Chapter 2

Just as I had expected, Nathan never came home for the entire night. Yet, when I turned over and felt the cold on his side of the bed, I still couldn't stop my heart from aching.

A series of rapid knocks sounded at the door, every knock louder than the last.

I went over to answer the door, and Robert Wiley, the butler, simply glared at me with contempt.

"Mrs. Galloway Senior wants you to bring the kid to Galloway Manor."

Marina Boyle, Nathan's grandmother, had never liked me and always looked down on me. No matter how much I explained things to her about my co-parenting arrangement with Nathan, she refused to accept it and simply treated me as a promiscuous prostitute who hated the idea of settling down.

She also looked down on Theo.

And since Nathan's family all treated me with disrespect, naturally, the butler and maids in the household also looked down on Theo and me.

When I arrived at Galloway Manor, I realized that all of the Galloway relatives were also present.

Nathan, who'd disappeared the entire night, was standing there with Catherine in his arms, his eyes gentle as he looked at her with tenderness and care.

Marina smiled so widely whenever she looked at Catherine's stomach that it was almost blinding.

"Catherine is finally pregnant. Since all of our relatives are here today, it is now time for us to fulfil our part of the deal from half a year ago!"

The oldest and most influential member of the Galloway family, Moses Galloway, then stood up and formally declared Nathan as the official heir and new head of the Galloway family.

"Since we now have another little heir coming along, it's time to pick a date for the wedding."

I looked up and realized everyone, including Nathan, was looking at Catherine instead.

He caressed her stomach like there was no one else in the room and said affectionately, "I'm going to be a father…"

He didn't say that he was going to be a father "again"—only that he was becoming one.

I suppressed the bitterness in my heart and tightened my fist.

Theo suddenly whimpered quietly in the silent hall. "Mommy, it hurts."

I hurriedly released his hand from my grasp, noticing that his little hand was now red all over.

"I'm sorry, Teddy. Here, let me blow on it to make it better…"

However, it was precisely Theo's sentence earlier that had everyone in the family suddenly turn their attention toward us, mostly looking at us out of the corner of their eyes.

Moses frowned. "If news of the head of the Galloway family having a child born out of wedlock gets out, the entire family's reputation will be destroyed.

"That kid is nothing but a prostitute's bastard child anyway."

Nathan's mother, Doreen Stanton, scoffed coldly at me and said, "We'll just tell the public that this kid was adopted into the family for charity."

Doreen didn't like me. She didn't like Theo either. Back then, it had been her idea for Nathan to sleep with Catherine and produce an heir before he could inherit the title of the head of the family.

And since Catherine was really pregnant with an heir now, Theo was naturally out of the picture altogether.

Nathan let go of Catherine's hand and said, "Mom, don't you think that's too much?"

He was just about to walk over to me when Catherine silently tugged him back to her.

I witnessed everything with my own eyes. So, I brought Theo over to Doreen and said, "Understood. From today onward, Theo won't be Nathan's son anymore."

I then crouched before Theo and explained to him with red-rimmed eyes, "Teddy, you can't call him 'Daddy' anymore, okay? You can only call him 'Uncle Nate'."

Nathan was stunned. He knew very well that I'd only been able to remain on amicable terms with his family for the past six months largely because of Theo.

He tried listening for any hint of indignation in my voice, but he couldn't.

Theo couldn't understand the gravity of the situation and began to cry. I hurriedly picked him up in my arms to bring him out, but Catherine stopped me.

"Jo, I heard that it's good for pregnant women to wear purple amethysts as it's good for their health. Nathan had been searching everywhere for one for days to no avail, but I just realized that you have one on you!

"Do you think you can give it to me?"