Chapter 3

"Rachel's our daughter. What right do you have to keep me from seeing her?"

Preston's eyes turned red as he glared at me, looking genuinely shaken.

But his grip only tightened, his fingers digging painfully into my shoulders.

I winced and shoved his hands off my shoulders. Preston immediately staggered back several steps like I had pushed him much harder than I had.

Willow rushed to steady him, then turned on me.

"Michael, what the hell is wrong with you? Preston just wants to see Rachel. Why did you shove him?"

Three years apart, and somehow, Willow had lost all sense of right and wrong.

Preston rubbed his shoulder and gave me a wounded look. "Forget it. Michael still hates us. We can come back for Rachel tomorrow."

That only made Willow more protective of him.

When she looked at me again, the anger in her eyes was unmistakable.

"Apologize," she demanded.

I just stared at her coldly.

When I didn't move, she frowned.

"Fine. If you won't apologize, then sign the studio over to Preston. That'll make up for it."

She pulled out a transfer agreement and held it out to me. Preston's signature was already on it.

So they had come prepared.

My disgust for both of them only grew. "And if I don't sign?"

Willow's expression darkened. "Then forget about the wedding."

I couldn't help laughing. "Who said I wanted to marry you? I already have a wife."

She kept one hand on Preston's arm and grabbed my wrist with the other.

"Stop talking nonsense! Who else would you marry besides me?"

I didn't tell her my wife was Camila Payne, someone with enough influence to get Willow cut off from the Paynes if she wanted to. There was no telling what Willow might do if she found out.

She stared at me. When I stayed silent, a faint smile tugged at her lips.

She stepped closer and softened her voice.

"Stop saying things just to hurt me. I came back because I still wanted us to work.

"Just sign the agreement. I'll pay you for the studio.

"You and Preston have been friends since you were kids. Help him get on his feet. It would make things easier for everyone."

I gave a cold laugh. "So you want me to hand over the studio I built from the ground up just so your husband can have something respectable to show your family?"

I could barely believe what I was hearing.

How did she get this entitled in just three years?

Willow froze for a second, then her expression hardened.

"Michael, when did you get so petty?

"Preston and I are legally married. Sooner or later, we have to take Rachel home to meet my family.

"If Preston doesn't even have a decent career, my mom is going to make his life miserable."

So she knew perfectly well that her mother, Patricia Payne, looked down on any man she thought wasn't good enough for her daughter.

When I first graduated and was still working as an intern, Patricia came to see me.

She told me to my face that I came from an ordinary family and would never fit into their world.

I was so humiliated that I almost ended the relationship. But I loved Willow, so instead, I decided to prove myself.

Back then, I worked myself into the ground and barely slept five hours a night. Willow never once told me to slow down.

But now, for Preston, she was willing to take away the studio I built from scratch.

I had had enough.

I was about to throw them both out when Julie's voice suddenly came from the doorway.

"Daddy, I'm back!"

The nanny, Natalie Johnson, took Julie out for a walk every afternoon and usually brought her by the studio around this time.

The second Julie stepped through the door, Preston rushed over and scooped her up before she even realized what was happening.

"Darling, I finally got to meet you!"

Julie went stiff in his arms.

Then she burst into tears.