Chapter 1: Daddy

“Ready?” Ethan asked her while straightening his tie.

“Ready.” Mia’s heart was pounding in excitement. Today was the day she and Ethan would announce their engagement to the rest of the Grey family.

“Remember what I told you. Don’t-“

“Don’t speak to your uncle or grandmother any more than is absolutely necessary,” Mia repeated what he had told her about a hundred times already. “Don't worry. I won't embarrass you.”

“Okay.” He patted her hand. “I trust you.”

Mia smiled at his words. She knew how important this was to Ethan. HIs uncle had just returned to the country after being abroad for years, and Ethan wanted to take this chance to impress him. From what Mia had heard, the man was very powerful and notoriously hard to please. She really hoped nothing would go wrong today.

They went downstairs to meet Olivia - his mom - who was already waiting for them.

Olivia’s expression darkened when she saw Mia holding on to Ethan’s arm. She stepped forward and straightened his tie for him even though it was already as straight as it could be.

“Did you have to bring her today of all days?” Olivia asked Ethan, referring to Mia. “Your uncle will be here soon. Do we really need an outsider here with us?”

Mia remained quiet and let Ethan do the talking. She knew Olivia didn't like her, and could only hope that with time, that would change.

“Mom, you know Mia’s like family,” Ethan replied. “Besides, we have something very important to share with the family today.”

Olivia didn’t look convinced. She turned to Mia and scrutinized her. Her gaze landed on Mia’s head. “Couldn’t you have done something better with that rat’s nest of yours?”

Mia resisted both the urge to put a hand to her curly hair, and the urge to say something in her defense. She'd learned that keeping the peace was easier than defending herself. “I…”

“Save it,” Olivia cut short her apology, just as her phone rang and she pulled it out of her purse. Her brows furrowed as she stared at the screen. “It’s your uncle,” she told Ethan.

“Why is he calling? He should be here already.”

“Hello, Brother” Olivia greeted, and Mia was surprised to see that the expression on Olivia’s face was even more irritable than the one she had on when she spoke to Mia. She listened silently for a while. When the call ended, she scowled.

“What is it Mom?” Ethan asked.

“Your uncle and grandmother are both not coming," she replied angrily. "This is so typical of him. Ugh.” Disgust was apparent in her tone.

Ethan's expression turned glum, and for a while, he and Olivia were both silent. Mia wondered if the relationship between Ethan’s absent uncle and the rest of the family was really as bad as it appeared. Olivia certainly didn’t seem pleased whenever she talked about him, but Mia also knew that for a family like the Greys, things were usually not as they seemed, and could be blown out of proportion by outsiders.

Seeing how much the mood had changed, Mia thought of the pregnancy test results burning a hole in her bag, and wondered if some happy news would break the ice. She hadn’t even told Ethan yet. She was planning to tell everyone at dinner, but maybe now was the time. Putting her hand in her purse, she began to take out the folded results. Just before she could take it out though, the doorbell rang, and a maid rushed to get the door.

“Are you expecting anyone?” Olivia asked Ethan.

“No.”

The maid returned, and behind her followed a stylish woman in a fur coat and spiky stilettos. She was stunning. Compared to her, Mia immediately felt insecure. Her grip on Ethan’s arm subconsciously tightened.

Beside the woman was a little boy of around six or seven years of age. Immediately the boy saw Ethan beside Mia, his eyes lit up, he let go of the woman’s hand, and raced towards Ethan, clearly overjoyed. “Daddy!”

Mia was so shocked that it took her a few seconds for her brain to fully process what she’d just heard. Daddy?

Just as she turned towards Ethan for an explanation, she felt him let go of her hand. That moment, no matter how small it was, imprinted itself in her mind. As she watched, that boy jumped into Ethan’s arms, and Ethan caught him as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

“Daddy! We missed you! Why haven’t you come see us?”

Mia was pale and her heart was pounding anew, this time, not out of excitement.

“Daddy?” she repeated in a croaking voice, staring at Ethan like she didn’t recognize him.

But Ethan wasn’t even looking at her. No. He was staring at the woman who had arrived with the boy – his son, apparently.

“Zara,” Ethan called out, unable to tear his eyes off that woman. He looked shocked. “What are you doing here?”

