Marriage with my daughter's father: Darling please be gentle - Chapter 209

Chapter 209: Chapter 209: You are mine
As soon as the door clicked shut behind her, Gina’s carefully crafted smile vanished. The calm façade she had worn like armor throughout the evening crumbled the moment she was out of Alexander’s sight.

An unsettling knot twisted in her chest, unfamiliar and suffocating.

The entire meeting had felt like walking a tightrope—every word measured, every glance calculated. Yet despite all her effort, she had left his apartment with a storm of emotion churning inside her.

Being compared to someone he once knew was disturbing enough, but learning that Eric—her Eric—was his son? That revelation had shaken something loose inside her.

She climbed into her car, hands trembling slightly as she gripped the steering wheel.

Without a destination in mind, she began to drive, the city lights blurring outside her window. Her thoughts were a tangled mess of confusion and suspicion. Did he recognize me? Or is he playing some game? Pretending he doesn’t?

The questions battered her like waves, each one pulling her deeper.

Eventually, when the emotions became too much to contain, she pulled over to the side of a quiet, unfamiliar road. The engine hummed softly in the silence, and she leaned her head back against the seat, closing her eyes in frustration.

You need to calm down.

He doesn’t know anything for sure.

You can still control this.

“I just can’t let him know anything about me,” she whispered to herself, voice trembling with conviction. “Not yet.”

She had happened to disclose the place she grew and somewhere in between, she knew she had planted the seed of doubt in his mind.

Gina wanted to let him look for her, if that’s what he meant by knowing her more and the day when he finds out who she is and how his presence ended up taking her mother’s life. She will confront him.

As her mind raced, she felt an immense ease just by thinking of the outcome of the meeting that helped her find something significant. However, as the peace slowly started to seep into her, a knock on the car’s window startled her out.

Her eyes flew open. Her heart jumped in her chest.

“What the fu—” Gina turned sharply toward the window—and her breath caught.

Sean.

He stood just outside the glass, eyes wild with concern, his jaw tight. Her heart flipped again, but this time for a different reason. Before she could say a word, she opened the door and stepped out—only to be immediately pulled into a tight, breath-stealing embrace.

“You scared the hell out of me, Gina,” Sean muttered against her hair, holding her like he never wanted to let go. “Why would you go and meet him alone? Without telling me?”

Gina stood frozen for a heartbeat before her arms slowly circled his waist, burying her face into his chest. The warmth of him, the steady beat of his heart—it anchored her in a way nothing else had all night.

Slowly, Gina wrapped her arms around Sean, hugging him back in silent reassurance. It was her way of saying she was fine—even if everything inside her was still tangled in knots.

For a moment, the world around them fell quiet. Just the two of them, holding on.

But then Sean gently pulled away, glancing over Gina’s shoulder. His expression shifted as he noticed his men standing a short distance away, trying to pretend they weren’t watching—but failing miserably, their flustered looks giving them away.

“Let’s go somewhere,” Sean said suddenly, his tone soft but firm.

Gina blinked, caught off guard. “Where?”

He didn’t answer, not right away. Instead, he opened the passenger door for her and gestured silently. Trusting him, she slid in without protest. Sean rounded the car, got behind the wheel, and pulled away from the curb, driving into the night.

***

Outside the towering glass building of J&K International, Kalix and Winter had just exited the lobby when his phone buzzed.

Kalix halted mid-step, pulling the device from his pocket. The screen lit up with a name that made his jaw tighten instantly. Without answering, he pressed the power button, shutting the phone off with a decisive flick of his thumb.

Winter noticed it—his sudden pause, the way his expression shifted, the tightness in his shoulders. She could’ve asked but chose not to. She’d learned that sometimes silence said more than words. Still, that didn’t mean she couldn’t try to soften the moment.

“I was thinking about making something for dinner tonight,” she offered casually, her tone light, her gaze searching his. “Do you have any suggestions? Something you’d actually like to eat?”

Kalix turned to her, a flicker of surprise—and warmth—crossing his face. He didn’t expect that. His usual hardened features softened as the corners of his lips curved up.

He reached out, gently cupping her face. “Anything will do… as long as you don’t burn it.”

Winter narrowed her eyes at him, playfully offended. “Excuse me? When have I ever burned food?”

She genuinely couldn’t recall a single time since moving into the penthouse that she had cooked. Julianna always handled the meals. So where was this coming from?

