My Husband Wanted Me To Cheat And I Went To The Don. Chapter 07
Charles’s entire body went rigid.
He turned around. “What did you say?”
“I said the eight million was ransom money. For me.”
Charles’s father closed his eyes, as if reaching back for something very old. “And the kidnapper was your brother.”
“Didn’t the kidnapper take the money and run? And since when does Mom have another son for you?”
The instant after the words left his mouth, Charles understood.
That brother was his father’s illegitimate child.
“The family was on the verge of collapse. I couldn’t afford to keep sending him money. He lost his head and kidnapped me.”
“It happened when I was visiting Silvia’s father in the hospital. He tried to shield me and was taken along.”
“This…” Charles swallowed. “Silvia knew?”
“She knew. She knew everything from start to finish. I told her not to call the police. She didn’t.”
“I told her not to tell anyone—I said you and your mother would never accept that I had an illegitimate son out there. So she kept quiet.”
“Later your brother threatened her with my life, and she had no choice but to—”
Charles stood there, feeling as though someone had shoved him off the roof of a building. He was still falling.
“She paid my eight-million debt. She hid the scandal of my illegitimate son. She took three years of your resentment and cold shoulder for me.”
Charles leaned against the bookshelf. He wanted to laugh but couldn’t.
“She really is something. Holding it all together through that.”
The old man watched him and said nothing more.
Charles licked his lips and looked away from his father’s face.
“This divorce isn’t real. We agreed—once the baby’s born, we remarry.”
“She agreed to it herself. A whole roomful of friends witnessed it.”
“She can come back anytime. You don’t need to worry.”
The more Charles said, the more convinced he sounded. His voice steadied.
“Besides, her health isn’t great—you know that.”
“Those years already wrecked her body. Nancy’s young. She has the baby, gives it to Silvia to raise. Silvia doesn’t have to go through the strain, and the house gets a child. Isn’t that a good arrangement?”
He finished and looked at the old man, waiting for a nod. But his father’s expression hadn’t shifted one degree.
“She agreed?”
“How exactly did she agree? What were her exact words?”
“I…”
Charles stood there and realized he couldn’t answer the question.
He tried to remember. What had she said?
He couldn’t recall.
She hadn’t nodded. She hadn’t shaken her head.
What had her face looked like?
Had she hesitated? Gone quiet? Had her eyes reddened?
He remembered none of it.
“You worthless bastard! You gave her no choice but to agree.”
Charles’s father hurled an ashtray straight at him.
Charles didn’t dodge in time. Blood ran down from his brow.
He wiped at it, but felt no pain. The study door burst open—Nancy rushed in.
One hand on her belly, the other reaching for his wound.
“Father, it’s all my fault. Please don’t blame Charles anymore—”
“He’s doing this for the baby. You wouldn’t want your first grandchild called illegitimate, would you?”
The word “illegitimate” silenced the old man instantly.
Nancy turned to Charles:
“Charles, let’s pick a name for the baby. Let your father help us think of one, okay?”
What she thought was a rescue only made Charles angrier.
He shoved her away. “How many times do I have to say it? Only Silvia gets to name the child!”