I knew that the times I had with them... I would treasure it until I took my last breath.
‘A parent isn’t supposed to regret her children. And a woman who didn’t give birth to them, isn’t supposed to treasure them.’
– Bronson’s Secret Thoughts.
Chapter 3
Bronson
“Cole? Madalyn? Time to go.” I called up the stairs to my kids.
“Hurrying, Dad,” Cole said.
“Almost done, Dad,” Madalyn called back.
Just then, my phone vibrated with a text.
Eve – Not going to make it this weekend.
Of course, she wasn’t.
Because anything that didn’t center around Eve, well, that didn’t work for her. And taking her daughter out for a shopping trip for her birthday wasn’t all about Eve.
Fucking. Bitch.
Yeah, I know... I shouldn’t talk about the mother of my kids like that... but fucking hell, she had been nothing more than an oven. Baking my kids in her belly.
I pinched the bridge of my nose and let out a growl.
Just then, I heard, “Let me guess, Mom?”
I looked at Madalyn and felt like a piece of shit for having to hurt her like this.
But I had made a promise to my kids, the center of my universe, that I would never lie to them.
They sure as hell couldn’t count on their mother, but they could count on me.
I nodded, “Yeah, baby. Said she’s not going to make it this weekend.”
Madalyn shrugged, then she said, “No biggie.”
And for her, it was that... no biggie.
Until she asked, hesitantly, “Do you think Lila would take me?”
My shoulders sagged, and my head dropped.
The last thing I wanted to do was ask Lila for another thing for my kids.
It had started a few months after we had moved here.
We had been invited to Dominik’s house for a welcome-to-the-neighborhood kind of party.
A woman with light blonde hair had taken one look at my daughter and gasped, “Girl! Is that the top from Glitter and Lace?”
My daughter had beamed at her and nodded.
The woman winked, “You pull it off a lot better than that mannequin did.”
