In the afternoon, Thea Gonzales brought the documents into Xavier Ford's office for his signature. After signing, Xavier handed them back to her and said, "Thea, I'm sorry about last night's video. Addilyn wasn't thinking. Is Celine okay?"

Holding the documents, Thea replied, "Celine's fine."

Perhaps due to lingering guilt, Xavier's attitude toward Thea had softened considerably since their divorce. He was no longer as confrontational as before. Noticing the dress that beautifully highlighted Thea's waist, he remarked, "You've lost a lot of weight. That dress looks fantastic on you."

For the past couple of months, Thea had been working out regularly, and it was beginning to show. Meanwhile, as Addilyn's pregnancy advanced, her once slender waistline had vanished.

Xavier paused, as if he noticed something different, and asked, "Have you changed your perfume?"

In a casual tone, Thea replied, "Yes, a friend gave it to me. They thought it suited me."

Xavier's eyes flickered with a momentary change. He teased, "A male friend?"

Thea didn’t answer him directly. Instead, as she turned to leave, her smile widened.

Weekends were Xavier's days to spend with his daughter.

Celine, bubbling with excitement, had changed into her Elsa dress early in the morning, eagerly anticipating a day at the amusement park with her father. However, Xavier called to say something had come up and he wouldn't be able to make it.

Distraught, Celine was inconsolable and later that night developed a high fever.

Thea, by herself, drove her to the emergency room. There, at the hospital, she ran into Xavier.

He explained that Addilyn wasn't feeling well and was also at the hospital.

...

While Thea was cradling a sleeping Celine and supervising her second IV drip, Xavier approached.

For the first time since the divorce, he expressed some semblance of regret. "Thea, I'm sorry. This must be really hard for you."

Thea looked down at Celine nestled in her arms, willing herself not to cry. "It's Celine you should apologize to. She's been counting the days to see you, and then you didn’t show."

Xavier knelt beside them and reached out to touch Celine's face. But as he did, she stirred and instinctively moved closer to Thea.

His hand lingered in the air for a moment before he let it fall, defeated.

"Have you eaten?" he asked Thea. She shook her head.

Just then, Xavier’s phone went off—Addilyn was calling. Whatever she said made his expression grow increasingly somber.

Eventually, as if worn down by her persistence, he said, "Just get some rest. I'll join you after I finish up here, okay?"

The cycle had turned. There was a time when Thea had called Xavier, urging him to come home, only to be met with excuses about work. But back then, his tone with her was anything but gentle, filled instead with irritation.

After hanging up, Xavier looked at Thea awkwardly. "Addilyn wasn't like this before. Maybe it’s the pregnancy making her extra clingy. Don’t take it personally. I'll go find you something to eat."

"No need," Thea replied with an air of grace. "She's pregnant; you should go be with her. I can handle things here."

Her deliberate show of understanding left Xavier racked with guilt, something evident in the way he looked at her.

"Thea, you've really changed," he remarked.

She smiled. "When you don't have a safe harbor, you learn to grow up."

His hands clenched into fists at his sides, avoiding her gaze.

"Thea," a voice called from behind Xavier. He turned to see a man in a white lab coat, holding a takeout container, approaching them.

Kian Reynolds, a young doctor who was three years younger than Thea Gonzales, was serving his internship at the hospital. As children, they were neighbors and grew up together until Kian moved abroad with his parents for his studies, which broke their connection. It wasn't until three months ago that he unexpectedly reached out and they reconnected.

Given the long wait times at the public hospital's emergency room and the fact that Celine's fever wouldn't go down, Thea sought Kian for help. Running into Xavier Ford there was unexpected.

Xavier watched as Kian approached Thea with obvious concern in his voice. "I went to several stores to find beef ravioli for you. Eat them while they're still hot."

Since Thea's hands were full holding Celine, Kian even offered to feed her himself. Xavier’s expression grew tense as he asked, "Do you work here?"

Kian replied nonchalantly, "You could say that. To be precise, my family owns this hospital." He wasn’t exaggerating; his father was the primary shareholder of the private hospital.

Xavier looked between Thea and Kian, asking, "And what’s the relationship between you two?"

With a mischievous grin, Kian raised an eyebrow, "Isn’t it obvious, ex-husband?"

The term "ex-husband" made Xavier's expression change through a range of emotions, like a kaleidoscope of colors. Then, Addilyn Freeman's call diverted his attention.

Once Xavier had left, Thea let out a sigh. "Kian, please be a bit more subtle next time. You almost gave us away."

Kian laughed, offering her another ravioli. "Don't worry; practice makes perfect. The more we do this, the better we’ll get at it."