My Husband Hid His Son from Me

Chapter 3

Quinn refused to believe that Wesley would cheat. She couldn't help worrying that Chloe had gotten the wrong end of the stick about him.

That doubt vanished the second she followed Chloe to outside of the villa and spotted the three of them on the second-floor viewing terrace, celebrating a little boy's 5th birthday.

Wesley sat in front of a round table draped in a crisp white tablecloth, holding the little boy in his arms.

The kid clung to a limited-edition toy, while Madeline, dressed in a cream-colored dress, sat right beside them, holding up her phone to record the moment.

The little boy cheekily flashed a peace sign at the camera. Madeline tilted her head and leaned it against Wesley's shoulder, and the man, who was notoriously cold and hated having his photo taken, was actually smiling gently at the phone, looking warmer than a spring day.

What a perfect, heartwarming little family they looked like, huh?

Chloe bit down hard on the inside of her cheek to fight through the sharp pain in her chest, flipped open her phone and filmed every second of her husband's infidelity, locking the footage away as hard evidence.

When she was done, she turned to look at Quinn, a bitter, self-deprecating smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth. "Still think he couldn't possibly cheat? Still think this is all some big misunderstanding?"

Her face completely blank, Chloe stared out the window. "I'm not just going to make sure Wesley leaves this marriage with nothing. I'm going to take Madeline down too. Both of them are going to be ruined, their names dragged through the mud. The proof is right in front of us. This won't be hard.

"Just yesterday, I thought the exact same thing as you. I knew he was cold by nature, but I loved him. He was the husband I chose for myself. So these past five years after we lost our kids, even when I could tell he was sick of how upset I was all the time, I never blamed him for it."

Chloe let out a bitter laugh. "I kept picking apart all the things I was doing wrong, determined to fix myself and heal. It never once crossed my mind that he'd already had a kid with Madeline right when we'd just lost our twins."

Her voice grew steadier the more she spoke, as if all her love and hate had died the day before. Once your heart has gone cold, you become so calm you barely even recognize yourself.

Tears were streaming down Quinn's face by this point. "How could he cheat? Yeah, your marriage was arranged, but Wesley spent a fortune planning the wedding, and he even personally custom-ordered your wedding ring and dress just for you. We were all saying how you finally got your happy ending after pining after him for years. We were all so jealous of you..."

Yeah, her marriage to Wesley, even if it never had that grand, sweeping, head-over-heels kind of love to build on, had still been a solid, happy marriage by all accounts.

No one would have ever guessed Wesley would cheat.

What made the whole thing unforgivable, the part that made her blood run cold, was that the little boy was 5 years old, only 4 months younger than her own twin babies!

That meant Wesley had strayed while she was pregnant. And even worse, when her two children were barely cold in the ground, he and Madeline were off celebrating the birth of their illegitimate son!

The second that thought crossed her mind, a sharp, searing pain twisted through her chest. Chloe squeezed her eyes shut tight and drew in a deep, shaky breath.

She couldn't fold now, not after all this. She owed it to herself and to her kids. She was getting a divorce, no ifs, ands, or buts.

But Quinn was terrified of going up against Wesley in court. The Warren family's legal team was legendary, a group of top-tier ace lawyers that no small private firm like hers stood a snowball's chance in hell of beating.

Quinn swiped the last of her tears off her cheeks. "I can hook you up with other connections and resources, but—have you really thought this through? You're dead set on getting a divorce?"

Chloe froze mid-movement, then snapped her head around to stare at her. "Wait, you think I shouldn't get a divorce?"

Quinn was stumped, no retort ready on her tongue.

Chloe turned back to face the road and tapped the gas pedal lightly. "It's non-negotiable. Wesley doesn't deserve to be called my children's father."

The white Panamera turned smoothly around and sped off down the street.

Up on the second-floor balcony, Madeline tucked her phone into her pocket and glanced at the car shrinking into the distance.

She dropped her gaze, and where no one could see, a smug, victorious smirk flickered across her features.

*****

Even though Quinn couldn't take the divorce case herself, she hooked Chloe up with her senior from law school, Julian Kingsley.

Julian had been a total legend in the law department back when he was in college, so Chloe already knew exactly who he was.

Chloe had always been a doer, the type who loved fiercely and stood up for what she hated, with no fake airs about her. Once she set her mind to something, she never second-guessed herself.

*****

The next morning, with Quinn acting as the go-between, the three of them arranged to meet at a coffee shop downtown.

When Quinn and Chloe arrived at the shop, Julian hadn't shown up yet.

They had just sat down at a table when a child's high voice piped up from the entrance. "Daddy, I want chocolate cake!"

Chloe went still, then lifted her gaze to the door.

Wesley walked into the café, holding Colton's hand, who was dressed in denim overalls.

Colton pointed at the cake display by the counter. His little face, a dead ringer for Wesley's, beamed with innocent, childish cuteness.

Even though she had already made up her mind to get divorced, the sight still sent a sharp, stabbing pain through Chloe's chest, and a sharp, sour sting rose in her nose before she could stop it.

Quinn was completely stunned, her eyes going wide as she stared at Wesley and Colton.

Seeing them this close, even Quinn had to admit the boy was practically a miniature version of Wesley!

Wesley seemed to pick up on Chloe's stare. He turned his head to look right at her...

Their eyes locked, and Wesley's expression froze for a split second.

Chloe's expression stayed perfectly neutral, but the hand wrapped around her water glass tightened against her will, her knuckles turning white with the force of her grip.

Chloe had planned to wait until she'd gathered all her evidence and drawn up the divorce papers before confronting Wesley. She'd never expected to run into him here.

Well, since they'd crossed paths anyway, she wanted to see what Wesley would say to explain himself, right in front of this child.