The Day Our Promise Breaks

Chapter 629

Charles's breath stopped short.

He leaned in, every muscle tense, eyes glued to Charlie's little face, afraid to miss even the tiniest shift in her expression. His knuckles turned white as he gripped the edge of his chair.

Charlie met Evelyn's gentle gaze for only a moment.

Her eyes were clear, calm-just the mild curiosity a child might show a stranger in passing. Not a flicker of recognition, not a hint of warmth.

Then, without a second thought, she looked away, tipping her small face up to Luna with a puzzled frown. "Mommy, is there something over there? Aurora didn't see anything."

Her innocent, questioning voice hit Charles like a bucket of ice water. All his fragile hope, fierce and desperate, was instantly drowned and left cold and dead.

Charlie looked at Evelyn the exact same way she looked at Charles.

Utterly, heartbreakingly unfamiliar.

She'd erased every bit of Evelyn from her heart.

Even with her birth mother standing right in front of her, not a single ripple stirred in Charlie's eyes.

clenched, but she wasn't ready to let go. She pointed more deliberately toward Evelyn, coaxing, "Aurora, look again. That lady in the beige dress... are you sure

word "lady" was like lighting a

of Charles trying to take her away flashed across

right away-this was just another "bad

up,

vanished, replaced by raw rejection and fear. Her tiny body tensed,

her cake plate

Smash!

scattered, buttercream and crumbs

drawing Evelyn's attention dike a stone thrown into still water.

He tried to block

swept over,

that little f that haunted

one etched deep in her soul,

Time seemed to stop.

rushed to her

breathing. The world faded to

There she was-her Charlie.

child she'd thought was lost