The woman – Zara – gave an apologetic expression. “I’m sorry, Ethan. But Leo missed you so much. It's been months since we heard from you, so we thought something had happened to you. Leo was worried and he begged me to check in on you just to be sure you were alright.”

Mia was speechless as she watched the back and forth. She could feel her world start to fall apart. Ethan still had not given her a glance, but he looked panicked. Stepping forward, he grabbed Zara’s wrist and started to tug her back towards the door as if making her leave now would erase the whole thing from Mia’s memory.

“What are you doing?” He whispered furiously, making sure Mia couldn’t hear him. “I told you not to come here!”

Just as he was about to send her out the door, Olivia intercepted them and pulled Ethan aside.

“Mom, I can explain – ”

“What do you think you're doing?” Olivia interrupted.

“I didn’t – “

“Is he really your son?” she asked, gesturing to Leo who was still holding on to Ethan.

Ethan finally glanced back at Mia who was still standing frozen in shock in the exact same spot he’d left her. He was too panicked to meet her eyes though, and quickly turned back to Olivia. He nodded. “Yes, but – “

Standing where he was, Mia couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying, but it wasn’t hard to guess. Her heart hurt and her eyes stung and when she pulled her gaze away from Ethan and looked at Zara instead, she was met with a smug look dripping with satisfaction. She looked away. Olivia was still speaking in whispers to Ethan. No one even considered her presence. Not even Ethan.

Feeling the onslaught of tears grow hard to hold back, Mia turned and left the room.

“But nothing,” Olivia was saying to Ethan. “What do you think you’re doing trying to make them leave? Have you forgotten how things stand at the company? You need an heir. Leo will give you the upper hand against your uncle, and you’re just going to throw that chance away?”

“But Mia - "

"Mia will understand,” Olivia told him. "Zara and Leo will stay here."

Without saying anything else, Ethan turned around and chased after Mia who was already halfway up the stairs.

“Mia, wait!”

Mia ignored him and didn’t stop walking until she reached the guest bedroom she stayed in. Everything she’d just heard and seen replayed in her mind like a broken record. Ethan had a secret family, and instead of explaining things to her, he’d let her stand there like a fool. She was leaving before she made a further fool of herself.

Just as she grabbed her bag, Ethan caught up with her, snatched the bag from her hand, and set it back down. “Wait, Mia. Please. Listen to me before you go at least.”

“Listen to you?!” As Mia spoke, she finally broke down and cried. “You have a child with some woman! You’ve been cheating on me for who knows how long, and – ”

“No! God, Mia I would never cheat on you!” he insisted. “I swear it. It happened long ago. Zara is my ex. She had Leo when we were in second year in college and disappeared. I didn’t even know I had a son until very recently when she came back to the country and found me.”

Mia scoffed, disbelieving. “She said you didn’t go to see them lately. Doesn’t that mean you’ve been going to see them? All those times you went on business trips without telling me…” She started to sob again. “I’m such a fool.”

“No. Don’t say that. You’re not a fool. And I promise I only went to see Leo. Nothing happened between Zara and I. You can ask her if you want. I mean, why would I cheat on an amazing woman like you? We’re going to be married, did you forget?” His tone was coercing, making Mia want to believe everything he said.

Mia stared at him, trying to decide whether she could believe him. “If you didn’t cheat on me, then why did you lie? Why didn’t you tell me about Leo’s existence?”

Ethan sighed. “I was going to tell you. I just didn’t know how to bring it up without hurting you. I didn't want anything to come between us. Please you need to believe me.” He wiped off a stray tear with his thumb and kissed her forehead gently. “I love you, Mia. Don’t ever forget that. Do you love me?”

Shakily, Mia nodded. She loved him so much.

“Then trust me. Okay?”

She nodded again, and wiped the last of her tears from her eyes. She wanted to believe him. She desperately wanted to believe him.

Ethan kissed her again. “Wait here for me. I’ll be back. Don't go anywhere. Alright?”

“Okay,” she replied. As he got to the door, she called him. “Ethan?”

“Yes?”

“I love you.” Silently, she added in her mind ‘I really hope you're not lying to me.’

Ethan smiled. “I love you too.”

