Chapter 7

"I never expected you to call me after all those things you said about your husband never cheating on you," Donna said, as I slid into the booth across from her at the back of the diner.

"I am sorry for how I spoke to you last time, I just didn't expect Luke to actually betray me, I caught him with his secretary," I mumbled, tears instantly spilling down my cheeks as my voice cracked.

"I always thought Luke loved me, I never expected him to actually one day bytral me like this."

Donna reached across the table, her hand gently wiping away my tears with a napkin.

"Stop crying, sweetie, I understand it is heartbreaking, but you should never cry over a man who hurt you, you are just making him think he won."

"I won't cry anymore," I said, hastily drying my eyes with the back of my hand before leaning forward across the table.

"Ma, you said you have something you want to show me about my husband?"

"You need to be mentally prepared for this," Donna said, sliding a thick envelope across the table.

"Open it."

I untied the string on the envelope and tipped it upside down, a scattered stack of photographs spilled out across the table, I grabbed the top one, and my whole body started shaking so violently I nearly knocked my water glass over.

"What the hell... who is that woman and that boy with Luke?" I screamed, staring at the pictures of my husband smiling brightly while holding hands with a stranger and a young child outside a park.

"She is Ivana Cruz, my sister-in-law, and that boy is Jay, Ivana's son with your husband Luke," Donna answered calmly.

My vision suddenly became blurry, as I clutched my head with both hands, gasping for air.

"No, this can't be, Even though he is cheating on me, he can't have a child outside our marriage, No, No, I most be dreaming."

Donna leaned across the table, grabbing my shoulders to steady me.

"Calm down, Bella, there is more."

"What more could there possibly be? What is worse than him having a secret child behind my back for years?" I yelled, slamming my hands on the table.

"According to my investigation, you married your husband six years ago while you were still in college, right?" Donna asked, staring straight into my eyes.

"Yes, I married Luke in college, Back then he was in his final year, and he promised to always love and adore me and me only, But now all of those promises were nothing but lies."

"My brother Julian married Ivana five years ago," Donna continued.

"And three years ago, he got involved in a terrible car accident that left him paralyzed and unable to have children again, Learning of this news, my brother was devastated, but then Ivana came running in with a positive pregnancy strip, claiming she was pregnant for my brother, My brother and I were so happy that he finally had an heir, we gave Ivana what ever she wanted but During her third month of the pregnancy, she threatened my brother that she would abort the baby if he didn't sign over our Hayes Company control entirely to her, My brother was so afraid she would actually get rid of the baby that he signed the company over to her to handle."

"She blackmailed him into handing over a multi million dollar company just for an unborn child?" I shouted, gripping the edge of the table.

"Yes," Donna nodded.

"And after she got full control of the company, she started despising my brother for being a cripple, she even started coming home late every night, Even after all of this, my brother never questioned her until recently..."

"What exactly happened?" I muttered, leaning closer.

"Until little Jay got diagnosed with leukemia 2 months ago," Donna mumbled, clutching the table harder.

"My brother wanted to donate his bone marrow to save him, but Ivana kept refusing, claiming my brother was not fit to donate bone marrow, she made comment about him been nothing but a cripple, what healthy bone marrow can he donate, she said that jays health was too fragile she didn't mean to upset my brother, to prove he was fit, my brother had the doctor check him, the doctor confirmed that, he was fit for the transplant, Still, Ivana refused, claiming she had a way to save jay herself, from then, my brother started suspecting her, so he secretly got a DNA test done behind her back, and that is how we found out Jay isn't his biological son at all."

"What a wicked woman," I yelled, wiping the remaining tears from my face as rage replaced my sorrow.

"Then how on earth did you find out that Jay was actually Luke's son?"