Daddy.

The word felt like her soul was being taken out of her body. She stood there, breathless with eyes in one spot as the little boy ran circles around her Persian rug.

“Be careful buddy, you’re going to hurt yourself” Jacob chuckled softly, her gaze flickered back to him, his lips, how they curved with laughter.

He was happy?

Her palms dug into the sides of her dress, as she clenched them into fists. Her heart thudded frantically in her chest, such that she could hear it.

Cassia stepped forward, as she softly rubbed her hands on Jacob’s shoulder, like she was marking her territory before she approached the centre table.

“Sorry to drop in, Mrs. Valor,” She said, as she set her designer purse on the table like she owned the place.

Elena’s throat clenched as she turned softly to face her, still not saying a word. What could she say, with such loud disrespect? Who wouldn’t be speechless?

Jacob’s feet eventually moved from the doorway and he reached for Elena. He leaned in, and brushed a kiss over her cheek as if everything was normal.

“Let’s not a make this a big deal,” he whispered in her ears.

Elena stepped away from him, finally finding her voice.

“Jacob, what is this?” She choked out.

Jacob sighed, like he knew this was coming and he couldn’t avoid it. His eyes flickered back to the boy who had now flopped onto the sofa and started playing with the remote.

“That’s Mason, My son.”

His son? The words replayed in her ears, Oh it hurt, not just because they were real but because of how easily he said them. He held her arms as he pulled her away towards the kitchen.

“Can we talk?”

She jerked her arm away from his grasp, her eyeballs shook in their sockets as she locked gazes with him. Her legs felt tied to an anchor, but she forced herself to move away from him and towards the kitchen.

He followed her like it was any other normal evening. The moment they were alone behind the granite island, she turned.

“You have a son!”she snapped, “With her, a whole human being!”

“Yes.”

Elena’s lips quivered, but only slightly. “And you brought them into my house.”

“It’s temporary,” He said calmly, finally holding her gaze as he ran a hand through his hair. “Listen, it’s just a few weeks, until their new place is ready.”

“Their new place.” She repeated, did he think this was normal? Or maybe she knew before about his mystery son!?

“She didn’t have anywhere else to go,” He added. “And I didn’t think throwing her and Mason into a hotel was the right call.”

Elena’s jaw tightened. “So you brought her here. into my home, the house you haven’t stepped into for days!”

He moved closer to her, his hands hesitated but they landed on her shoulders. Now he was scared to touch her?

“You’re still my wife, Elena. I would never disrespect that. I just need you to be…reasonable.”

She let out a sharp humorless laugh,

“Reasonable?”

He didn’t blink. “Look, we can settle this maturely, we don’t need lawyers or unnecessary scandals. You just need to keep the peace, and in a few weeks, they’ll be gone.”

His tone was almost reassuring, begging her to co exist with his secretary!? To accept the fact that he cheated but she shouldn’t make it a big deal despite a son coming out of the affair.

“And you thought that would be okay with me!?”

She snapped. “You thought I’d just cook an extra plate!?” she shrugged his arm off, as her hands flew up over her ears, shaking her head as she tried to make sense of it.

“I knew it would upset you,” Jacob said carefully.

“But it doesn’t change anything. You and I, we don’t even sleep in the same bed anymore.”

She moved to him and shoved his chest, “Because you stopped coming home!”

He staggered back but didn’t do anything. She clenched her fists, her breathing got shallow.

“How long?” Her voice shook,

Jacob exhaled in an exhausting manner, she was boring him already. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Answer me!” She gritted

He finally shrugged. “Cassia and i…it happened after the miscarriage.”

Instantly, her pulse dropped,

He looked at her like he was stating a weather report. “You just got less….entertaining, Elena. I didn’t know what to do, the child was the only thing I looked forward to. Maybe our relationship would be better with it but you couldn’t even hold onto that.”

She took a shaky breath. “You told me it didn’t matter. That the baby didn’t matter!”

Jacob’s voice dropped. “Because I didn’t want kids, not anymore, and not with you.”

The world slowed, her knees weakened. Her lips quivered more. The sound of Mason’s giggling filled her ears, it got louder.

That was the sound of a child, one he claimed not to want.

“I thought we agreed not to blame each other,” he moved closer. “We both made mistakes.”

Elena glared at him. The man she once defended against her entire family, now stood in her kitchen, explaining away a son with another woman like he was listing items on a grocery receipt.

“You had a son with her,” she repeated quietly. “All while i was still bleeding over the loss of our own child!?”

“Don’t do this,” He warned, the concerning tone already starting to fade. “Don’t make this dramatic.”

What? When did he start to hate her so much? He hurt her and yet she was being dramatic?

The door creaked open behind them, Cassia’s head poked through the door before she stepped in,

“I told him this might hurt you,” she approached the kitchen island slowly with fake concern. “But Mason deserves to know his father better.”

Her chest heaved, as her snapped back to Jacob. With blurry vision, the memories of her bleeding in the bathtub, watching their unborn baby slip away filled her memories.

“I agree, children need to grow with their parents. So they can learn better and obey more.” Jacob teased with a cunning smirk,

Her jaw trembled, now he was attacking her? He was shading her for not listening to her dad?

“You are disgusting, utterly shameful!” She choked out, with tears threatening to fall from her eyes. But she stormed out of the kitchen; she won’t let them see her cry.

Her hands grabbed her car keys, tears clouded her vision as she stumbled down the front steps outside the house.

She opened her car door with shaky hands, before she got in and collapsed behind the wheel, and let the tears rip out from her chest.

Her phone started to ring, but she ignored it. But the ringing only got louder, lifting her face from the wheel, she blinked through the tears and saw the caller Id.

Mr. Darrel, the Cruz family attorney.

She wiped her face and answered,

“Elena,” the voice said quickly, “I’m at your office.”

She sat up straighter, “Wh-what?”

“We need to talk, now. I found something; your father’s will has been tampered with.”