2

[Olivia Jude Velcro]

I didn’t know where else to go.

My hands turned the steering wheel on instinct, guiding the car toward the Velcro mansion while my thoughts were scattered into a tangled mess. The road stretched endlessly ahead of me, every second heavier than the last.

I wasn’t going there for Carter.

I came for his mother.

For Elara Velcro—the only place that still felt like shelter. 

The only woman who felt like my own mother.

Questions clawed at my mind, relentless and merciless. I wanted to confront Carter, to demand the truth, to rip the mask from his face. But before that… I needed to know. Did Elara know? Has she always known about Camilla? About the child, Candice. Cater and his other life hidden behind polite smiles and excuses?

The iron gates opened just as they always had, smooth and indifferent. Everything inside the premises was unchanged. Perfect. Orderly.

Everyone was the same.

Except me.

“Olivia, my darling! It took you weeks this time to visit us.”

Elara’s voice wrapped around me before her arms did. She pulled me into a hug filled with warmth so familiar it nearly broke me. Her hand rose to my cheek, brushing it gently, the way my mother would have. 

My vision blurred.

“I’m sorry, Elara,” I whispered, forcing the words past the ache in my throat. “I missed you so much.”

I was fifteen when fire took my parents from me—reduced my world to ash in a single night. I’d been left with wealth too vast for a child and no one who wanted me, only what I owned. Relatives I’d never known suddenly appeared, each eager to claim guardianship, control, power.

When the court asked who I trusted, I didn't hesitate to nominate.

I took Elara’s name. My mother’s friend. 

Since then, she has loved me fiercely, endlessly and never as an obligation, but as a daughter. As we walked toward the lounge, I ogled at her glowing face and felt the familiar swell in my chest. I was home, safe but grieving. 

Sahl rose from the sofa the moment he saw me, his grin wide and boisterous.

“Look at you, girl! You’re radiant. Much better than your last visit!”

Then his expression shifted, turning gruff. “Is Carter coming too? That brat didn’t show up last time either.”

If I hadn’t known the truth, I might have believed he was buried in work. Like all those other times. What a fool I had been! 

“Has he been treating you well, dear?” Sahl asked gently, concerned about softening his tone. “Tell me the truth and I’ll set him straight,” he added with a chuckle.

That was it.

The constraint broke.

Tears spilled before I could stop them, hot and humiliating. Even if Carter was betraying me—betraying us—his parents wouldn’t. They would never turn away from me. Never from my child. If Carter failed us, they would still stand as grandparents, as family.

My quiet sniffle drew their attention instantly.

Elara moved faster than I thought possible, pulling me into her arms and holding me like I was still a little girl.

“What happened, Olivia?” she whispered urgently. “Is something wrong?”

Before I could answer—

The door opened.

Carter walked in.

Fresh. Well-dressed. Untouched by guilt.

Camilla must be taking good care of him. The thought of it disgusted me.

He didn’t even look at me. Didn’t greet me.

Didn’t acknowledge my presence at all. 

Carter had already replaced me in his life. 

I swallowed the pain and forced a smile, quickly claiming I was just emotional because I’d missed them. I couldn’t let his parents see the fracture. I couldn’t let them turn on him—not yet.

Sahl let it go, seeing me being reluctant.

Elara didn’t.

Her fingers tightened around mine as we headed to the dining hall, her silence louder than words.

Did Camilla not speak of me at all? How could Carter act as if nothing had changed—as if I were already erased?

“Your appetite has increased, Olivia.”

Elara’s voice cut through my thoughts.

“Is there good news?”

My hand froze mid-motion.

The table went silent. Carter and Sahl both looked at me, waiting.

My heart thundered painfully as I forced a laugh.

“Oh—no. No, no,” I said too quickly. “I’m just hungry. I skipped breakfast.”

The words felt brittle. Fragile. False. I was certainly hiding things.

I avoided their eyes, panic tightening my chest.

Carter glanced at me once—briefly—and then looked away, utterly uninterested in knowing more.

And in that moment, the truth hit me harder than any betrayal before.

I didn’t matter to him anymore.

Not even enough to pretend like I was his wife.

“Are you certain, my dear?” Elara asked, her voice gentle but probing. Her sharp gaze never left my face. “You’re emotionally unsettled today. Perhaps you should get yourself examined.”

Her words struck deeper than she realized.

Because unknowingly she was right.

But I couldn’t tell her. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

“Yes,” I replied quickly, forcing a smile that felt like it might crack at any second. “I’m sure, Elara. I’m not pregnant. If I were, I would know.” I nodded, as if conviction alone could make it true.

Carter didn’t even bother to look at me. Not once.

Was I suddenly nothing to him? Or was he punishing me for yesterday? The question splintered my heart into a thousand sharp pieces. A housekeeper approached Elara then, leaning close and whispering urgently into her ear.

Elara’s expression hardened instantly.

“Excuse me,” she said curtly, already rising.

“What is she doing here?” she grated under her breath as she strode toward the main hall.

Confused and uneasy, I followed.

The doors opened.

Camilla stood at the gate, clutching Candice to her chest. The child’s small hands were wrapped tightly around her, eyes wide and uncertain.

Camilla opened her mouth to speak—but Elara’s voice cut through the air like a blade.

“Security,” she snapped. “Remove them. Now.”

Candice began to cry immediately, her small sobs echoing painfully through the hall as the doorman stepped forward.

I stood frozen.

The truth hit me with crushing force.

Elara knew.

Carter stormed in seconds later, fury written across his face. “Why would you do that, Mother?” he demanded. His voice shook with anger—with outrage.

“Listen to me, Carter,” Elara said sharply, gripping his arm. “I know you believe you owe that woman and her child.” Her voice dropped, dangerous and cold. “I don’t know why—but this has gone far enough.”

What did he owe Camilla? And why?

Was there something more beneath this betrayal?

“Pay them off and end this,” Elara continued. “Before Olivia finds out.”

My breath left me.

Everyone knew.

“This disgrace ends now,” Elara said, her voice trembling with fury. Yet even as she condemned him, she had helped hide the truth from me. The betrayal burned from all sides.

“I can’t abandon them, Mother.”

Carter’s voice was calm. Steady. Unapologetic.

“That’s not who I am. I made a promise—and I will keep it. You need to understand that.”

I couldn’t see the future anymore. Not with him. Not with this family I had believed was mine.

Elara scoffed sharply and turned away, leaving the arcade in bitter silence.

The door opened again.

Candice broke free from Camilla and ran straight into Carter’s arms.

“Daddy!”

The sound of it shattered something deep inside my chest.

I stepped forward just enough to see him lift her, cradling her gently, wiping away her tears as if the world had never hurt him.

Then Camilla and Candice noticed me.

Carter turned.

Our eyes locked.

For a heartbeat, I didn’t recognize the man staring back at me. Candice’s sobs pierced the silence. “Daddy,” she whimpered, “I want ice cream.”

Carter laughed softly, pressing a kiss to her cheek. “We’ll get you some, sweetheart.”

Then he looked at me—finally.

“We’ll talk later, Olivia.”

Those were his last words before he closed the door behind him.

Leaving me standing alone in the hall.

Perhaps, in his life as well.