Her Billion Dollar Exit

THE MYTH

EVELYN

“Thank you, Finn.” I said to my lawyer, and he nodded once.

“You’re welcome. I’m sorry you had to go through that. The school would be reprimanded accordingly.” He assured me.

“I’m counting on that.”

I stood in the living room until the front door opened and shut, and then I started towards Toby’s room. He still had a stunned expression on his face. There was remorse or maybe guilt there too.

“Take off your shoes.” I said, coming up beside the bed. I crouched down and started taking off the shoes for him, despite having asked him to do it himself.

My chest burned with anger, but there was only so many people I could direct this anger to. I didn’t know what to do with these emotions, so I quickly unbuckled my son’s shoes and forced my tears at bay.

A sniff caused me to freeze.

“I’m sorry, mommy.” Toby cried above me, where he sat on the bed. I knelt there for a few more seconds, just to gather myself a bit before finally getting up to my feet.

I sat beside him on the bed, and he turned to face me with tear-stained cheeks. His long lashes were wet, and his river green orbs sparkled with unshed tears.

“Why did you even follow her, Tobs? You know not to follow anyone that’s not JJ or Nanny Gwen. Why would you follow someone you don’t even know?”

“Because…” he paused, like he was considering telling me. I didn’t say anything to push him, but I took his hands in mine and squeezed them gently.

He continued, “Because she told me she’ll take me to see daddy. She showed me your picture on her phone too, and she said you want me to meet daddy too.”

Bile rose in my throat. For a moment, u couldn’t speak.

I always knew Toby wanted to see his dad. It was in his little gestures when he saw other children with their daddies, it was in his big and small questions. But maybe, I had underestimated just how much he needed to meet him.

My son was very conversant with the stranger danger rule. That he had tucked that teaching into the back of his mind and jumped into a stranger’s car told me the depth of just how much he needed his father.

Or rather, how much he thought he needed his father.

I didn’t know what to say yet, so I kept rubbing his hand, watching him.

Toby spoke again, “I thought you said dad travelled and he can’t come back. Then why did she say that? And why was she mean to me? She called me a… a… um…”

My spine straightened. “A what? What did she call you, Tobs?”

He sniffed. “Can I say it?”

“Of course!” I shouted, then took a deep breath when I realized I’d startled him. I spoke softer now, “Okay. How about I give you two minutes to tell me what she said? Hmm? Say whatever bad words you need to say.”

He watched me with curiosity in his eyes, as if he was waiting for me to change my mind. I squeezed his hands again in reassurance.

He finally blurted out, “B-bastard. That’s what she called me. She said my dad would never like me. And she said she could make me shut up forever if she wanted to, because…”

Toby trailed off in my head.

His last sentence was still replaying in my mind. I dropped his hands and leaned back, taking it all in.

Is it just me, I thought to myself, or this b***h threatened my son? With something as serious as death?

I took deep breaths to calm myself. “What else did she tell you? What else did that vile woman do to you?” I grabbed his shoulders as gently as I could and twisted him around, trying to check for any injuries.

He shook his head. “She just kept telling me bad stuff about you, and about me too. I never want to see her again.”

The last part sounded like he was looking for reassurance that he wouldn’t have to speak to her again.

“I promise, she’ll never hurt you again. Okay?”

He nodded, and I was about to stand, shaking with anger from what he’d just revealed to me. He stopped me,

“Mommy?”

“Yes, yes.” I faced Toby again, but my hands were itching. My entire body was itching to get out of here and make sure Rebecca got locked up for threatening my son.

She definitely thought I was the old Evelyn, judging by the show she pulled today.

I got that a lot. And I’d be tremendously happy to change the narrative.

“Is it true that daddy’s never coming back?” He asked with a broken tone. Not knowing what else to reply, I finally told him,

“He’s coming back, my love. Maybe… he’s already here.”

“Here?” Toby asked in confusion. I smiled at him and stood up from the bed.

“Yeah. You’ll see. I promise.”

After a brief kiss to his forehead, I made my way to the pool area and stripped down to my matching underwear set.

I wouldn’t be going into this fight with emotions alone. I thought I would be going easy on the Hayes, but that unfortunate b***h had to step on my toes.

But before that, I had to cool off.

I submerged beneath the water and squeezed my eyes shut, holding my breath.

Don’t get me reminded on the fact that Toby wanted to see his father. Bad.

While my eyes were still shut, I heard Arthur’s voice speak above me.

“Come out and let’s talk, baby.”

I tried to banish his voice off my head, but then I heard him speak again. “With the rate you’re going, you might end up drowning yourself. Please, we can talk.”

I came up from the water with the speed of light, and of course, standing in front of my pool… in my compound… was Arthur Hayes.

Privacy, apparently, was a myth in my life.