“Good,” she said, offering a small, false smile that made my skin crawl. “You have to stay strong. For Elias.”
Then she turned to Adrian, brushing his arm with an intimacy that made my chest seize. “Let’s go. The doctors are waiting.”
When they left, silence swallowed the room. That’s when I broke. Completely.
I grabbed my phone, hands trembling so violently it was a struggle to press the numbers. I called my lawyer. “I want a divorce,” I said, my voice shaking, barely holding together.
There was a pause on the line. “Mrs. Calder, are you certain? Your prenuptial agreement forbids divorce without your father’s consent. Your family—”
“I don’t care!” I cut him off, my heartbeat thundering. My voice steadied now, sharp and determined. “Draft the papers. I’ll get my father to agree. Just make sure Adrian never finds out. Do you understand?”
“Yes, ma’am,” the lawyer replied hesitantly.
“Good. I’ll be in touch soon.”
I hung up, leaning back and drawing shaky breaths. My hands were icy, my body weak, but for the first time in what felt like forever, I had made a decision for myself. No more pretending. No more lies.
Later that afternoon, I went to the hospital.
I told myself I wasn’t doing this for Adrian or Seraphine. I was doing it for him—the little boy who called me “Mommy” every night, who made me believe in love, who filled my empty world with laughter. Even if he wasn’t mine, I loved him fiercely.
I stopped in the hallway outside the pediatric wing. Elias’s room door was slightly ajar, and voices floated through the gap.
Seraphine’s soft, controlled tone. Adrian’s calm, deep voice. And then his small, innocent voice—so achingly familiar, so painfully mine in memory.
“But Mom,” Elias said quietly, “why do I have two mommies? Why can’t it just be you… or Mommy Vivienne?”
Seraphine laughed softly, brushing his hair. “Sweetheart, Vivienne isn’t really your mommy. You know that, right? It’s me. I told you to keep it a secret so she wouldn’t get hurt… or me. Do you understand? You wouldn’t want to separate me and Daddy, would you?”
My breath hitched.
Adrian’s voice followed. “We told you, son, it’s just what people believe. You did a great job pretending, remember? You’ll have to keep doing it until we say otherwise.”
Elias giggled. “I know, Daddy. You said to be nice so Mommy Vivienne wouldn’t cry.”
My hand clenched the doorframe. The world seemed to tilt beneath me.