My Husband Hid His Son from Me

Chapter 4

Colton stood on his tiptoes, jabbing a finger at the cake in the display window as he pestered Wesley to buy it for him.

Wesley bent down, brushed a hand gently over the boy's head, and soothed him in a soft voice. "Your fever just broke, so you can't eat this yet. I will buy it for you once your cold is all better."

Chloe felt ice flood her veins. That day was the death anniversary of their son and daughter. She'd begged him to come visit their graves with her, and he'd called her crazy, said she was being irrational and ridiculous.

So it wasn't that he had no patience, or that he didn't like kids. He'd just long since given every last drop of his patience and affection to another child, one that had nothing to do with her.

Chloe must have been staring too hard, because the little boy noticed her gaze.

When he saw her, he shrank back timidly against Wesley, clutched his hand tight, and mumbled, "Daddy, that lady over there keeps looking at us. Do you know her?"

Chloe locked her gaze on Wesley the second she heard the boy's words, waiting for his reaction, for some kind of explanation. She would have taken anything, no matter what he said.

But what made her blood run even colder was that Wesley barely reacted at all. He didn't offer a single word of explanation. He just brushed her off like she was a total stranger, turning his full attention back to the boy in his arms.

"Colton, weren't we here to buy a cake for Mom?" Wesley said. "We've been out so long, she's probably starting to worry."

The little boy nodded obediently. "Then let's get the strawberry cake Mom likes today, okay?"

Wesley hummed in agreement, then told the server to pack up a slice of strawberry cake and pulled out his wallet to pay. As she watched him get ready to carry the boy and leave, Chloe's breath caught in her throat, sharp and ragged. The taut string in her chest was stretched so thin it was ready to snap.

She couldn't hold it in any longer. "Wesley," she called out, her voice rough and trembling.

Wesley froze mid-step. He turned his head, and his eyes met hers for a split second, then he immediately looked down. His first instinct was to cradle the back of the boy's head, pressing his face into the crook of his neck.

Chloe's heart plummeted straight into the pit of her stomach, cold and heavy as lead.

A few years ago, she would have stormed right up to him and demanded answers. But not anymore.

His reaction had already said everything. That boy, Colton, had every last bit of his love.

Watching him dote on that child so gently, she could not hold back the bitter resentment and rage festering in her chest, seething on behalf of her own son and daughter.

What gave Wesley the right to be so smug and unapologetic?

He seemed completely oblivious to her resentment and rage.

He'd forgotten their dead children a long time ago. He had a new family now, a new kid. He'd long since stopped being the decent husband she'd once thought he was.

Their marriage had rotted from the inside out long ago. What was the point of yelling, of demanding answers, of fighting? It wouldn't change a damn thing.

Bitter irony flooded over Chloe. Wesley brushed past her, his voice low and gruff as he tossed out only one line. "We'll talk about this when we get home."

Then, he carried the cake bag in one hand, held the little boy securely in the other, and walked straight out of the café.

The café staff sighed as they watched the father and son's retreating backs. "When you look for a husband, you've got to pick a handsome one. If the dad's good-looking, the son will be too. Honestly, what lucky woman landed a catch like that?"

Every word of that gossip felt like a slap in Chloe's face right then. She pressed her pale lips into a tight line, her fingers curling so hard into fists that her nails dug deep into her palms.

She'd always remembered Wesley as a total workaholic, distant by nature. But as her husband, he'd never missed a holiday—he'd always have his assistant drop off a gift for her, giving her all the dignity and respect any wife would expect.

She'd thought that was just how he was, cold on the outside but reliable. But these past two days, reality had landed a brutal slap across her face.

Five years of marriage, plus their twin babies who'd died before they even got to take their first breath, none of it could measure up to his mistress's clingy affection, or the little boy's repeated calls of "Daddy". Ice spread steadily through Chloe's chest. Just then, her phone buzzed in her bag. She pulled it out, and there was a message from Wesley.

Wesley: I'll come home tonight.

Just a handful of simple words, not an explanation, but an order. She stared at the screen, the corner of her mouth, curving into a cold, bitter little smile that held every ounce of the heartbreak and agony she'd carried for years.

Quinn watched her and couldn't get a single comforting word out. All she felt was a sharp ache for her friend.

Just then, Quinn's phone rang. She picked it up, her face shifting slightly. When she hung up, she spoke, her tone awkward and apologetic. "Julian can't make it. His daughter has a fever, so he has to take her to the hospital first."

Chloe was surprised, but that was how she found out more about Julian from Quinn.

Julian had never been married. He'd broken up with his first love before going abroad for further training back in the day. Later, that girlfriend got married, only to be diagnosed with cancer while she was pregnant. Her in-laws were disappointed that she was having a girl, and her own family didn't want to take on the burden of caring for her. Julian still cared about her, so he footed all the bills for her treatment.

When his first love eventually passed away, no one wanted the baby, so Julian adopted her.

But the little girl was premature, born with a weak constitution. She was hard to take care of and got sick all the time, so Julian moved back to the country to settle down with her.

Quinn went on, "I met her once. She's 5 years old, but she looks like she's only 3, so tiny and thin. She's a total little beauty, though; she just doesn't look much like her mom, honestly..."

Chloe was impressed. To go to such lengths for an adopted child took real integrity.

At the very least, after hearing everything Quinn had said, she could tell Julian's character was unimpeachable, no question about it.

And his professional skills were beyond doubt. Chloe made up her mind right then. Julian was the lawyer she wanted for her divorce case.

After leaving the coffee shop, Chloe and Quinn went their separate ways. Chloe didn't head home. She'd already made up her mind to get a divorce, but she wasn't just settling for a divorce. She was determined to make everyone who'd betrayed her pay for what they'd done.

*****

With that plan locked in, she drove straight to the headquarters building of CAW Jewelry.

She and Wesley had co-founded the company six years earlier, back when they were still on the same side. She held a 61% stake, Wesley owned 30%, and the remaining 9% was split between other shareholders.

As one of the founders, she'd led her team to notch up one jaw-dropping win after another back in the day. Later, she'd trained Madeline personally, step by step. When she was five months pregnant, she promoted Madeline to vice president and stepped away from her role to stay home and raise their twins on the way.

Back then, Madeline had been teary-eyed with gratitude. She'd squeezed Chloe's hand and vowed over and over that she'd never waste the faith Chloe had put in her.

But what had it all amounted to in the end? Nothing but a pack of lies.

Now, the very founder of the company was standing in the first-floor lobby, blocked by two security guards who were snapping at her that random strangers weren't allowed to loiter in the building!

Five years really was too long a time. Everything that was supposed to stay the same? Gone. Everything that never should have shifted? Turned upside down. Five years really was long enough to ruin everything.

Chloe was just about to speak when the elevator doors in the lobby slid open with a ding.

A group of people led by Madeline stepped out of the elevator and made a beeline straight for her.