My Billionaire Ex Beg For A Second Chance-Chapter 91: The Distance

The room was quiet now. Leonard crouched beside Nathan’s bed first, brushing a few strands of hair from his son’s forehead. Nathan slept soundly, arms curled around the stuffed lion he refused to part with, lips parted slightly in his dream-filled sleep.

Leonard leaned in and pressed a kiss gently to the boy’s temple. "Goodnight, little man," he whispered, his voice barely a breath.

He rose slowly, as though the floor might shatter beneath him if he moved too fast, and moved across the room toward the other bed. Maya lay curled under a pink blanket dotted with cartoon rabbits. One hand clutched a corner of the blanket near her cheek, her other thumb barely slipping from her mouth as she turned slightly in her sleep.

Leonard lowered himself again, this time with a softer kind of ache in his chest. "Goodnight, little princess," he said, kissing her forehead.

He lingered just a second longer by her bedside, watching the gentle rise and fall of her breathing, the unguarded peace of a child’s dreams. Warmth bloomed in his chest—a kind of fullness he hadn’t known he’d missed so desperately until now.

He used to imagine moments like this before. But back then, they were daydreams clouded by fear and selfishness, always buried beneath the noise of his ambition. And now that the moment was real—quiet, simple, perfect—it only hurt more.

He turned away, gently pulling the door closed behind him with a soft click.

And just like that, the warmth soured. The moment turned bitter.

Because it wasn’t his moment, not truly.

It was Felix’s.

Felix had been the one reading bedtime stories. Felix had been there for first words, first fevers, first scraped knees.

All of it.

Leonard clenched his jaw as he walked down the short hallway, each step heavier than the last. He couldn’t even be angry at Felix. The man had stepped into the role Leonard had abandoned. He had earned that place. And as much as Leonard wanted to scream and tear it all back, he knew the truth.

He’d done this.He had no one to blame but himself.

Still, the jealousy festered beneath his ribs.

When he stepped into the living room, Katherine sat on the couch, one leg tucked beneath her, her hands wrapped around a cup of tea. She didn’t look up when he entered. She was calm, distant—but alert. She was always like that around him now.

"They’re asleep," Leonard said gently. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Katherine nodded without looking at him. "Good."

He hesitated a moment before walking to the other end of the couch and sitting down—not too close. He left space between them. Space filled with everything they never said. Everything broken.

She took another sip of her tea. "Then it’s time for you to go."

There was no malice in her voice. A silence that didn’t ask for anything.

Leonard tilted his head, letting out a low, humorless chuckle. "Let me guess. Felix doesn’t get kicked out right after bedtime like I do."

Katherine’s eyes slid toward him slowly, cool and unreadable. "Felix doesn’t say things like, ’I stay a little longer. Just until they fall asleep.’ You did. Are you pretending you didn’t say that?"

He gave her a crooked smile. "I said that, yeah. But maybe I didn’t mean it."

"Shocking," she muttered, taking another sip.

Leonard exhaled through his nose, resting his elbows on his knees and rubbing his palms together. "Alright. I’ll go." He stood halfway, then paused. "But not before I ask you this—can I spend time with them again?"

Katherine’s eyes narrowed slightly. "Did you think I’d stop you?"

"No," he said softly. "I know you. You’re not cruel. Not like me."

She let out a dry laugh and set the cup down on the coffee table. "So what, Leonard? You want credit now for admitting you were the one who messed up?"

He leaned back down slowly, a little closer this time, but still not enough to cross the line. "No. I just want to see them again. As much as you’ll let me. I can’t get back the time I lost, but I want to be there now. If they’ll let me. If you’ll let me."

Katherine didn’t say anything. The silence stretched between them, heavy and still.

Leonard swallowed, the quiet starting to hollow him out. Still, he didn’t rush it. He didn’t push.

When he finally spoke again, his voice was quiet, but clear. "I know a thousand apologies won’t be enough. I know you’re not just going to forget what I did... how I left, how I failed all of you."

Her eyes flicked up, sharp and shining.

"I’m not asking you to forgive me now. Or next week. Or ever, if that’s what you decide," he said. "But I’ll use whatever time I have left to earn that chance. To fix what I broke. To give them better memories than the ones I left behind."

His gaze didn’t waver. "To make you all happy again, even if I’m only ever on the outside of that."

She looked at him then—really looked at him—and Leonard saw something shift behind her eyes. Her eyes glistened, not from the light. And not from anger.

Leonard’s hand curled into a fist against his thigh. He ached to reach for her, to brush his fingers across her cheek where he knew her tears would fall. But he didn’t move. He couldn’t—not if he wanted to respect the fragile line between them.

So he held his breath and held himself back.

"I don’t expect anything," he said, voice lower now, barely above the hum in the room. "Just the chance to try. As long as you’ll let me, I’ll keep trying."

Her lips parted slightly, but she didn’t speak. She didn’t have to.

"I’ll walk myself out," he murmured. "Goodnight, Katherine."

And she didn’t stop him.

The hallway outside the apartment was quiet. Leonard stood there for a long moment, staring at the door he had once walked through earlier with Katherine and the twins. Now, he was just... someone trying to find his place again.

He let out a soft chuckle and smiled to himself as he stood there.