Chapter 9
I froze, looking up toward Lillian.
The elegantly dressed matriarch sat in the seat of honor, regal and composed.
Beside her sat a woman with delicate features and a soft, charming smile.
Doris
Seeing her here was unexpected… but then again, maybe it wasn’t.
After all, the engagement had already made headlines.
Vincent and Doris were going public–and clearly, Doris now had Lillian’s approval.
“Mommy? Why aren’t you saying anything?” Rowan looked up at me, nervous. “Is what Grandma said true? Are you really going to leave Daddy? You don’t want me anymore?”
I lowered my head and met his anxious eyes.
My heart clenched.
For five years, I had raised Rowan like my own. Every moment–every scraped knee, every fever, every lullaby–had come from me. That bond wasn’t fake.
“Rowan, come here,” Lillian said, beckoning.
“I don’t want to!” the boy shouted, clutching me tightly. “I want to go home with Mommy!”
Lillian’s expression darkened. “How many times must I tell you–I am not your mother. Your real mother is this lady. Miss Doris, the actress.”
I stiffened.
Rowan’s biological mother… was Doris?
But… Vincent had told me the boy’s parents had died in an accident.
Had he lied to me all along?
I took a shaky breath, trying to remain composed.
I turned to Doris. “Miss Doris… is that true? Are you Rowan’s birth mother?”
Doris gave me a graceful smile. “Yes. Five years ago, I was still under contract with my management company. For the sake of my career, I had to hide the fact that I had a child.”
My breath caught. “Then Rowan’s father…”
“Is Vincent,” Doris said softly, the words slicing through the air like glass.
My world crumbled.
The child I had poured my soul into for five years–had raised, protected, and loved–was Vincent and Doris’s?
Doris’s tone remained gentle. “I’m truly sorry we kept this from you. I actually suggested Vincent tell you the truth, but he felt the fewer people who knew, the better.”
The
fewer people who knew…
P
Chapter 9
So to Vincent, I had been nothing but an outsider.
I stood frozen.
I had believed that, even without love, Vincent and I were still partners–raising Rowan together, sharing years of quiet coexistence. I thought we had, at the very least, trust.
But no. From the beginning, I had been nothing more than a placeholder.
Had he told me the truth, I never would’ve let myself fall into this hopeless, one–sided affection….
“Miss Sophia, we are truly grateful for your dedication over the years,” Doris continued. “You raised Rowan beautifully. As his biological mother, I sincerely thank you.”
I stared at her.
My lips were pale and pressed tightly together, my face expressionless.
But the arm wrapped around Rowan trembled.
I had already lost so much in the past five years.
And now… even Rowan.
“No!” the boy suddenly shouted, glaring at Doris. “You’re lying! I only have one mommy–and it’s her!”
“You’re a bad woman! I don’t want you to be my mom!”
Author’s Note:
Rowan’s still such a sweet boy… Let’s hope he stays that way.
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Chapter 10
Chapter 10
