3. 

Jenny POV

The weight of that single sentence crashed into me, overwhelming every thought.

The customers who had been quietly watching suddenly burst into low, excited whispers.

“Wait, did she just call her sister?” 

“So which one is that man’s wife?”

“Maybe it’s an open marriage?”

“With two sisters?”

 “What a mess! ”

“I’m never complaining about my own family again.”

Their voices blurred into meaningless noise.

I no longer had the strength to care.

When Daniel appeared right behind that little girl, the truth slammed into me like a brutal punch: Anna was the woman Alex had brought Daniel to meet.

So they even had a child together? A little girl, old enough to talk, the same age as my son.

“How?” I murmured, stepping back in disbelief.

I hadn’t even known they knew each other.

The waiter’s expression shifted from hostility to pity.

That was worse.

The little girl charged toward me, eyes blazing. She threw herself in front of Anna as if shielding her mother from a monster.

Her wide eyes burned with fury and disgust.

And my son, the son to whom I have devoted my entire life, looked confused, seemingly not understanding what was happening - yet instead of coming to me, he stood beside the girl and looked at me.

And Daniel—my son, the boy I had devoted my entire life to—stood beside her.

He grabbed the girl’s sleeve.

He didn’t come to me. He didn’t even hesitate.

As if they were the ones on the right side.

As if they were the family.

And I was an outsider.

“She’s way better than Mommy!” Daniel’s earlier words echoed in my head.

How ridiculous.

My stomach twisted.

Slowly, I turned to Alex. He owed me an explanation.

His face had darkened, his jaw tight as he scanned the whispering crowd. He had never been humiliated like this in public before. He had always been the golden example.

He looked down at the girl and said sharply, “How many times have I told you, Lisa? I’m just your uncle. You can’t keep calling me Daddy!”

Lisa flinched. Tears instantly welled in her eyes.

Seeing the tension, Anna forced herself to stand, as if her ankle still hurt. She hurried to the girl and pulled her tightly into her arms, taking on the role of protector.

Then she looked up.

Tears fell instantly.

“Please don’t blame my daughter,” she said, her voice trembling. “It’s not her fault. I failed to give her a complete family. She’s still so young… she doesn’t understand that the man she looks up to isn’t her father.”

She choked, pressing a hand to her chest.

“If anyone is to blame, it’s me. I shouldn’t have asked Alex for help. I was desperate. My child was sick and had to go to the hospital. I had no one else… Jenny, you understand, don’t you? You’re a mother too. Please don’t blame my baby girl.”

Her voice broke completely. She covered her face and sank back down, sobbing.

Lisa forgot her own tears. She reached up with her small hand and wiped Anna’s face.

“I’m sorry, Mommy. I won’t do it again…”

Alex’s gaze softened, fixed entirely on Anna. Regret flickered across his face, perhaps for being too harsh,but he said nothing.

Instead, he glanced at me, with unconscious accusation in his eyes, as if saying I never should have come here, that none of this would have happened if I’d just stayed home.

The customers around us had gone quiet.

They’d come to gawk and gossip.

But after Anna’s perfect little act, every one of them turned to stare at me with judgment.

Sharp, condemning stares, painting me as the cruel wife attacking a helpless single mother and her sick child.

Like I was supposed to just step forward, say I’m sorry, walk away, and make peace.

Even though she had stolen my husband, drove me away years ago, left me with years of scars.

Everything was exactly my old nightmare replaying itself.

No matter how many times it happened, Anna always won the room.

Only then did Daniel seem to fully grasp the situation.

He spoke up quickly, like a little knight defending his princess, “Mum, I was the one who suggested sharing Daddy with Lisa. Don’t blame her…”

Something inside me snapped.

My chest tightened as if invisible hands were crushing my ribs. The air thinned. I tried to breathe, but each inhale was shallow, useless.

My heartbeat roared in my ears, drowning out the room.

The edges of my vision blurred. The world felt too small. Too tight.

