Chapter 4

Back in Leo's room, I quietly packed all our documents and some essential items.

Just as I lay down to sleep with my child in my arms, I heard footsteps stop by the bed.

"Still angry with me, hm?" Lucas's lazy voice poured into my ears as he pulled me into his arms, coaxing in a low voice:

"Scarlett, I only planned that fake kidnapping because I was afraid you'd be petty and cause trouble for Chloe. Besides, Jack Thompson is my friend. He wouldn't dare harm you even if I gave him permission."

The man looked utterly confident, as if boasting about how well he had protected me.

But if he had bothered to look at me closely, he would have seen that there wasn't a single uninjured spot on my body.

I turned away, unable to bear it, deliberately keeping my distance as I asked calmly:

"So from now on, I'm supposed to stay with the gang as the mistress, while Chloe becomes our son's stepmother, is that right?"

Noticing my attitude, the man clearly lost his last bit of patience, though he didn't show it too obviously:

"Don't put it so crudely. If Leo calls Chloe stepmom, people will gossip even more. I'm just having a wedding ceremony with her so people won't spread rumors about her seducing me."

He thought my words were crude only because I called Chloe a stepmother, not because I referred to myself as a mistress...

Tired of his ridiculous excuses, I couldn't be bothered to respond.

Lucas looked around the room, confusion crossing his face:

"Why are you packing? Where are you going?"

As I was thinking of how to brush off his question, Chloe suddenly called. Her pitiful crying voice came through the phone:

"Lucas, as soon as Scarlett came back, she posted about me online. She said I stole her husband, that I'm shameless, that I'm ruining the Graham family's peace. She's trying to force me out of the family..."

"Please, help me beg for forgiveness. I know I was wrong. I'll never mention having a wedding again. If I offended Scarlett today, I'll go out and apologize to her right now, even if I have to do it naked. Please don't kick me out..."

Lucas clicked on the link Chloe sent, his eyebrows knotting together.

The post was made using my profile picture, and every word was a threat against Chloe.

I was about to explain when a sudden slap exploded across my cheek.

"Chloe grew up in an orphanage, with no parents. How dare you tell her to get out! Where is a young girl supposed to go? You think too highly of yourself!"

With these words, Lucas walked out, struggling to control his anger as he comforted Chloe in the gentlest voice.

The stark contrast left me stunned.

I wondered if he had ever thought about how I would survive when he threw me to Jack Thompson. Had he ever worried about the dangers I might face?

I laughed bitterly, tasting the iron flavor spreading in my mouth, my heart already numb.

I sat there all night, patting my restless son with one hand.

The next morning, Lucas knocked on the door a few times and spoke in a commanding tone:

"Chloe has specially prepared a yacht party for you, first to apologize, and second to welcome you back. Hurry up and bring Leo downstairs."

The time has come... It's finally about to end.