All Chapters of The Discarded Wife & Mother: Chapter 1 - Chapter 5

Sera's POVThe Monet was fake. I knew it the second Mrs. Whitmore's perfectly manicured fingers lifted the gilt frame, and the light hit wrong. Everything about today felt wrong. My wedding ring caught on my glove as I reached for my loupe, and I wondered if Jonathan even remembered what day it was. Eight years. Eight years since we'd said forever, and here I was, holding my breath while society's finest pretended not to watch me work."Sera, darling, you simply must tell me your secret," Mrs. Whitmore cooed, her voice like honey over broken glass. "How do you manage it all? The career, the husband, that adorable little boy of yours?"I kept my eyes on the painting. Water lilies. Fake water lilies that someone had lovingly crafted to fool collectors with more money than sense. "There's no secret, Mrs. Whitmore. Just good lighting and patience.""Oh, but you're being modest!" Mrs. Pemberton joined us, her pearls clicking against each other like tiny bones. "Jonathan was just telling Ri

Sera's POVThe lasagna was getting cold. I watched the steam disappear from Oliver's untouched plate while he bounced in his chair, clutching something behind his back. Thursday dinners used to be sacred. Just the three of us. But tonight, like every Thursday for the past two months, we were four."Oliver, sweetheart, you need to eat something before it gets cold." I reached across to cut his portion into smaller pieces."But Mommy, I want to show everyone my picture first!" His eyes sparkled with that special kind of excitement that only eight year olds could manage. "Miss Peterson said it was the best one in class!""After dinner, buddy." Jonathan didn't look up from his phone. "You know the rules."Vivienne placed her hand on Jonathan's arm. Just a touch. Light. Like a butterfly landing. "Oh, but he's so excited. Maybe just a quick peek?"Of course. Of course she'd say that.Jonathan's face transformed. The stern father melted away, replaced by someone I barely recognized. "Well, i

Sera's POVThe study door clicked shut behind me. 11:47 PM. The house had gone quiet an hour ago. Jonathan's snoring drifted through the walls. Even that sounded content.I opened my laptop. The Excel icon stared back at me like an old friend. Numbers. Beautiful, honest numbers."Alright. Let's see what we're really working with."The bank statements loaded first. Checking. Savings. Investment accounts. All joint accounts, because we were partners. Equal partners. That's what we'd said.I started with Jonathan's trust fund paperwork. The Blackwood family fortune. Old railroad money, he'd told me. Generations of wealth. The reason he could pursue "passion projects" while I worked.The document opened. Legal language swam before my eyes, but I found what I was looking for. The distribution date."March 15, 2034."I counted on my fingers. Once. Twice. Three times because my brain wouldn't accept it.Ten years. Ten more years before Jonathan could touch a penny of his family's millions."