House Arrest

She had confessed. The truth hung between them, a razor-sharp fence cutting off any means of escape. Zhao's face was dark as a storm, his chest tight with conflicting emotions. He hated her, hated her for leaving him, for ripping open his wound every day. He wanted to hurt her, to make her pay for what she'd done. He felt the snake of revenge wrap around his heart, making him hot with the need to hurt her.

But there was something else, too. A glimmer of hope. This child, this small copy of him in her arms, was part of the future he'd once imagined, the future she'd taken away.

"What's his name?" he asked his voice rough and low.

She looked at him, her face pale and hopeless. "Kai," she said softly. The name felt like a knife in his gut.

"Kai," he repeated, tasting the strange sound. "My son." He claimed him, marked him as his own. He saw the fear in her eyes, and he felt sick at the satisfaction that coursed through him. Yes, he wanted Savannah to be terrified of him.

"He's coming wit