Abandoned XXL Wife: My Second Husband Is A Tycoon Chapter 04
I looked up.
“Mr. Foster, Charlie spends almost all his time inside this house. He needs more than specialists and expensive toys.”
I spoke carefully.
“I want to take him to a public pool. Do some water therapy.”
“The pressure and resistance of the water can help with sensory regulation. And it gives him a controlled way to experience the outside world.”
Ethan studied me for a few seconds.
The doubt in his eyes faded.
“Okay. I’ll go with you.”
“You will?”
I hadn’t expected that. But the next day, he came anyway.
At the public pool, Ethan walked out in a swimsuit.
Several women nearby stopped talking.
Then came the whispers.
“Oh my God. Look at that family.”
“They’re gorgeous.”
“Who are they?”
Ethan had the kind of body women stared at. Broad shoulders. Narrow waist. Hard lines everywhere.
I looked at him once.
Then back at the pool. Then at Charlie.
He was my employer. I was his employee.
That was it.
A camera shutter clicked somewhere behind me.
I turned.
Someone in the corner was holding up a phone.
My stomach tightened.
If someone like Ethan Foster got photographed with someone like me, no background and no status, the tabloids would have a field day tomorrow.
The worse part? If Charlie’s face ended up in the papers, for a child that sensitive, it would be devastating.
I stepped sideways and blocked the phone’s view of him.
Then I shifted again, putting enough distance between Ethan and me that we couldn’t appear in the same shot.
“Mr. Foster, the shallow end is better for Charlie. I’ll take him over there.”
I didn’t wait for an answer. I took Charlie’s hand and walked toward the children’s pool.
I didn’t look back until we were several steps away.
Ethan was still standing where I’d left him.
Sunlight hit his shoulders.
One hand was raised, a kickboard still hanging from it.
He was staring at me.
I held his gaze for a second.
Then I turned back to Charlie.
Whatever Ethan was thinking wasn’t part of my job.
As long as the money kept coming, he could swim laps until midnight for all I cared.
…
Once I had settled into the Foster family, good news started coming one after another.
With Ethan’s medical team and unlimited money for treatment, my mother’s condition improved almost overnight.
She was moved out of the ICU and into a private VIP room.
I stood beside her bed and watched her sleep.
Her face finally had some color again.
For the first time in months, I could breathe.
But just because the worst was over didn’t mean I could relax.
I sat on a bench outside her room and looked at the one hundred and seventy thousand dollars in my account.
Six months later, then I’d get another million.
It was a lot of money.
But it would have to cover Mom’s ongoing treatment, which wouldn’t be nearly enough.
I need more.
Once the Fosters no longer employed me, I needed a career of my own.
I’d studied design in college.
After graduation, I worked on products for mothers and children.
Then I got married.
Little by little, I stopped designing. I even stopped drawing.
Now I had enough money to start over.
I didn’t want to waste it opening a company right away.
So I started small.
I designed a few children’s T-shirts myself and had samples made.
Then I took them downtown.
A small street stall would tell me more about the market than any expensive business plan.
What I didn’t expect was Charlie insisting on coming with me every afternoon.
He was supposed to be playing piano in a mansion.
Instead, he showed up in the summer heat wearing one of my sample T-shirts.
The late-summer sun was brutal. His pale skin turned pink within minutes.
He didn’t complain once.
He stood beside my little stall like a proud little model and helped me sell.
“Come take a look!”
“My mommy designed these shirts herself!”
“The designs are one of a kind!”
“And the colors are super cute!”
He pointed proudly at his own shirt.
“Look at me! Don’t I look the coolest kid on the whole street?”
His little face and the bright cartoon design were impossible to resist.
Within minutes, a crowd of young mothers gathered around us.
“Oh my God, these designs are adorable!”
“And look at him! He’s so cute!”
“I’ll take two. My son would look great in these.”
I barely had time to breathe.
I was taking money, packing shirts, and answering questions.
Sweat covered my forehead.
Then a shadow fell over the stall.
A familiar voice came from above me.
“Sophie?”
I froze.
“Is that really you?”
I slowly looked up.
Daniel Kane.
My ex-husband.
The man who once told me I’d starve without him.