Chapter 18

“Mom, what are you doing here?
“You’re not having second thoughts, are you? Thinking about coming back to bake me a cake?”
“But Auntie already promised to come to my birthday party. We’re even going to make a mango cake together in front of everyone. What are we supposed to do now?”
Reese glanced at the smear of cream on Robbie’s nose, then at his face as he pretended to look troubled. Her voice was calm and even. “You two go ahead. I need to talk to your dad.”
Robbie had expected her to get mad, so he froze for a second, then his temper
flared up.
“Mom, Auntie and I are tired. Since you’re the lady of the house, why don’t you get us some fruit?”
Reese shot a quick look at the housekeeper, who was hovering nearby, and said, “You go do it.”
“I want you to do it!”
Robbie jumped to his feet and pointed at Reese.
“Robbie, that’s enough.”
Maybe the noise carried upstairs, because Sebastian walked out of his study and leaned on the railing, looking down at Reese.
“Come upstairs. We’ll talk in my study.”
Robbie immediately went quiet, glaring at Reese before turning away in a huff.
Reese ignored him and headed upstairs to the study. She started to close the door behind her.
“Leave it open.”
Sebastian was sitting behind his desk, eyes on his computer.
Reese glanced downstairs, and right away she caught Sofia looking up at her. Sofia’s smile was sweet, almost smug. Reese shot her a mocking smile back. Great. So now he actually cares about appearances in front of his mistress.
“Reese, you’ve really crossed the line lately.”
Sebastian’s voice snapped her attention back.
“Not only did you start working at the research institute, you moved out too. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ
“You’re breaking the agreement.”
When they got married, they signed a prenup. Reese was supposed to focus on the family and wasn’t allowed to work.
“I know.”
Reese’s hands clenched at her sides, her nails digging into her palms as she struggled to keep her voice steady. “But there’s another part of the agreement. Both of us are supposed to be faithful to this marriage—”
“Faithful? You think you deserve that?”
Sebastian actually laughed, a sharp, cold sound. His eyes ran over her, full of contempt.
“Move back in, and I’ll let this go.”
Reese took a shaky breath, but there was a stubborn edge in her voice. “I’m not coming back, Sebastian. I told you I want a divorce.”
“And from now on Her voice broke a little. “Unless it’s about the divorce, don’t contact me again.”
She turned to leave. She’d barely walked two steps before she stopped short. Robbie was standing in the doorway, his face pale as a ghost.
He was her son. She’d carried him for ten months. Seeing him like this made her heart twist in pain. She was about to bend down and talk to him when he spoke first.
“Mom, why are you divorcing Dad? Is it because Dad likes Auntie better?”
Robbie tilted his head, completely confused. “But Auntie’s great. Isn’t it normal for Dad to like her?”
“And I heard that in families like ours, it’s normal for the man to have someone else. Dad only has Auntie.”
“Mom, can’t you just let it be? Why can’t you be a little more understanding? Why does this even matter?”
It felt like someone dumped a bucket of ice water over Reese. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
Just then, her phone buzzed. Reese glanced down. It was a message from the hospital. The legal review of the surrogacy evidence was finished.
All the official documents had been sent to her email. They were court-ready, fully valid, and ready for her to use.
Reese stepped around Robbie and walked straight downstairs. In the living room, she saw Sofia wiping cream from her fingers with a napkin, her eyes still on Reese, a small smile on her lips.
Reese gripped her phone tighter and gave Sofia a faint smile back.
Sebastian stood in the study doorway, watching as Reese walked out of the house without looking back, his fingers absently tracing his phone.
After a long pause, he dialed Brady. “Find that file Reese sent to the office. I want
it.”