Chapter 2
868 Words
Using the address my mother had given me, I pulled up to the most expensive and exclusive neighborhood in all of Manhattan, the Upper East Side.
This lavish residence, known as The Park Lane Estate, was one of the properties my mother had given me as part of my dowry.
And my own husband had given it to another woman to live in.
"You're back! Honey, why are you home so soon? Did Charles actually have pastries available this easily today..."
The front door swung open. The big smile on Yvonne's face froze solid in an instant.
"You? So you just couldn't hold back and come after all, huh?"
She hadn't even finished her sentence when a tiny little body went darting past her and straight toward the door.
"Mommy, George's hungry. When is Daddy coming home?"
My breath caught in my throat, like someone had punched me straight in the chest. Yvonne caught my reaction, and she couldn't hide the gloating smirk that spread across her face.
She pulled the little boy close to her side and brushed a hand over his hair, all soft and doting.
"This is my son, he's three years old. You and Lucas still don't have any kids of your own, right?"
Once, Lucas and I had a baby too. But a car accident hit us out of nowhere. I woke up covered in my own blood, and our baby was gone.
Back then, Lucas had held me tight in his arms and whispered over and over, desperate to soothe my sobs, "Tara, don't cry. We'll have other babies. We have our whole lives ahead of us."
Yvonne let out a soft, mocking laugh and gestured for me to come inside, playing the perfect hostess like she actually owned the place.
As she walked ahead of me, she tossed over her shoulder. "I just offhandedly said I didn't want him to have any other kids, and he arranged for you to lose your baby. How pathetic are you? What can I say? I'm his first love. You're just the homewrecker who crawled between us."
That smug, taunting sneer of hers burned into my vision, growing larger and louder until I couldn't hold back my rage another second.
I snapped. My hand flew up and cracked hard against her cheek. But what happened next caught me completely off guard.
She didn't slap me back. She just clapped a hand over her cheek, big teary eyes filling up fast as she looked over my shoulder.
"Honey..."
My blood ran cold. I froze solid. I spun around fast, and I came face to face with Lucas' livid, iron-gray expression.
He immediately pulled Yvonne into his arms, shielding her from me like I was some kind of wild animal.
Little George stood right between them, and suddenly I was the villain who'd broken up their happy little family.
"Tara," Lucas growled, "Why can't you just behave and stay in your lane as Mrs. Gray? Why do you have to go and ruin the decency I gave you?"
My eyes burned with hot, angry tears, turning red around the edges.
"This is my house! You used it to keep your mistress and your secret love child? What did you do with my baby? How could you?"
A flicker of pity flashed across Lucas' eyes for half a second. But the second Yvonne's fingers tucked lightly into the sleeve of his jacket, that tiny spark of pity vanished completely, like it was never there at all.
"She’s no mistress, she’s my wife. This is what I owe her after all these years."
I was the one who was legally his wife. Yet that marriage license, with its official red seal, suddenly felt like nothing more than a sick joke.
"If we’re going by age, you should treat Yvonne with respect."
Yvonne sighed softly and snuggled deeper into Lucas' chest. "It’s fine. She never liked me anyway. I’m just a girl who grew up in a backwater hick town, it makes sense she’d look down on me."
As she spoke, she lifted George into her arms, and the movement tugged his sleeve down, revealing the little bracelet wrapped around his tiny wrist.
My eyes blew wide open, my heart twisting into a painful, crumpled ball in my chest.
That was the gold-inlaid jade bracelet my mother had prepared for my baby!
I’d never been able to find it after I lost my child. I never guessed Lucas had taken it and given it to her.
I lunged forward, hand outstretched to yank it back.
Before my fingers even brushed the kid’s skin, George burst into wailing sobs, "It hurts!"
Lucas shoved me back so hard I stumbled straight into the porcelain vase by the door, and it shattered into shards all over the floor.
"Stay away from them, Tara!"
A sharp piece of ceramic drove straight into my lower back, and the agony drained every last drop of color from my face.
"Take me to the hospital…"
But when I lifted my head, all I got in response was nothing but Lucas' ice-cold glare, followed by the heavy, final click of the front door slamming shut in my face.
- Writer