He shut the door behind him, and Mia heard his footsteps receding. She slowly sat on the bed, giving herself time to calm down and breathe. She wanted to believe Ethan's explanation. She wanted to believe that the man she had loved for five years hadn't betrayed her.

About a minute later, quicker, lighter footsteps approached, and the door was pushed open. Olivia stood there, a derisive expression on her face as she stared at Mia.

“You’re just going to sit there and mope?” She asked rudely. “Lunch won’t serve itself. Zara and my grandson need to eat.”

Mia was taken aback since neither she or Olivia were responsible for serving meals as the mansion had plenty of maids. In order to avoid an argument though, she quietly followed Olivia.

“Go get the tablecloth from the closet over there,” Olivia ordered, pointing to a door down the hallway. Mia had always thought the door led to a guest room, but maybe she was wrong and it really was a closet.

Mia walked towards the indicated door while Olivia went back downstairs with a smug look on her face. When Mia got there, the door was cracked slightly open. She almost pushed it all the way open when she heard Ethan’s voice coming from inside the room.

“Come on, Zara, don’t tell me you’re still mad?” He was coaxing her. “I explained things to you and told you why you have to stay away for now, but you didn’t listen to me.”

“How could I just sit still when I knew you were going to marry that woman?” Someone replied. Even if Ethan hadn’t said her name, Mia still would have recognized the voice.

“Mia is exactly what I need. She's naive, and she believes everything I tell her. Once I'm married to her, it won't be difficult to get what I want.”

Mia's breath caught in her throat.

“She’s not even that pretty, so what do you see in her?” Zara asked, sounding like she was pouting.

Ethan gave a helpless laugh.

“Yes, I know she’s not pretty. You’re the prettiest. But I have my own reasons for marrying her. Haven’t I promised you though? Our marriage will only be temporary. After I divorce her, we can be together. Just us and Leo.”

It was like she was hearing something so completely absurd. Mia froze outside the door, barely breathing.

“Are you sure?” She heard Zara press. “What if she has a child for you? Will you still leave her?”

Mia's fingers tightened on the door knob, her breath held.

“Don’t worry about that.” Ethan laughed. “I’m pretty sure the bitch is infertile. We’ve been going at it for months now and she still isn’t pregnant.”

The words struck harder than a slap. Mia's hand slowly fell from the door.

She instinctively placed a hand over her stomach, her eyes filled with tears.

She had been carrying a secret she had planned to share with Ethan that very day. She had been so happy when she found out she was pregnant. She had imagined his reaction, imagined the way his face would light up when she told him they were going to have a baby.

And he had just called her infertile.

There was a low smacking sound as if Zara had playfully smacked Ethan. “That was a risky thing to do. What if she had really fallen pregnant?”

“But she didn’t,” Ethan reassured. “And the sex was mid.”

Zara giggled. “It was?”

“It was. Can’t you tell?” His voice dropped. “I’ve been hard since the minute I saw you.”

Hurt, disbelief, anger, helplessness. Those words didn’t even begin to cover the torrent of emotions Mia felt in that moment. She had given herself to Ethan, body and soul. Those beautiful moments she’d shared with him were now reduced to a few crude statements by Ethan himself. It was like a knife was stabbed into her chest and twisted. Ethan was the one holding said knife.

Zara giggled again. “Ooh. You really are hard. Want me to help you with that?”

Ethan groaned, still oblivious to Mia’s presence. “Yes, baby. I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too. I can’t wait for you to fuck me like you use to.”

Mia gasped, feeling a panic attack coming on. She felt lightheaded, and her hearing faded, leaving only the wet sounds of kissing in her ears. She bent a bit, clutching at her chest as her vision blurred from tears. As she tried to hold on to a wall to support herself, she accidentally pushed the door, and it swung open a few more inches, completely soundless. This was like pouring fuel into fire. Mia was granted a clear view of what was happening in the room.

Ethan was already shirtless, and he and Zara were kissing passionately. Ethan had his back to the door, so he couldn’t see her. Zara saw her though. Their eyes met, and Zara smiled. Mia’s heart shattered.

That was enough. She couldn’t watch anymore.

Tears blurring her vision and all her other senses fuzzy, Mia turned and ran.