But inside his head, thoughts surged like wildfire, igniting every raw nerve.He would take her to court.Drop every legal nightmare he could think of on her too-thin shoulders.He’d get full custody of his daughter and take her back to Lativa, where she’d be safe.Where she’d be his.
He’d hire the best nannies money could buy.Give her every opportunity, every luxury this world had to offer.He’d be adamn good father!
And Jemma?
She would never see their little girl again.Never.Then she’d know exactly what it felt like to have a child in the world and not be near them.To miss the milestones.The first steps.The giggles.The scraped knees.
She’d know whathehad felt.
“Don’t do it.”
The soft voice halted him like a wall.Saif stopped short, barely avoiding a collision.His eyes snapped up—he hadn’t even noticed Jasper standing there until that moment.
The boy—no,young man—had changed.He wasn’t the scrawny teenager Saif remembered.He stood taller now, more solid.Saif was still an inch or two taller, but Jasper’s presence had a weight to it that caught Saif off guard.
Not that it mattered.Not now.
“Don’t dowhat?”Saif snarled, trying to step around him.
Jasper blocked him again, unflinching.
“Don’t do whatever you’re about to do,” he said firmly.“Jemma doesn’t deserve it.”
Saif’s temper detonated.He stepped in closer, looming over the boy.“Shehidmy daughter from me!”he growled, his voice raw with betrayal.“Sheleft mebecause she didn’t trust me!”
Jasper shook his head slowly, his face unreadable.“You’re wrong.”
That was it.Saif nearly exploded.His fists curled, his breathing sharp and ragged.He was seconds away from unleashing every brutal truth he knew about the world onto this idealistic kid.But—he stopped.
There was something in Jasper’s eyes.Not fear.Not defiance.Something older.Something worn.A quiet pain that stopped Saif cold.
He swallowed hard, working to steady himself.Finally, through gritted teeth, he bit out, “What am I wrong about, then?Please—elucidate the facts for me.”
Jasper’s lips flattened into a thin, trembling line.For a moment, Saif thought he might just walk away.Or maybe throw a punch.Saif wouldn’t blame him.Hell, part of him welcomed it.A fight might actuallyhelp—might tear the fury out of his chest.
But he knew it wouldn’t be fair.
Jasper wasn’t the enemy.
Jemma was.
Wasn’t she?
Jasper’s voice, when it came, was calm but tight with something deeper than anger.“Our father left us right after I was born.”
Saif blinked.The words landed like a slap.His anger didn’t vanish—but it staggered.
“Why?”he asked quietly.
Jasper shrugged one shoulder, a small, bitter movement.“He didn’t say.Just packed a bag and disappeared.No note.No goodbye.Jemma wasn’t even a teenager.Mom had just given birth.She had to figure out the mortgage, the food, everything—on her own.”
A hollow ache opened in Saif’s chest.“That… sucks,” he said, his voice barely audible.
But Jasper wasn’t done.His arms folded tightly across his chest, like he was holding himself together.“Her first two boyfriends in high school?Both cheated on her.And then they mocked her for not wanting to have sex in front of their friends.”
Saif reeled.For a second, he couldn’t process the words.Then—rage.
Mocked her?
