Part 9
Logan looked at her through the glass, his eyes filled with a mixture of intense regret and profound shame. The rain continued to pour behind him, dripping from the brim of his baseball cap, but he didn't seem to notice the cold.
“I don’t even know where to start,” Logan whispered, his hands pressed against the glass door as if trying to get closer to her. “When Dad told me over the phone… it felt like my entire world crashed down. I’ve been living in absolute misery since the night I left you, Joanna. I thought running away would make things easier, but it just made everything empty.”
Joanna let out a sharp, sarcastic breath. “You chose to leave, Logan. You packed your bags while I was sleeping. Don’t talk to me about your misery.”
“I know! I am a coward, Joanna! I know that!” Logan shouted over the sound of the rain, his tears mixing with the water on his face. “The night you told me about the baby, I choked. I looked at my life—I was working a dead-end job, I had no money, I had cut off my own father, and I thought… I’m going to ruin this kid’s life. I’m going to be just like my dad, angry and controlling. I convinced myself that you and the baby would be better off without a failure like me.”
“That was a lie you told yourself to justify running away,” Joanna said coldly, her voice cutting through his excuses. “You didn't leave for us. You left for yourself. Because you were scared.”
“Yes! I was terrified!” Logan screamed softly, dropping to his knees on the wet porch, burying his face in his hands. “I was so scared. But every single day since then, I’ve regretted it. I wanted to come back a hundred times, but I thought you would hate me. I thought it was too late.”
He looked up, his eyes begging for mercy. “My dad told me his name is Oliver. Please, Joanna. Just let me see him. Just for one second. Let me look at my son.”
Inside the house, from the living room, a soft, high-pitched cry echoed through the hallway. Oliver was awake, demanding his bottle.
May you like
Hearing that sound, Logan’s face transformed. A look of pure, raw paternal instinct washed over him. He stood up quickly, his eyes searching the interior of the house past Joanna’s shoulder.
Before Joanna could respond, a dark SUV pulled into the driveway with a screech of tires. The door slammed open, and Dr. Robert Wright stepped out into the rain, his face dark with fury as he marched toward the porch.
