All Chapters of I married My Ex-Husband’s Father… Now He Calls Me Mom: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Athena I left my phone on the vanity table. I realized it halfway through my meeting with Diane, my designer, when I reached into my bag to show her a reference image I had saved. The Whitmore family gala was three weeks away and there was still so much to finalize. It was the biggest event in the family’s social calendar, the kind of evening that got talked about in the city for months after. Crystal chandeliers, guest lists that read like a who’s who, everything polished to perfection. And as always, I was the one behind it. Not officially. There was no title, no credit, no acknowledgment at the dinner table. Just Athena, quietly making sure everything ran beautifully while the Whitmore name got the applause. Diane spread her sketches across the table and waited while I searched my bag a second time. “I have to run back home quickly,” I told her, reaching for my coat. “I left my phone. I won’t be long.” I stepped outside and called my driver. “Take me back to the es

AthenaI drove to Tracey’s on autopilot.I don’t remember making the decision. I just remember the roads and the traffic lights blurring through my windshield and then suddenly I was parked outside her building, hands still on the steering wheel, engine still running.I turned it off.She must have been watching from her window because she was at my car door before I could even reach for the handle. She pulled it open, took one look at my face and said absolutely nothing. Just stepped back and let me get out.That was the thing about Tracey. She always knew when to talk and when to just show up.I followed her upstairs.Her apartment was small and warm and smelled like the scented candles she was always burning. She sat me down on her couch, disappeared into the kitchen and came back with tea I didn’t ask for and a look on her face that told me she was holding herself together for my sake.“Tell me everything.” She sat across from me. “From the beginning.”So I did.I told h

Athena“What does your father-in-law want?”Tracey asked it before I was fully through the door, standing in the middle of her living room with her arms crossed and her eyes already demanding answers.I dropped my bag on the couch and kicked off my heels. “Hi to you too.”“No.” She pointed at the counter stool. “Sit. I have been losing my mind for two hours.”Despite everything, something almost like a smile pulled at my mouth.She disappeared into the kitchen while I climbed onto the stool and pressed my palms flat against the cool countertop, trying to organize my thoughts into something that made sense. A minute later she came back with a plate, chips, and queso, chicken bites, the loaded kind she only made when one of us was having a terrible day.She set it between us and leaned on the counter. “Talk.”“He apologized for Callum.”Tracey blinked. Whatever she had been expecting, it wasn’t that.“He said what Callum did was disgraceful.” I reached for a chip. “Said I deserved bette

Petra found Callum in his study after lunch.He was at his desk with his jacket off, reading something on his laptop, and he didn’t look up when she walked in.“Hey, honey.” She walked around his desk, planting a kiss on his cheek. “What are you busy with?”“Work. Doing some audit. Nothing you will understand.” He said.“Hmm. Try me. It will surprise you how much I know.”He looked up then, and let a small smile curve the corner of his mouth. “Quarterly reconciliation for the Whitmore Group holdings. The depreciation figures on the Meridian property portfolio aren’t aligning with what was filed last year. I can’t find where the discrepancy started.”Petra leaned over his shoulder and studied the screen for a moment. “Check the asset reclassification entries from Q3. If someone moved anything from fixed to current without adjusting the corresponding depreciation schedule it would throw the whole column.”Callum went still. Then he scrolled back, found it, and the corner of his mouth li

AthenaAnita stopped outside the door at the end of the east corridor and turned to me with a small smile.“Mr. Whitmore’s bedroom, ma’am.”“Thank you, Anita.”“I’m happy you came back, Ma’am.” She said with a genuine smile before turning and walking away.I stood in front of the door for a moment before I opened it.The room was nothing like I expected.I don’t know what I had imagined — something cold, maybe. Like the room I shared with my now ex-husband, which had no life in it.But it was quiet in here. Genuinely quiet. The room was massive and exquisite, every piece of furniture carefully chosen. Stallen had good taste, not just in what he wore, but in how he lived. It was the largest and most expensive bedroom in the estate. I had never set foot in here before. Stallen Whitmore’s wing was strictly off-limits, which was why I was shocked when he allowed me into his private space.I stepped inside and closed the door behind me.The staff had already brought my luggage in. Two suit