Chapter 6

After dinner, I endured the burning on the back of my reddened hand and tried again.

“Leo, come home with Mom, okay?”

Leo, engrossed in his superhero play with Seraphina, didn't even hear me.

A bitter taste spread through my mouth.

“Leo, give Mom a hug, okay?”

Seraphina raised her chin, her eyes filled with a hidden triumph as she looked at me.

“Audrey, what are you doing? Leo doesn’t seem to want to go with you. Don’t make it hard on the child.”

“Some people are such failures as mothers!”

Mr. Sterling had appeared beside me at some point, his words chilling.

He always believed I was the one who set up Julian years ago, thinking Julian was forced to marry me because of his illegitimate child.

Later, he resented me for making Julian a disgrace in his social circle.

In that moment, I no longer wanted to keep Julian’s secret.

“Dad, actually, I’m not Leo’s…”

“Audrey! We’re going home!”

Julian’s face was filled with panic.

His panicked gaze wasn't on me, but on Seraphina.

How laughable.

Was he afraid Seraphina would find out Leo was an illegitimate child with an unknown mother?

But had he considered other possibilities?

Julian held my hand until I stepped out the front door.

But only I knew his grip was so tight it felt like he was crushing my hand, terrified I’d say another word about the past.

As soon as we were in the car, Julian dropped the pretense of being loving.

“Audrey, what were you about to say?”

“What do you think?”

My direct gaze made Julian’s chin retract inch by inch.

“Didn’t we agree back then that we’d pretend it was your scheme?”

“What good would it do to expose it now?”

“Expose it, and I can divorce you!”

My all-or-nothing attitude towards divorce made Julian heartbroken, as if he’d been betrayed.

“I was wrong, okay? I swear nothing happened between me and Seraphina! If you really don’t like it, I’ll bring Leo back immediately. You’re his mother, and that will never change!”

Yes, besides me, no one else would be willing to shoulder this burden!

Except for his biological mother!

“If you don’t want me to expose it, then just sign the divorce papers!”

“Audrey! I’ve already apologized to you, what else do you want? Why are you escalating a small matter to divorce?”

“Leo isn't your biological child anyway. I know you’re upset that he’s suddenly not close to you, but shouldn’t you reflect on your own issues?”

I pointed at myself, incredulous.

“I’m a stepmom. I raised him as my own from birth, doted on him. If you hadn’t indulged Seraphina and her mother in filling his head with bad ideas, would he not recognize me?”

I questioned myself. My conscience was clear when it came to Leo.

Julian, on the other hand, had always been somewhat distant from Leo because of his parentage.

The more he avoided Leo, the more I doted on him.

And in the end, I was the fool who got stabbed in the back.

“Don’t wrongly accuse innocent people! Kids are smart; do they really need us to tell them what to think?”

After saying that, Julian caught himself and covered his mouth.

“Audrey, that’s not what I meant. I’m not blaming you, I just… don’t want to divorce you…”

“Thanks for the reminder. Otherwise, I might forget that there’s such a thing as family bond! Blood is thicker than water, after all. No matter how much you raise a child that isn't yours by blood, they'll never truly become 'yours'.”

With that, I opened the car door and got out, hailing a taxi.

“Where are you going! I said I was wrong, okay?”

Julian’s shouts echoed behind me, but I didn’t look back.