Married to my Ex's Billionaire Father のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 61 - チャプター 70

Damon didn't move.The doorbell rang again.“Dad?”Ethan sounded impatient now.I looked at my husband.He looked like he was considering climbing out a window.“Open the door.”“Maya.”“He knows you're home.”“I know.”“Unless your plan involves hiding behind the sofa until he leaves, open the door.”Damon looked toward the envelope.Then back at me.“I need time.”“You've had twenty-eight years.”His jaw tightened.Too harsh.I touched his arm.“I'm sorry.”He exhaled.“No. You're right.”“I don't mean you need to tell him everything the second he walks through the door.”“Yes, you do.”I hesitated.“Yes.”His mouth almost moved.“Terrible liar.”“I'm improving.”“Not remotely.”The doorbell rang again.I pointed.“Your son.”Damon walked toward the door.I picked up Rachel's envelope.Then reconsidered.No.Not mine.I placed it back on the table.My fingers lingered on the envelope for a moment.One piece of paper.That was all.A few pages filled with words neither of us had read

Damon called Rachel immediately.She didn’t answer.He called again.Nothing.A third time.Voicemail.I watched his jaw tighten.“Don’t.”He looked at me.“Don’t what?”“Go full Bennett.”“I don’t know what that means.”“It means you’re currently deciding whether to have someone locate her.”Silence.I pointed at him.“Exactly.”“She knows things about Ethan.”“Yes.”“She left when he was three months old.”“I remember.”“She shouldn’t know he hates mushrooms.”“I agree.”“Then I need answers.”“So does Ethan.”Damon looked at my phone.I knew what he was thinking.Protect him.Again.I shook my head.“No.”“I didn’t say anything.”“You were about to.”“What?”“Let me handle this.”His mouth closed.I smiled without humor.“Twenty-eight years of that sentence got us here.”That landed.Damon sat beside me.“Fine.”“Fine?”“We tell him.”“Everything.”“Yes.”I picked up my phone.Before I typed anything, another message arrived from Ethan.I want to meet her.Damon saw it.His entire

Damon stared at the photograph for so long that I started worrying about him.“Damon.”Nothing.I touched his arm.“Talk to me.”He took the phone from my hand and enlarged the image.Rachel.Baby Ethan.Charles.The photograph looked ordinary.That was what made it disturbing.Rachel was holding Ethan against her chest.Charles stood beside her.“My father gave me this photograph.”I frowned.“What?”“Not this one.”Damon’s voice sounded distant.“A different photograph from the same day.”I sat beside him.“What photograph?”“Ethan.”He swallowed.“Just Ethan.”My stomach tightened.“Where?”“Charles told me he had taken Ethan to visit my grandmother.”“And?”“I couldn’t go. I had exams.”His jaw tightened.“He came back with photographs.”I stared at the screen.“So Charles took Ethan to Rachel.”“Yes.”“Without telling you.”“Yes.”My anger rose instantly.“You were his father.”“I was seventeen.”“That does not make you less his father.”Damon looked at me.“I know.”I touched hi

Damon didn't sleep.Neither did I.At two in the morning, I found him sitting on the floor of the nursery.I stood in the doorway."Are you planning furniture or questioning your entire existence?"He looked up."The second one."I walked inside.He immediately stood."Careful."I stopped."I walked through a doorway.""I know.""Pregnant. Not porcelain.""Twins.""That changes everything."I almost smiled.Then I saw the photograph in his hand.Celeste.Rachel.Charles.Five-year-old Ethan.My amusement disappeared."You printed it?""I needed to see it properly."I sat in one of the new rocking chairs.Damon sat opposite me.For a moment, neither of us spoke.Then I asked, "What do you remember about that birthday?""Everything."I waited."Ethan wanted dinosaurs."My mouth twitched."He was obsessed.""He corrected everyone who called a pterodactyl a dinosaur.""At five?""He was irritatingly intelligent.""Genetic."Damon looked at me."From me?""Unfortunately."That earned a sma

Ethan sat back.Thirty-seven letters.Thirty-seven attempts to reach Damon.Thirty-seven truths Charles had hidden.“Celeste found them?” I asked.“Yes.”“When?”“Two weeks before Ethan’s fifth birthday.”“And she confronted Charles?”“Yes.”“What happened?”Rachel looked terrified.“He threatened her.”Ethan’s face hardened.“With what?”“I don’t know.”“That doesn’t make sense.”“I know.”“You were there.”“I heard them arguing. I didn’t hear everything.”Rachel’s fingers twisted together.“But after that, Celeste called me.”“What did she say?”“She apologized.”“And then?”“She invited me to Ethan’s birthday.”The photograph.It wasn’t proof of betrayal.It was proof Celeste had started trying to fix what Charles had done.Ethan stared at the picture.“My mother was going to tell Dad.”“Yes.”“What stopped her?”Rachel went completely still.I felt the answer before she gave it.Something bad.“What happened?” I asked.Rachel looked at me.“Nothing that day.”“Then?”“She told me