He Didn’t Know She Was The Heiress Chapter 05
His house. After ten years of marriage, that was still how he thought of our home.
I gave a short laugh. “That house is marital property, Julian. It isn’t yours alone.”
There was a pause. He wasn’t used to me answering back.
“I paid for it,” he snapped. “What makes you think you’re entitled to any of it? You want a divorce? You’re leaving with nothing.”
When I didn’t respond, he mistook my silence for fear.
“Come here, apologize to Mia, and take care of Aiden. Do that, and I’ll let this go. Don’t push your luck, Chloe.”
The call was on speaker. Dad’s jaw tightened with every word, and Mom drew a sharp breath. I shook my head before she could speak.
“I’m not coming back,” I told Julian. “We’re done.”
I ended the call and blocked Mia’s number too.
“Please don’t let him upset you,” I said to my parents. “I don’t care what he says anymore.”
Mom pulled me against her, her tears wetting my hair. “Sweetheart, how could he treat you like that?” I had meant to reassure her, but at the sound of her voice, I stopped trying to hold myself together.
Dad struck the door with his fist. “Because he thinks you have no one. He thinks we abandoned you, so he can do whatever he wants.”
His voice dropped. “He has no idea who he’s dealing with.”
Mom wiped her face. “He still doesn’t know about our family?”
“No. I was going to tell him soon, but…” I let out an unsteady laugh. “Maybe I got lucky. At least I found out before I told him.”
My father owned Bennett Group, one of the biggest companies in Chicago. Would Julian regret what he’d done if he knew whose daughter he’d thrown away?
Dad reached over and squeezed my hand. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t get away with this.”
I rested my head on Mom’s shoulder. I didn’t have to convince either of them that I was worth caring for.
My own son might not love me. But my parents always would.
For now, that was enough.
…
Back at the hospital, Julian hurled Mia’s phone to the floor.
She snatched it up and checked the screen. “What if she really doesn’t come back?”
“Of course she will. She hasn’t worked in years. Without me, she couldn’t even afford a cup of coffee.”
Julian looked toward the exit. “She won’t leave me.”
It sounded less convincing the second time.
He remembered Chloe looking at him before she went upstairs. She hadn’t begged or shouted. She’d seemed too tired even to hate him.
Would she come back?
The treatment-room door opened. A nurse wheeled Aiden out, stable now but still pale beneath the swelling.
Julian let out a breath at the sight of his son. Aiden was going to be all right. And Chloe would come for him. She had built her whole life around that boy; she wouldn’t walk away from him.
Mia hurried to the gurney. “Sweetheart, how do you feel?”
Aiden looked past her, searching the hallway. “Where’s Mom? I want my mom.”
“She’s upset with us,” Mia said. “She left. But don’t worry. I’ll ask her to come back.”
His face crumpled. “No. I want her now. I want Mom!”
“Enough,” Julian said, rubbing his forehead. “You said you liked Aunt Mia best.”
Aiden shook his head, tears slipping down his swollen cheeks. “I dreamed Mom said she didn’t want me anymore. She wouldn’t do that, would she, Dad?”
Julian’s voice softened. “Of course not. She gave up the job she loved to look after you. She’d never leave you.”
He smoothed his son’s hair. “She’s just sulking. You focus on getting better. She’ll come home.”
Aiden managed a small, uncertain smile, but kept looking toward the hallway. Whenever he’d been sick before, Mom had been there. He wanted to hear her say she was coming back.
Mia’s own smile tightened. Beside her, Lily glared at the boy who had suddenly decided her mother wasn’t good enough.
Over the next few days, Julian worked on the revisions to his novel while Mia and Lily moved in. He told himself that once they settled down, the four of them would be happy.
But Mia spent her days shopping or stretched out on the couch, scrolling through videos. She never cooked. At dinnertime, Julian found takeout containers where Chloe’s home-cooked meals used to be.
He picked at food he didn’t want while the children argued across the table.
Aiden and Lily had been inseparable at first. Now a bag of chips could start a fight. A toy left on the couch became something to scream over. Soon they were hitting each other.
Julian couldn’t get through a page without a shout or a crash pulling him away from his work. The revisions remained unfinished, and every interruption made him angrier.
One afternoon, the children started up again. He pushed back his chair and left his home office.
From the upstairs landing, he saw Mia slap Aiden across the face.