Chapter 1
Cecily's POV:
Just before I finished work, my son called me in tears.
"Mom, my stomach hurts! The doctor says I need surgery right now!"
I abandoned the client I was negotiating with and took a cab halfway across the city to the private hospital.
Outside the ward, I heard cheering.
My son was laughing, slapping the bed.
"It only took her 30 minutes! I told you she'd come right away!"
My husband was peeling an apple, his expression indulgent.
"You little rascal. Scaring your mom by pretending you're sick? She's going to lose it again."
I froze outside the door and peered through the gap.
His first love lay in the next bed, watching them with a smile.
"Don't blame Toby. He wouldn't have done it if we hadn't needed to get her here to donate bone marrow to me."
My son flung himself into her arms.
"I'd let them drain every drop of her blood if it would make you better! I only want you to be my mom!"
Once, I would have stormed in and slapped them.
This time, all I felt was disgust.
Last month, my son had said he needed a checkup and tricked me into having three tubes of blood drawn.
Last week, he'd claimed his school was setting up a genetic database and tricked me into being tested for a match.
Every time, they had been plotting to help themselves to another part of my body.
The more I loved my son, the easier it was for them to use me as a blood bank.
I looked down and answered my lawyer's text about giving up custody.
This time, I'd give them what they wanted.
*****
"Ms. Langford, if you can walk out even when we're about to sign, this financing deal for 30 million dollars is over."
My business partner's voice came through my earpiece. Then the line went dead.
For the past 2 weeks, I'd worked through the nights to secure this lifeline for my husband, Malcolm Renshaw, and his company. Constant business dinners had left me with a bad stomach.
Before I left that morning, he'd straightened my collar. "You've worked so hard, honey. Once the deal's signed, I'll take you on vacation."
Now he was in a hospital ward, peeling an apple for another woman.
I took out my earpiece and stepped into the rain.
Back home, it took me several tries to get my key into the lock.
My wet cuffs clung to my wrists. I opened the door. The earthenware casserole was still on the dining table.
Carved into its base were the words Made for the Renshaws. I'd had someone bring it back from Alderwick so I could make meals to ease my son's digestive problems.
Just 4 hours earlier, I'd reminded Malcolm to serve him his soup.
Now only a thin layer remained at the bottom. Beside it sat three insulated food containers, their lids open.
The lock clicked.
Malcolm came in holding our son Toby Renshaw's hand. Yvonne Bellamy, his first love, followed them.
He reached out to steady her before looking at me.
"What are you doing home? Toby was in pain at the hospital. Where did you go?"
I looked at my son's rosy face.
"He looks a lot healthier than I do."
Toby shrank behind him.
"Daddy, Mom's going to yell at me again."
Malcolm shielded him. "You come home with that look on your face, then wonder why he doesn't want to be near you?"
I opened my mouth. Inside my wet sleeves, my hands shook so hard I couldn't close them.
Yvonne coughed twice. He turned to her at once. "Why are you still standing? Sit down."
Once she was settled, he gave me my instructions. "The hospital food is awful, so Yvonne's staying here to recover for a few days. Starting tomorrow, make her some iron-rich soup."
"That's between you and her. It has nothing to do with me."
He loosened his tie and glanced at the casserole.
"It's food for the family. Why are you keeping score?"
I swallowed, my throat too sore to speak.
Yvonne caught his sleeve. "Forget it. I shouldn't have come. Cecily looks like she's been out in the rain. Take care of her first."
Only then did he touch my forehead.
At the familiar warmth of his hand, I leaned toward him without thinking.
When I'd come home soaked after working late in the past, he'd wait by the door with a towel. He wouldn't even let me dry my own hair.
"You're a little warm. Go take something."
His hand was gone almost at once, pulling Yvonne's coat more snugly around her.
"Yvonne can't afford to catch a chill. You've always been healthy. Don't make a scene in front of her."
I stayed where I was and lowered the hand I'd just begun to raise.
Toby wrapped his arms around Yvonne's legs. "She's not leaving! This is my home, and it's her home too!"
He turned to glare at me.
"You're so selfish. I don't like you anymore!"
Whenever he'd said that before, I'd crouched down, held him, and asked what I'd done wrong.
This time, I gripped the edge of the table to steady myself.
"Suit yourself."
I headed for the master bedroom. Malcolm planted a hand against the doorframe.
"This room has a dehumidifier system. Yvonne's sleeping here. You can move into the spare room."
I stared at him. He saw nothing wrong with any of it. Slowly, I let go of the handle.
"Fine."
I went into the spare room and locked the door.
Then I opened the Custody Waiver and Premarital Property Division Agreement my lawyer had sent and replied.
Cecily: Confirmed.
