“Why?”
“Arthur said if Jenna was lying about anything, we’d need proof that I’d been responsible and above board. If she’s manipulating the situation, we can claim back what I’ve spent on her specifically, as opposed to Leo.” Sam looked me in the eye. “I wasn’t trying to hide it from you. I was trying to do it right legally.”
I processed that. It made sense, actually. That was the Sam I knew.
“What else?”
Sam’s jaw tightened. “The morning you left - Friday morning - Jenna came to The Copper Fox. She…” He paused, looking almost embarrassed. “She asked me to marry her.”
“What?” The word came out sharper than I intended.
“She said Leo needed stability. That we should get married, move into my house, be a family for his sake. Leo gets hisfather, she gets financial security, I get my son without having to navigate the complications of shared custody and co-parenting.” Sam’s voice was bitter. “She’d done research on me, Chloe. She knew about the bar, about my rental property, about the money I have saved. She saw me as a meal ticket.”
Despite everything - the pain, the fear, the three days on the road - I felt a laugh bubble up. “She asked you to marry her? Jenna actually had the audacity to propose a marriage of convenience after keeping your son from you for four years?”
Sam blinked, clearly not expecting that reaction. “I… yes?”
“That’s insane.” The laugh felt good, cleansing somehow. “She shows up out of nowhere with a child you didn’t know existed, and then thinks you’ll just… what? Say ‘sure, let’s get married, that sounds totally reasonable’?” I shook my head. “The woman has some serious nerve.”
A small smile tugged at Sam’s lips. “I’m glad you can find the humor in it. At the time, I was just angry.”
“Oh, I’m angry too. Trust me.” I leaned forward. “But wait - back up. Why didn’t she tell you about Leo from the beginning? Four years, Sam. She kept your son from you for four years.”
Sam’s expression darkened. “She was already seeing someone else when she found out she was pregnant. David - her ex-husband. He was wealthy, had good prospects. I was just a bartender she’d had a summer fling with. So she let David believe Leo was his, married him, and built a life on that lie.”
“She WHAT?” The anger hit me like a wave. “She let another man believe he was Leo’s father? She married him under false pretenses?”
“Yes. And it worked for four years, until David cheated on her. They fought, and in the heat of that argument, she told him Leo wasn’t his.” Sam’s voice was tight. “That’s when everything fell apart. David left, filed for divorce, and suddenly Jenna wasa single mother with no support system and no money. That’s when she decided to track me down.”
I frowned, my mind kicking in despite the emotional weight of the conversation. “Wait. If David acted as Leo’s father for four years, wouldn’t he have assumed parental responsibility? Wouldn’t a court take that into account for child support?”
Sam nodded, looking thoughtful. “I wondered the same thing while you were gone. Did some research. In Illinois, David was able to apply for disestablishment of paternity during the divorce. Since Jenna admitted everything and a paternity test proved he wasn’t the biological father, the court released him from parental obligations.”
“So Jenna lost everything.” I felt for her. Not sympathy, but understanding the desperation that had driven her actions.
“Financial support, the house, the lifestyle she’d built. Everything.” Sam’s expression was grim. “And Leo lost the only father he’d ever known.”
“So if her marriage hadn’t imploded and she ran out of money, she never would have told you.” I felt my hands curl into fists. “Sam, she stole four years from you. Four years you could have been Leo’s father. His first words, his first steps, birthdays, Christmases - she took all of that from you because she thought some other guy had more money.”
“I know.”
“That’s not okay!” My voice was rising now. “Having money doesn’t make someone a good parent. Being there makes you a good parent. Being present, being loving, being committed - that’s what matters. Not the size of your bank account or how impressive your job title is.” I was on a roll now, all the anger I’d been holding back pouring out. “She’s a gold digger, Sam. She picked David because he had money, and when that didn’t work out, she came looking for you because - surprise - turns out you have money too. And then she had the absolute audacity to showup at your bar and suggest you marry her for Leo’s stability? Please. She doesn’t care about Leo’s stability. She cares about her own financial security.”
Sam was staring at me with something that looked like wonder. “You’re angry on my behalf.”
“Of course I’m angry on your behalf! She kept your son from you!” I took a breath, trying to calm down. “I’m sorry. I know she’s Leo’s mother, and we have to find a way to co-parent with her, but God, Sam. What she did to you was wrong. So wrong.”
I took another breath, forcing myself to focus. We’d gotten sidetracked, and I realized Sam hadn’t actually answered the question that mattered most. “Wait.” I looked at him directly. “When Jenna proposed this marriage of convenience — what did you say to her?”
“I told her no,” he said firmly. “Multiple times. I told her I was going to marry you, not her. That having a son didn’t mean I’d settle for a loveless marriage of convenience.” He looked at me directly. “I kicked her out of the bar.”
Something clicked into place. “What time was this?”
“Around ten-thirty that morning. Maybe eleven.” Sam’s expression darkened.
The timeline made horrible sense. Jenna had been rejected by Sam and immediately went to eliminate her competition. “She went straight from you rejecting her to my clinic,” I said slowly. “To tell me you were choosing her.”
“Yes.” Sam’s voice was tight with anger. “She went to the clinic out of spite, to manipulate you into leaving so I’d end up with her by default.”
