A Divorce He Regrets

Chapter 37:

But as soon as they saw me, they fell silent, their eyes flickering with something that looked like… guilt? Suspicion?

“What’s going on?” I asked, frowning as I looked between them.

Vanessa avoided my gaze, a rare move for her. Before I could press her, Eliza spoke up, her voice soft and laced with an unusual edge of concern. “I was at the hospital earlier,” she said, her tone feigning worry. “I heard you took Liam to a different facility.”

I nodded, suspicion prickling at the back of my mind. Eliza never showed interest in Liam, never acted like she cared. So why was she there? “Why were you at the hospital?”

She hesitated, her expression carefully composed. “I just… I was worried. Vanessa and I were talking about it, and we thought it was time for me to step up, to be the mother Liam needs.”noveldrama

Her words were calculated, each one slipping from her lips with a precision that made my skin crawl. She didn’t care about Liam—she never had. This was an act, another performance meant to sway me, to make me believe in a version of her that didn’t exist.

“Liam’s safe,” I replied, my voice clipped. “That’s all that matters.”

Vanessa, who’d been silent until now, finally spoke, her voice almost a whisper. “Is he with Raina?”

Her question was a trap, and I knew it. I ignored her, pulling out my phone as it buzzed in my pocket. It was a message from my investigator.

RAINA

I was discharged yesterday, but the hospital still felt like home—or at least more like one than my own house did lately. Since leaving, I’d been back almost every hour, staying by Liam’s side while the doctors ran test after test, desperate to find something that could explain everything. Nothing had surfaced yet, and the weight of that uncertainty sat heavy on my chest.

The evening felt quieter than usual as I slipped back into the house, feeling the familiar warmth in the walls that should have been comforting. Ava had just been tucked in, and I’d asked Agatha, our housekeeper, to let me take over tonight. I hadn’t been around enough, and Ava deserved the time I had to give. I hadn’t been giving her much attention lately. I quietly made my way to her room and settled in beside her, brushing the stray curls off her forehead as I read her bedtime story. But instead of sleeping, she looked up at me with those wide, curious eyes.

“Mama,” she said softly, her voice sleepy but still insistent. “Where’s Liam? Why doesn’t he live here with us?”

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁: gⳑ𝗮𝗅𝗇𝗈ν𝖊𝗅𝘀⧽ⅽ𝗼𝗺

My heart twisted, and I forced a small smile, hoping she wouldn’t notice how it wavered. If only she knew…

“It’s… complicated, sweetheart,” I whispered, stroking her hair. “But I’m working on it, okay? We’re going to make sure he’s okay first. And then, once he’s better, you’ll be able to play together all you want.”

She blinked, as if weighing my words carefully, before nodding in her small, solemn way. “Okay, Mama.”

I kissed her forehead and tucked the covers around her. “Now get some sleep, darling. You’ve got school in the morning.”

Ava’s eyes finally drifted shut, and I stayed for a moment, just watching her breathe, the steady rise and fall that reminded me of a time when things were simple. If only I could protect both of my children from everything threatening to tear us apart.

I closed the door softly behind me, ready to retreat to my own room, when I nearly walked straight into Faith. She looked as exhausted as I felt, leaning slightly against the wall, a soft smile on her face.

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