บททั้งหมดของ The Child My EX- Wife Hid: บทที่ 1 - บทที่ 9

The first thing Mia noticed when she stepped out of the arrival gate was the heat.It wrapped itself around her before she had even taken ten steps, warm and familiar, carrying the smell of rain, fuel, and too many people trying to get somewhere at once.For a moment, she simply stood there.Five years.Five years since she had last set foot in this country.Five years since she had packed two suitcases in the middle of the night, swallowed every bit of pride she had left, and walked away from a marriage she had once believed would last forever.She had imagined this moment so many times.In none of those versions had her hands been shaking.“Mommy.”The small voice beside her pulled her back.Mia looked down.Noah stood beside her with his backpack hanging crookedly from one shoulder. His dark curls were already damp from the heat, and he was staring around the airport with the restless curiosity of a child who had spent too many hours sitting on an airplane.“Are we there now?”Mia

The house looked exactly the same.That was the first thing Mia noticed when Claire’s car stopped at the gates.The second was that she wished it didn’t.The iron gates opened slowly, revealing the long driveway lined with old trees. The house stood at the end of it, large and familiar, its cream-colored walls glowing beneath the gray afternoon sky.Mia stared through the window.Seven years ago, she’d arrived here as Alexander’s wife.Tomorrow, she would enter as his ex-wife.Funny how a building could remember things a person had spent years trying to forget.“Mommy?”Mia looked down.Noah was staring at her.“What?”“Is this Grandma’s house?”“Yes.”“It’s big.”“It used to feel bigger.”“Why?”Mia smiled faintly.“Because you were smaller.”Noah considered this.“That doesn’t make sense.”“It will when you’re older.”The car stopped.Claire got out first.Mia remained seated for another few seconds.She looked at the house.Then at Noah.She could handle Alexander.She could handle

Alexander stared at his mother.For a moment, the funeral hall seemed to disappear.“What did you just say?”His mother glanced around nervously.“Not here.”“You said my divorce was never supposed to happen.”“I know what I said.”“Then explain it.”Her fingers tightened around the small black purse in her hand.“Alexander, there are things you don’t understand.”“I’ve had five years to understand them.”“That isn’t enough.”He gave a humorless laugh.“You’re telling me now?”His mother’s eyes flickered toward Mia.Mia had not moved.But Alexander noticed the change in her face.She had heard them.And whatever his mother had said, Mia knew exactly what it meant.That bothered him more than anything.He stepped closer to his mother.“What happened five years ago?”“Alexander—”“Who lied to me?”His mother’s lips parted.Before she could answer, a voice came from behind them.“Don’t.”Alexander turned.Mia was standing several feet away.Her face was pale, but her voice was steady.“D

Mia knew something was wrong before Alexander reached her.She saw it in his face.The controlled expression was gone. The calm billionaire who could walk into a room full of hostile executives and make everyone else nervous had disappeared.What stood in front of her now was a man who had just discovered that the past wasn’t dead.“What happened?” she asked.Alexander didn’t answer immediately.He looked at Claire.Then at Mia.“Where is Noah?”Mia’s heart stopped.“What?”“Where is he?”“I thought he was with you.”Alexander’s expression changed.“No.”Mia stared at him.For a second, neither of them moved.Then reality hit.She turned sharply toward the entrance.“Noah?”Nothing.She hurried through the hall.“Noah!”People turned to look.Mia checked the seats.The corridor.The washroom.The small garden behind the building.Nothing.Her breathing became shallow.“Noah!”Alexander followed.“Mia.”“Don’t.”She turned on him.“You said you saw him.”“I saw him leave.”“With who?”

For several seconds, nobody spoke.Mia stared at Alexander’s mother.Then at Alexander.Then back at the woman.“My father?” Alexander finally asked.His voice was dangerously calm.His mother nodded once.“Yes.”Alexander gave a short, disbelieving laugh.“My father was dead.”“I know.”“He died two years before the divorce.”“I know.”“Then how could he have been at the hotel?”His mother looked down.“Because I never said he was alive.”Alexander’s expression changed.Mia felt a chill run down her spine.“What does that mean?” she asked.His mother looked at her.“It means the man you saw wasn’t Alexander’s father.”Mia frowned.“Then who was he?”She hesitated.“His twin brother.”Silence.Alexander stared at her.“My father didn’t have a twin.”“He did.”“You’re lying.”“I wish I were.”Alexander stepped closer.“Why have I never heard of him?”“Because your grandfather made sure no one did.”“Why?”His mother looked toward the empty hallway.“Because your uncle was removed from