I knew this feeling.

A panic attack.

And I hated that I recognized it.

At that moment, only one thought surfaced through the chaos.

Leave.

I turned and walked away, but Alex grabbed my arm.

He held me firmly and pulled me into a warm, solid embrace.

“There’s nothing to see here,” he announced coldly, shielding me with his broad figure, “Please disperse.”

Everything after that felt fragmented, like scenes from a film.

When I came back to myself, I was sitting in the restaurant’s VIP room.

Alex had his arm around me, gently stroking my hair.

“It’s okay now, Jenny. Breathe. You are safe now.”

Daniel stood nearby, watching me anxiously.

The panic had drained every drop of emotion out of me.

I wearily pulled myself out of Alex’s embrace. I had to do that, or I would lose the courage to confront him.

“Daniel, sweetheart,” I said, my voice abnormally hoarse. “Could you wait in the other room  for a moment? Mommy and Daddy need to talk. It won’t take long.”

He nodded, and walked inside.

Finally, for this whole day, I was alone with my husband.

I looked at him. Still handsome, composed, but I could no longer feel safe looking at that face.

For a second, I wanted to run. To find somewhere Anna didn’t exist and let myself collapse.

But I couldn’t leave Daniel behind.

“Alex,” I said, my voice trembling despite my effort to steady it, “did you cheat on me with Anna?”

“No.” Alex replied without hesitation. 

He exhaled slowly, jaw tight. “I know it looked terrible, but you have to hear me out.”

“I am hearing.” I said, not sure if I was doing the right thing.

He was clearly uncomfortable.

Alexander Reach was not a man used to explaining himself. He was a leader, a golden boy, someone who expected trust without question.

He hated being doubted.

He sighed and said, “I’m sorry, Jenny. I’ve made a complete mess of this, haven’t I?”

I didn’t respond. 

“I didn’t cheat. That’s not who I am. But I did have connections with Anna.”

“What?” Confusion cut through my fear.

“It started because I wanted to give you a birthday surprise. I thought reconnecting you with your family would make you happy. I thought you missed them. I panicked when you showed up—I didn’t explain in time.”

He looked at me, anxiety flickering in his eyes.

"Things developed rapidly. I never meant for it to turn into that scene.”

“So this is all a misunderstanding?” I asked.

What about the signs I had sensed these past weeks?

“Yes. Exactly.” He nodded quickly. “I did meet Anna recently. But only to plan your birthday. You have to believe me. I love you. Only you.”

He guided my hand to his chest, over his heart, and kissed my knuckles.

For a moment, my resolve wavered.

I knew what it felt like to be misunderstood.

But I still had one question.

“How do you even know her?” I asked.

After our fallout seven years ago, I had never seen Anna again. Alex and I had only been married for five years. How could he possibly know her?

“Anna came to me,” he admitted quietly. “She said there had been a misunderstanding between you…”

I couldn’t listen anymore.

“You idiot, Alex,” I said. The tears I had been holding back finally fell. I wiped them away hard and repeated in a low voice, “You’re an idiot.”

“What’s wrong, Jenny?” Alex hurriedly hugged me again.

This time, I let him.

“I never told you about my family,” I whispered. “I only told you that I didn’t have one anymore. That should have meant something.”

My throat tightened.

I had never explained the shame. The humiliation. The years I tried to erase.

I wanted to bury it all.

But Anna never let things stay buried.

How had she even found him?

She must have bewitched him with her tricks, manipulating his kindness and his love for me to plant doubt between us. 

She wanted me to misunderstand, to drown in pain. I couldn’t let her win.

I couldn’t let Anna take Alex away from me.

He and Daniel were the best things that had ever happened to me.

When my breathing finally steadied, I pulled back slightly and gripped his hand. “You can’t believe anything she says. There’s nothing between us but hatred.”

“Promise me you’ll stay away from her, okay?” I whispered, almost pleading.