Kalix noticed her furrowed brows and chuckled softly. He brushed his thumb across her forehead, smoothing the lines away.

“You really don’t remember?” he asked, amusement dancing in his voice. “Back at the Greenhouse residence… You tried cooking pasta. It ended with the fire alarm blaring and the entire floor evacuating.”

Winter’s eyes widened in horror, the memory slamming into her like a forgotten nightmare. “Oh my God,” she muttered, covering her face. “That was me.”

Kalix grinned, clearly enjoying her reaction. “The smoke was so bad, the neighbors thought the building was on fire,” he recalled.

That happened when Winter left country X. Kalix can clearly remember it.

“It was one time!” she protested.

“And that one time scarred me for life,” he teased, tugging her gently toward the car.

Winter furrowed her brows as something clicked in her mind. Slowly, she turned to face Kalix, her expression puzzled.

“Wait…” she said, her voice laced with suspicion. “How did you even know about the pasta incident? That wasn’t public knowledge.”

She watched him closely, trying to read the truth behind his casual demeanor.

Kalix let out a low chuckle, the sound deep and warm, as he reached for her hand and pulled her gently toward him.

“Because,” he said, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear, “I was the one who called the fire brigade.”

Winter’s eyes widened. “You what?”

“I was in the building next door,” he confessed, lips curling into a smirk. “Saw the smoke, heard the alarm, and the moment I realized it was coming from your apartment, I panicked and made the call.”

“You panicked?” Winter, he repeated incredulously. “You weren’t even supposed to know where I was living!”

Kalix’s smile faded into something softer. He didn’t try to hide it anymore.

“I knew,” he admitted quietly. “I knew where you moved every time. I couldn’t stay away, Winter. I tried to keep my distance; I really did. But something about you… it kept pulling me back in.”

She stared at him, stunned into silence.

“I wasn’t just monitoring you,” he continued, his voice steady now. “I was living those moments. Quietly. From the shadows. Every place you moved, I found a way to stay close. Not to control you—but because watching you live your life with Seren, seeing you happy, even if I wasn’t part of it… it made it easier to breathe.”

Winter’s throat tightened, emotion prickling the back of her eyes. She hadn’t realized how closely he’d been holding on, even when they were worlds apart.

Kalix reached for her again, this time placing his hand gently over her heart.

“I was there, Winter,” he whispered. “Every time you thought you were alone… I wasn’t far.”

Her heart pounded in her chest. She didn’t know what to say—how to respond to the overwhelming truth he had just handed her.

So instead, she leaned into him, letting his warmth speak louder than words.

“Why do you even love me so much, Kalix?” Winter asked softly, her voice barely above a whisper. There was still doubt in her heart—still a piece of her that struggled to understand how she’d ended up with a man who seemed to love her without conditions or expectations.

Kalix didn’t hesitate. His eyes locked onto hers, fierce and unwavering.

“Because you’re my world, Angel,” he said, his voice low and certain. “And I don’t know how I’d survive if not for you.”

The weight of his words hit her with full force. Winter looked up at him, emotion swelling behind her eyes. She leaned in and kissed him, slow and tender, needing to show him just how deeply his words had reached her.

But the moment their lips met, something shifted. Kalix’s grip on the steering wheel tightened before one hand slid behind her neck, deepening the kiss with a hunger that took her breath away.

He pulled back just slightly, his lips grazing hers as he murmured, “Be careful what you’re asking for, Angel. I don’t mind stopping this car right now and ravishing you in the middle of the road.”

His voice was thick with desire, every word laced with warning.

Winter blinked, heat crawling up her neck. She hadn’t expected that response—not with that intensity.

She leaned back slowly in her seat, trying to steady her breath as she watched his face. The way his jaw flexed made her realize how Kalix was barely holding himself together. His self-control was hanging by a thread, and it was all because of her.

It both thrilled and terrified her.

Winter cleared her throat, her voice quieter now. “I just meant a kiss.”

Kalix glanced at her from the corner of his eye, his smirk devilish. “Then next time, just kiss me without making that little sound in your throat, Angel. You know what that does to me.”

Winter’s mouth dropped open, scandalized. “I did not!”

He laughed, the deep, rich sound filling the car. “You did, and now I’m cursed with the knowledge.”

She slapped his arm lightly, trying not to grin. “You’re impossible.”

“And you’re mine,” Kalix said without skipping a beat.

And just like that, her heart forgot how to beat steadily again.