Chapter 1

The living room went dead silent.

Linda, my housekeeper, seemed to realize she'd said something she shouldn't have. The color drained from her face.

I smiled and gestured for her to sit down.

"Just answer whatever I ask you."

Linda clutched her apron and nodded.

"When did you start delivering lunch there?"

"Two weeks ago."

I thought back. Two weeks ago, I'd been run off my feet getting my studio ready to open, until I finally came down with a fever and ended up stuck in bed.

I'd begged Rhett to help me, but he happened to be away on a business trip.

All I got from him was one careless line: "Take your medicine on time."

I took a deep breath and forced myself to stay calm.

"The child. How old is he?"

"It's a boy. He looks about five or six, and he looks a lot like Mr. Calder."

Five or six.

This was my seventh year with Rhett Calder.

I looked down at the food packed in the lunchbox on the table.

Honey-glazed chicken tenders and sweet barbecue pork. Sticky and sweet, exactly the kind of thing kids love.

And I never ate either of them.

"Ms. Prescott..."

When I stayed lost in thought for a long time without saying anything, she spoke up carefully. "I really didn't know anything about this. I wasn't trying to hide it from you.

"Please don't fire me. I really need this job."

I'd handpicked Linda myself. She was quiet, a great cook, and did exactly what I asked.

Even though she only made one meal a day, I still paid her a full salary well above the going rate.

Never in a million years did I expect the housekeeper I paid so generously to be cooking for my fiancé's mistress's kid.

"I'm the one who pays your salary. From now on, whatever Rhett asks you to do, pretend you didn't hear it."

Linda nodded quickly. "Understood."

I stood up and picked up the lunchbox.

"Take the rest of the day off. I'll deliver lunch myself."

Behind the wheel, I felt cold all over. Maybe the air-conditioning was just turned up too high.

How could this be? Rhett and I had been together for seven years, and I was almost thirty.

We were getting married next month.

And now I was finding out he had a five- or six-year-old kid.

I couldn't help asking myself whether this was all some kind of misunderstanding.

I floored the gas pedal the whole way. By the time I pulled up outside Calder Group, my palms were slick with cold sweat.

It wasn't what I'd pictured. There was no one in his office.

I called Rhett.

Before the call even connected, the door swung open.

The boy who walked in looked exactly like a miniature Rhett.

He wore designer kids' clothes, and his watch was even the same model as mine.

"Are you one of my dad's housekeepers too?"

He tilted his head with a smile and took the lunchbox right out of my hands, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Okay, you can go now. My dad's busy."

He sat down at Rhett's million-dollar mahogany desk and used important company documents as a placemat.

Whenever I so much as touched those things, Rhett would lose his temper.

When he saw me standing there with a cold look on my face, he got impatient.

"Hey, housekeeper lady, my dad's not here. This isn't your break room."

The call finally connected. On the other end was Rhett's voice, as cold and detached as ever.

"Talia, I'm busy. What is it?"

"I'm at your office, and your son is trying to kick me out."

I couldn't help sneering. "He's got your temper, that's for sure."

Five minutes later, Rhett pushed open the office door.

"Dad!"

The boy threw himself at him, shooting me a sideways glance.

"This new housekeeper's weird. Can you fire her?"

Rhett crouched down and soothed him patiently.

"Go find Mom first. I'll take care of this lady."

Outside the glass door stood a figure I knew.

Long, voluminous curls, a slender frame, and a pair of upturned eyes that were downright seductive.

Even though it was the first time I'd seen her in person, I recognized her right away. She was Rhett's first love, Colette Branson.

She even raised her eyes and arched a brow at me, as if issuing a challenge.

"Noah, let's go. Say bye-bye to the housekeeper."

Noah turned around and waved at me.

Mother and son walked off as easily as if they'd been there countless times before.

I was left standing there alone, too stunned to move.