Chapter 4 - GRANT’S SECOND BETRAYAL
Rachel closed the laptop.
Too late.
Grant stared at his mother’s photograph on the screen.
“Open it.”
“Grant—”
“Open it.”
His voice cracked.
Rachel did.
He walked closer.
His eyes moved from his mother’s young face to Dr. Vale.
Then to the handwritten note.
Grant read it once.
Then again.
His lips parted.
“No.”
Rachel said nothing.
“No.”
He backed away from the table.
“That could mean anything.”
“It could.”
“My mom knew a doctor. Big deal.”
“He was her fertility doctor.”
Grant looked at her.
“She told you that?”
“Yes.”
“And she didn’t tell me?”
“No.”
He grabbed his phone.
Rachel stopped him.
“Grant.”
“I’m calling her.”
“Not while you’re like this.”
“Get out of my way.”
“You already destroyed one relationship tonight because you reacted before thinking.”
His face twisted.
“That’s not fair.”
“No? Ask Maddie.”
That landed.
Grant’s hand dropped.
He sat down heavily.
For a moment, he looked less like Rachel’s arrogant husband and more like a scared teenager.
“I didn’t mean to hurt her.”
Rachel leaned against the counter.
“You looked at her and said she wasn’t yours.”
“I panicked.”
“For three months?”
Grant stared at the floor.
Rachel’s anger sharpened.
“You didn’t panic for three months, Grant. You made a choice for three months.”
“I didn’t know what to think.”
“You knew exactly what to think. We used a donor.”
“But the test—”
“Of course the test said you weren’t her biological father!”
“I know!”
“Then why accuse me?”
Grant slammed his palm against the table.
“Because I thought maybe you changed your mind!”
Rachel stared at him.
“What?”
His breathing became uneven.
“I thought maybe you didn’t want the donor we picked.”
“That is insane.”
“I thought maybe you—”
“You thought I secretly got pregnant by another man?”
“I didn’t know.”
“You did know.”
Rachel stepped closer.
“You just liked the cheating story better because it made me defective instead of you.”
Grant’s face crumpled with anger.
“You think this was easy for me?”
“No.”
“Every time someone talked about having kids, every time my dad joked about the Whitmore bloodline—”
“So I became your shield.”
Grant didn’t answer.
Rachel nodded slowly.
“That’s what I thought.”
He reached for her.
She moved away.
“Don’t.”
“I love you.”
“Maybe.”
His eyes lifted.
“What does that mean?”
“It means love that disappears when your pride gets hurt isn’t worth much.”
Grant swallowed.
From upstairs, Maddie cried out.
“Mommy!”
Rachel ran.
Maddie was sitting upright in bed, sobbing from a nightmare.
Rachel wrapped her up.
Grant stopped in the doorway.
Maddie saw him.
Her body stiffened.
Grant’s face changed.
“Hey, bug.”
Maddie hid against Rachel.
“Go away.”
Grant looked like she had slapped him.
“Maddie—”
“You said you’re not my daddy.”
He stepped into the room.
“I said something bad.”
“You said I’m not yours.”
“I was wrong.”
Rachel watched him struggle.
Grant knelt.
“Can I talk to you?”
Maddie shook her head.
Grant’s eyes filled.
Rachel had seen him negotiate multi-million-dollar contracts without blinking.
Now he couldn’t find words for a five-year-old.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
Maddie looked at him from Rachel’s shoulder.
“Are you my daddy?”
Grant opened his mouth.
Rachel waited.
This was the moment.
All he had to do was say yes.
Legally, emotionally, morally—yes.
Grant hesitated.
One second.
Maybe two.
Too long.
Maddie turned her face away.
“Go away.”
Rachel’s heart hardened.
Grant stood.
“I need air.”
He left the room.
Ten minutes later, Rachel heard the front door slam.
Then her phone lit up.
A banking alert.
TRANSFER COMPLETED: $175,000.
Rachel frowned.
May you like
She opened the account.
Grant had moved nearly every dollar from their joint savings into an account she couldn’t access.
