Signed Mrs. Sterling Chapter 02
When Henry was born, Harrison only visited the hospital once, and he brought his Yale buddy, Sebastian, with him.
“Hey, man, this little guy looks exactly like you,” Sebastian joked.
I looked at the man in the bespoke suit expectantly, but all I got was a cold remark.
“He’s all wrinkled, like an alien. God knows who he looks like.”
Even so, Henry became his father’s little shadow. The child had classic attachment anxiety and was terrifyingly perceptive.
Once, he dodged my hug and told me with a straight face, “Daddy doesn’t like you. If I’m too close to you, Daddy will hate me too.”
It felt like a knife to the heart, but I told myself it was just a survival instinct he’d learned in our messed-up family.
Then, a month ago, Harrison did something unheard of and took Henry to Central Park. When they came back, Henry looked at me with pure disdain.
Through the bathroom door, I heard him complaining to the nanny.
“Mom is such a buzzkill. Aunt Vanessa is the cool one! She let me eat cheese pizza and play video games until midnight! Mom is always freaking out like gluten is poison.”
“Vanessa even bought me real chocolate! Not like Mom, who only buys those gross sugar-free organic snacks from the supermarket.”
My heart sank.
I walked into the kitchen and glanced at the pot of bone broth I’d been simmering for six hours. It was specially made for Henry’s fragile, allergy-prone system.
When I brought the soup out, Henry was sprawled on the couch like a little king, glued to his tablet.
“Dinner time, sweetie,” I said softly.
Henry glanced at the bowl and then violently swatted it away.
Scalding soup splashed all over the back of my hand, which instantly turned red and swollen.
“This is so annoying! I’m sick of this disgusting stuff!”
“I want chocolate! I want the kind Vanessa bought me!”
I instinctively reached for him, but he shoved my hand away.
He didn’t even care that I’d just been burned.
My hand was on fire, but my heart was turning to ice.
I had given up my career to care for him, becoming a “health nut,” and in the end, he, just like his father, was completely captivated by the “cool aunt” who only ever gave him candy.