The drive back to the city on Sunday evening was filled with the comfortable exhaustion that comes after a perfect weekend. The twins chattered sleepily in the backseat about their adventures, while Sophia and Alexander shared secret smiles in the front, their hands intertwined whenever he didn't need both hands to drive.
Sophia felt different, more confident, more settled, more loved than she'd ever been in her life. The weekend at the lake house had been a revelation, showing her what their life could be like when they stopped hiding and started living as a real family.
"Can we go back next weekend?" Emma asked drowsily, her head lolling against her car seat.
"We'll see, sweetheart," Alexander replied, catching Sophia's eye in the rearview mirror with a smile that promised they definitely would.
"I love the lake house," Ethan mumbled, already half asleep. "It feels like... like a real family place."
Sophia's heart swelled at his innocent words. These children had accepted her so completely, loved her so unconditionally, that sometimes she forgot she wasn't their biological mother.
"Sophia," Emma said suddenly, her voice more alert now, "are you going to be our new mommy?"
The question hung in the air like a bomb waiting to explode. Sophia felt Alexander's hand tighten on the steering wheel, his entire body going rigid beside her. In the backseat, even Ethan perked up, waiting for her answer with wide, hopeful eyes.
"I..." Sophia began, glancing at Alexander for guidance, but his face had gone carefully blank, the same mask he'd worn during their first interview.
"Because we want you to be," Emma continued earnestly. "We love you, and Daddy loves you, and families are supposed to love each other, right?"
"Yeah," Ethan agreed, fully awake now. "You take care of us and read us stories and make us feel better when we're sad. That's what mommies do."
Sophia's throat tightened with emotion. "I love you both so much," she said carefully. "You know that, right?"
"So you'll be our mommy?" Emma pressed, bouncing slightly in her seat with excitement.
Alexander pulled into their driveway with more force than necessary, the car jerking to a stop. "That's enough questions for tonight," he said, his voice clipped and professional in a way that made Sophia's stomach drop. "Let's get inside and get ready for school tomorrow."
The twins, sensing the sudden tension, quieted immediately. Alexander was out of the car unloading luggage before Sophia could even unbuckle her seatbelt, avoiding her eyes entirely.
"Come on, you two," Sophia said as normally as she could manage, helping Emma and Ethan out of the car. "Let's get you inside and ready for baths."
But as they walked into the mansion, she could feel the walls going back up around Alexander, brick by brick, exactly like they had after the charity gala. The warm, loving man who had held her under the stars was disappearing, replaced by the cold, distant CEO she'd first met.
An hour later, after the twins were bathed, fed a light dinner, and tucked into their beds with extra stories to make up for their obvious confusion about their father's sudden mood change, Sophia knocked on Alexander's study door.
"Come in," he called, but he didn't look up from the papers scattered across his desk.
Sophia closed the door behind her and stood there for a moment, studying his rigid posture, the way he held his pen like a weapon. "Alexander, we need to talk."
"About what?" His voice was carefully neutral, businesslike.
"About what happened in the car. About what Emma asked."
Alexander's jaw tightened, but he still didn't look at her. "Children say things. They don't understand the complexities of adult relationships."
"Don't they?" Sophia moved closer to his desk, her heart pounding. "Or do they see something we're trying to pretend isn't real?"
Finally, Alexander looked up, and the ice in his eyes made her take a step back. "What exactly are you suggesting, Sophia?"
The use of her full name instead of the endearments he'd whispered all weekend felt like a slap. "I'm not suggesting anything. I'm asking what you want. What you see for us."
Alexander stood abruptly, moving to the window with his back to her. "I see a nanny who's excellent with my children and a temporary arrangement that's gotten more complicated than it should have."
Each word was a knife to her heart. "Temporary?"
"Of course temporary." He turned to face her, and his expression was completely shuttered. "Did you think this was permanent? That we were going to play house forever?"
Sophia felt like she'd been physically struck. "After this weekend? After everything we shared? You're going to stand there and pretend it meant nothing?"
"It meant exactly what it was a physical release between two consenting adults. Nothing more."
The lie was so obvious, so cruel, that Sophia actually laughed bitterly. "You're doing it again. You're running scared and trying to hurt me before I can hurt you."
Alexander's mask slipped for just a moment, revealing the pain underneath. "I'm being realistic."
"You're being a coward."
That got a reaction. Alexander's eyes blazed as he stalked toward her, stopping just inches away. "A coward? You want to know what's cowardly? Letting two six-year-olds think their dead mother can be replaced by the hired help."
The words hit Sophia like a physical blow, and she actually stumbled backward. "That's not... I would never try to replace Elena."
"Wouldn't you?" Alexander's voice was cold, merciless. "You heard them in the car. They're already calling you mommy in their heads. What happens when you decide this job isn't enough for you anymore? When you get bored of playing house with a broken widower and his damaged children?"
"I would never leave them," Sophia whispered, tears threatening. "I love them. I love you."
"Love." Alexander laughed harshly. "You love the idea of being rescued by a wealthy man. You love the security, the lifestyle, the fairy tale. But fairy tales aren't real, Sophia. This isn't real."
"Stop it," Sophia said, her voice growing stronger despite her tears. "Stop trying to cheapen what we have because you're scared. What we shared this weekend was real. The way you looked at me, the way you touched me, the way you said you loved me, that was real."
Alexander's face went completely blank. "I was caught up in the moment. It happens."
The final blow landed, and Sophia felt something inside her shatter completely. She stared at him for a long moment, this man who had held her like she was precious, who had whispered promises under the stars, who was now destroying them both with his fear.
"You know what?" she said quietly, wiping her tears away with shaking hands. "You're right. You are broken. But not because you lost Elena. You're broken because you're too much of a coward to let yourself heal."
Alexander flinched as if she'd hit him, but his expression remained cold.
"I'll submit my resignation in the morning," Sophia continued, her voice steady despite the way her world was crumbling. "I won't put the twins through watching their father destroy another person they love."
She turned to leave, but Alexander's voice stopped her at the door.
"Sophia, wait."
For a moment, hope flickered in her chest. She turned back, searching his face for any sign of the man who had loved her so thoroughly just hours before.
But his expression remained impassive. "Two weeks' notice is customary. I'll need time to find a replacement."
The hope died instantly. "Of course," she said quietly. "Two weeks' notice. Very professional."
As she walked out of his study and up to her room, Sophia felt like she was moving through a nightmare. How had they gone from perfect happiness to complete devastation in the span of a few hours? How had one innocent question from a child destroyed everything they'd built?
In her room, she sat on her bed and stared at the wall, too numb to cry anymore. Tomorrow, she would have to face Emma and Ethan, would have to pretend everything was normal while her heart was breaking into pieces.
And Alexander... Alexander would go back to being the cold, distant man she'd first met, locked behind walls so high that even love couldn't scale them.
The worst part was that she understood his fear. She knew he was terrified of losing someone else he cared about, knew that the twins' innocent questions had triggered every protective instinct he had.
But understanding didn't make it hurt less. Understanding didn't change the fact that he'd just destroyed them both rather than take the risk of building something beautiful together.
As Sophia finally let herself cry, she couldn't help but think that Emma and Ethan deserved better than a father too scared to love, and she deserved better than a man who would throw away happiness because it came with the possibility of pain.
But love wasn't logical, and even as she planned her resignation letter, part of her still hoped that Alexander would come to his senses before it was too late.