Evelyn’s breath caught. “I’m sorry.”
“Me too,” Daniel said. “But Emma’s worth everything. She’s the reason I get up every morning.”
Evelyn stared at him with an intensity that made him uneasy.
“I want that,” she whispered. “Before it’s too late. My fertility window is closing. Maybe another year. Maybe two.”
She spoke of reproductive endocrinologists, surrogates, adoption. All of it felt transactional. Acquiring instead of creating.
“I want to carry life. To love someone without contracts.”
“That’s not something you plan,” Daniel said carefully.
“Or do we make it happen right now?” she asked. “Tonight. Before I sober up and retreat back into the fortress I built.”
Shock left him speechless.
“My name is Evelyn,” she said, touching his chest. “Not your employer. Just a broken human being asking another broken human being to help me do one honest thing.”
