《I married My Ex-Husband’s Father… Now He Calls Me Mom》全部章節：第 11 章 - 第 20 章

AthenaI had taken my time getting ready that morning.Not out of vanity. Out of intention. I was done looking like a woman who was mourning. That chapter was closed. I was a corporate woman now and I needed to look like one.From housewife to member of the Whitmore Group.I almost laughed at how quickly everything had changed. A few days ago I had been sitting in Tracey’s small flat trying to figure out what came next, and now I was standing in a dressing room that belonged to one of the most powerful men in this city putting on a suit that cost more than my old monthly allowance.This was what happened when you found yourself beside a man who actually saw you. Not as an accessory. Not as a trophy or a reflection of his own status. A man who looked at what you were capable of and decided the world should see it too. A man who wanted you to shine and was secure enough in himself to let you.I had spent three years shrinking for Callum.I had not fully understood how small I had become

Athena“You should know,” Stellan said, his tone quieter now, “this morning was the easy part.”I met his gaze without speaking.There was nothing soft about the way he looked at me. Men like Stellan Whitmore did not need to raise their voices to command a room. Power sat on him too naturally for that.A bead of sweat slipped down my temple despite the cold air conditioning.Still, I didn’t look away.A few days ago, before things crashed between Callum and me, I would have.I had spent too long making myself smaller for this family. Softer. Easier to dismiss. Somewhere along the line, lowering my head had stopped feeling like a choice and started feeling like survival.But that version of me had been left behind the moment I walked back into this house.Stellan certainly hadn’t brought me here to watch me crumble under pressure. If I was going to survive in this company, then I needed to stand tall even when the room wanted me shaken.So I held his gaze and let him see exactly who I

Athena“I raised you better than this.”The slap came before I could process the words.The sound of it cracked through the room and my head snapped to the side and for a moment there was nothing, just the ringing silence after it and the heat spreading across my cheek and Petra’s soft intake of breath from somewhere behind my mother.I stood very still.I turned my head back slowly.My mother was looking at me with her chest heaving and her hand still raised and her eyes bright with the particular righteousness of a woman who had never once questioned whether she deserved the anger she carried.“How could you be so cruel,” she said, her voice breaking on it like she was the one in pain. “To your own sister. Your blood. How could you treat her this way?”Behind her Petra pressed her tissue to her mouth and said nothing. Just stood there and let the tears do their work.The irony of my mother’s words lodged in my chest like broken glass.This woman standing in front of me talking about

AthenaBreakfast at the Whitmore table had always been a performance.Stellan sat at the head with his coffee and newspaper, quiet and unreadable in the way only he could be. Callum sat to his left, already scrolling through his phone with the restless irritation of someone looking for somewhere to put his bad mood. I took my seat while Mrs. Delgado moved around the table with the calm efficiency I had genuinely missed.Petra arrived last. She walked in wearing silk, glanced over the breakfast spread, and stopped.“I requested apple pie.”Mrs. Delgado carefully set the juice down beside her. “It isn’t on the breakfast menu, ma’am. Apple pie is usually served later in the day. I can have it ready for lunch.”“I didn’t ask what time you planned on making it.” Petra’s expression hardened. “I asked for apple pie this morning. Or is your hearing failing with the rest of you?”The air shifted.I set my fork down gently.“Petra.” My voice stayed even. “You will not speak to my sta

AthenaI was halfway through the Meridian files when my office door opened without a knock.I looked up ready to redirect whoever it was back to Clara.Then I dropped my pen.Tracey stood in the doorway with her mouth open and her eyes moving around the office like she was trying to confirm she had the right room. Then her eyes landed on me and stayed there.“No,” she said. “Absolutely not.”“Tracey…”“Do not speak.” She stepped inside and closed the door and walked toward me slowly, looking me up and down with an expression caught somewhere between shock and pure delight. “What happened to you.”I laughed. “Sit down.”“I am looking at you.” She stopped in front of the desk and stared. “The hair. The suit. The office with your name on the door.” She pressed her hand flat against the desk like she needed something solid. “Athena. I have not seen you since the wedding and you have become a completely different woman.”“The same woman,” I said. “Just in better shoes.”“Those s