chapter 35

THEA

He’s leaning against the vending machine when I find him, his attention on his phone, eyebrows scrunched. Like this is any ordinary day and not the one where he let our son bleed internally under his watch.

My heels echo down the corridor as I approach him. He looks up—relieved for a second—until he sees my face.

Then the color drains.

Good.

I didn't wait for him to spew any shit or for my anger to decrease as I ask, “What the hell is wrong with you, Sebastian?”

He straightens, “Thea, listen—”

“No.” I jab a finger at him. “You don’t get to ask for that. Not after what I just heard.”

His jaw tightens. “I didn’t know it was that serious. The school called, they said it was a minor fall—”

“Minor?!” I snap. “He passed out, Sebastian. He needed a transfusion. You had one job—to keep him safe—and you failed.”

His nostrils flare. “I took him to urgent care. They said it was probably bruising—”

“But you didn’t follow up, did you? You let him come home, bleeding inside, while you were too busy playing happy family with Claire.”

His mouth opens, but I don’t give him a chance as I lower my voice.

“And how dare you let her make him call her Mommy? Do you know what that did to him? Do you know he thinks I left him for work, for good? That I chose ambition over him?”

“I never said that—”

“But you let her say it. You let her punish him for missing me. You let her starve a grieving child of cookies because he said he wanted his mother!”

His face crumbles for a second. 

“He’s seven, Sebastian. Not your emotional crutch. Not Claire’s replacement therapy.”

His voice is hoarse now. “See Thea, you don't understand. I didn't even know she was treating him like that.”

Another excuse. Another lie.

I take a step closer. “Seems like you've forgotten that I know the face you make when you lie right?”

He coughs but I continue,

“You can't just tarnish my name before our son behind my back. You know I could have told him what you did right? How your cheating broke us apart. But I didn't and I left peacefully just so he wouldn't hate you.”

He swallows hard. “Thea, I made mistakes—”

“No,” I cut in, calm and final. “You made choices.”

I straighten. “And now I’m making mine. He’s coming home with me. And if you try to stop me—if you so much as breathe in his direction without earning it—I will bury you in court.”

His nostrils flare. I know Sebastian, he doesn't like threats.

“You should be grateful I'm helping you out. At least you get to save more for Claire's child with his absence.”

I don't wait for his response as I turn my back to him.

“Thea.”

His voice slices through the air before I make it five steps.

I halt, spine straight, shoulders stiff.

“You don’t get to just take him,” he says. “You’re with another man now. You’re building a whole other life. How do I know he’s safe with you?”

I turn slowly.

Not because I’m surprised. But because I need to look this man in the eye when I let the truth gut him.

“With me?” My voice is quiet, dangerous. “You think he’s not safe with me?”

He shrugs, like that justifies everything. “I don’t know what kind of man he is—this Ezra Harrington guy. I’ve seen the way he looks at you in the pictures.”

I blink. Ezra?

We weren’t even a thing. There was no relationship, no late-night cuddling, no kisses to hide behind. Just a tug of war neither of us had the time—or heart—to name. A spark maybe, but never a fire. And certainly not anything close to what Sebastian’s accusing me of.

Is that really all it takes? A glance from another man to make me unfit? Meanwhile, he brought Claire into our son’s life, let her rewrite the role of mother like I was some memory to erase. And yet I’m the one who’s untrustworthy?

But wait, I can't believe Ezra's still fucking with my life even when he's absent.

I laugh once, hollow. “That’s your argument? That a man looks at me? Meanwhile, you’re living with the nanny you cheated with and letting her parent our child like a second-rate babysitter with a grudge.”

He doesn’t respond and just watch me, mouth drawn tight, like I’m the unreasonable one.

And that’s when it hits me.

He really believes this.

He truly thinks he’s the better option—because I moved on, because I chose myself, because I dared to put back the pieces of the life he shattered.

“You’re not scared for him, Sebastian,” I say, more to myself than to him. “You’re scared of being replaced.”

He opens his mouth to argue.

“You’re scared that someday, Finn will love someone the way he used to love you—with blind trust. The kind of trust you burned through like a match.”

His jaw ticks.

“And you know what?” I take a breath. “I’m not even with Ezra. Not like that. But even if I were, I’d still be a better parent than someone who lets his girlfriend starve a child of affection because he dared to miss his real mother.”

His face crumbles for a second. I almost feel pity. Almost.

“I work. I hustle. I bleed for my name. But I’ve never once made Finn feel like he had to earn my love, Sebastian. Never once made him feel like a burden I resented or a weight I couldn’t carry.”

My chest aches. I want to scream. I want to cry.

“I might be tired. I might be healing. But I never stopped being his mother.”

He steps forward, softening. “Thea—”

I didn't answer him as I turn.

But his voice follows, this time darker. “If you want to take this to court,” he says, “I’ll place everything against you. Your hours. Your new promotion. Your relationship.”

I freeze.

“You think the courts favor women like you? Working women. Divorced. Independent. Too proud to ask for help. And even with that, Claire was his nanny, she took care of him when you were absent. No one will believe that she maltreated him or your allegations.”

I slowly turn back, my spine straight, stomach twisting.

And then he says it.

“If you really want Finn... come back home.”

Then, he shoves his hand in his pockets and trots past me.