“I can promise that I will do everything in my power to make sure Jack doesn’t take Lily from you. I will use every resource, every connection, every legal maneuver I know to protect you both.” His eyes were intense, pinning me to the spot. “And I can promise that anyone who tries to hurt you, in court or out of it… will have to go through me first.”
“Maybe we should end this,” I said, pulling away from his touch, wrapping my arms around myself. “I mean, the fake engagement and tell people that we moved too fast and how we’re better as friends. Get ahead of the narrative before Jack’s lawyer can use it against me.”
“No,” he said, his tone sharp.
I was shocked because he had never used that tone with me before.
He ran a hand through his hair. “I-If we end it now, it looks exactly like what Jack will claim. That you were using me. That you got caught and bailed. It makes you look worse, not better,” he finished, swallowing the lump in his throat.
“So, what do we do?” I asked, feeling helpless. “Just keep pretending while people tear me apart? While Jack builds his case that I’m an unfit mother?”
“We stick to the plan,” Derek said. “We show everyone that this is real. That you’re not using me, that I’m not a fool, that we’re two people who found each other at the right time. And we let the evidence speak for itself when it matters. In court.”
I wanted to believe him and wanted to trust his confidence. Trust him.
But standing there in his study, with the fear of losing Lily, I knew someone was going to get hurt.
Would it be me, Derek, or both of us together?
27
COME TO DADDY
PAIGE
It was surprising to see a text from an unknown number.
Unknown: We need to talk. Please. Coffee? -Olivia
Olivia? As in my ex-friend Olivia? As in… Jack’s mistress?
I stared at my phone for five full minutes, thumb hovering over the delete button. She had slept with my ex-husband. The woman who had been in my bed, in my home, while I was at work being the perfect wife and mother.
I should delete it, block her number and pretend she didn’t exist.
Instead, against my better judgment, I typed a reply,
Fine. Meet me at this cafe. 4 PM.
The cafe was public enough that she couldn’t make a scene, yet intimate enough that we could talk. I arrived first, ordered a coffee I didn’t want, and waited with my stomach in knots.
Olivia looked younger than I remembered. She had always been beautiful, with delicate features and effortless dark waves, but today she looked nervous.
Good. She should be.
“Paige,” she said, sliding into the seat across from me and clutching her purse. “Thank you for meeting me. I wasn’t sure you would.”
“I’m not sure why I did,” I said, hoping I wasn’t wasting my time meeting her. “You have five minutes.”
She flinched and took a deep breath before she said, “Look, I know I’m the last person you want to hear this from, but... I think you should know the truth about Derek.”
I sat up straighter. “What truth?”
“Jack told me everything,” she said, leaning forward and her voice dropping. “About how Derek was always jealous of Jack for getting you. How Derek never forgave him for ‘winning’ you back in high school. How he has been waiting for years to swoop in and take what Jack had.”
I kept a poker face because I knew Derek had feelings for me since he was a kid, but he had never acted upon them. My hand tightened on the coffee mug. What if he had? What if I had married him instead of?—
“What do you mean?” I asked instead, trying to ignore the thoughts that had been spiraling in my head for days.
