifted his gaze, avoiding the core of her question as he looked out the window. "All I want is to give my child a complete, secure family!"

Stella let out a hollow, sad laugh that echoed in the quiet car. "Do you actually believe that having both parents in the same house is the best way to make up to a child? You have no idea what growing up in a single-parent home is like. I lost my mother when I was a child. My single father raised me alone, giving me overwhelming love. I was never unhappy. He only asked for one thing in return—my happiness."

Tears pricked the corners of her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She gripped the leather steering wheel. "Our marriage lasted four years. May is three years old. Ask her if she was happy during those three years! She spent every waking moment terrified of upsetting you, your cruel mother, and your vicious sister. She sacrificed her own innocent joy and gave up her deep love for dancing just to survive that depressing, toxic environment! Are you trying to drive her crazy by dragging her back there?"

Her throat tightened, the rising emotion threatening to choke her words. She took a steadying breath and delivered the final blow. "It is an indisputable, painful fact that you do not love me. What will May think when she grows up in that cold house? She will feel that it is because of her existence that we have to be bound together. She will feel like a terrible sinner!"

Declan sat frozen in the back seat, rendered speechless. His mind raced, struggling to process the devastating reality she had just laid bare. He had convinced himself that demanding her return was the righteous fix for his fractured family. He never considered the collateral damage on the daughter he claimed to want to protect.

Leaving him trapped in his own heavy silence, Stella offered a sharp nod, reached back, and lifted the sleeping child from his arms. She stepped out into the chilly wind and walked away into the dark night without looking back.

Declan did not go home. The silence in the car pressed against his chest. He slid into the driver's seat, gripped the wheel with his good hand, and sped through the city streets, heading straight for Vanessa's luxury residence.

The heavy oak door swung open the moment he arrived. Vanessa stood in the bright entryway, a breathless, excited smile illuminating her pretty face. "Declan, you are here! Come in."

He did not cross the threshold. Instead, he held out his glowing phone screen, the bright light casting harsh shadows over his sharp features. "Delete these social media engagement photos as soon as possible."

Vanessa flinched backward. She stared at her own post hinting at their upcoming engagement, her hands trembling. She swallowed hard, pivoting her strategy as she studied his icy expression. "I am sorry, Declan! I was just missing the old days, and when I found those pictures, I posted them without thinking. I got too excited. If we are being honest, it is all Stella's fault. If she had not used her wiles to humiliate me, we would never have separated in the first place—"

Declan cut her off. His voice cracked like ice, freezing the air between them. "Do not ever involve Stella in the matter between you and me. Also, we ended our relationship four years ago. We are just friends now."

He turned on his heel and walked out, striding down the hallway without a single backward glance.

Vanessa stood paralyzed in the open doorway. She gripped her fingers together so tightly her knuckles turned white. For weeks, she had been waiting patiently, dropping subtle hints, convinced their relationship was coming to fruition. Now, he was drawing a permanent line in the sand, and it was all because of that pathetic ex-wife.

Her pretty face twisted in ugly anger. As she seethed in the quiet foyer, her phone rang from the console table. She snatched it up and answered.

A slow, mocking voice drifted through the speaker. "Do you know what interesting thing I heard just now? The high-ranking Young Master Declan has proposed to revoke the divorce with his ex-wife. Considering our past relationship, let me remind you not to lose your man again this time, yeah?"