Chapter 11
Edmond Robinson was speeding home like a man possessed, the gas pedal sinking deeper with every passing second. Outside the windshield, the city blurred into streaks of neon and shadow.
All he could think about was Amelia.
Her holding April. Her eyes soft, that familiar tired smile waiting by the door.
He just wanted to get back-to hold them both and finally put everything right. But when he opened the front door, the scene he’d imagined shattered in an instant.
“Amy?”
The house was dead silent. His voice echoed off the walls.
“Amy?”
Still no answer.
He searched every floor, every room-nothing. Even the nanny was gone.
He opened her closet: half her clothes were missing. In the walk-in wardrobe, the two suitcases she always used were
gone too.
Edmond let out a scoff, a puff of air.
She was throwing a tantrum. That had to be it. She’d probably taken the baby and left to blow off steam.
The urgency in his chest dimmed. For a second, he even regretted not staying at the villa with Blanche. But then, a sharp
pain twisted through his gut.
He doubled over, clutching his stomach. Cold sweat trickled down his face.
Three days of junk food with Finn-pizza slices, milkshakes, donuts-his old gastric problem was flaring up again.
He scrambled to the medicine cabinet.
Empty. The little pillbox Amelia always kept stocked? Completely bare.
Back then, he never even had to ask-she’d be there with warm water and medicine before he could finish a sigh. Now, Edmond was crouched on the cold floor, shaking, sweating, alone-for the first time, truly aware of just how completely
Amelia had cared for him.
“Amelia… what are you trying to prove?” he whispered.
He ordered some food, choked down a few bites, and fell into a restless sleep, the dull ache in his gut twisting like guilt.
The shrill ring of his phone shattered the morning stillness. Groggy and irritated, Edmond fumbled for it. His assistant’s
name flashed.
He answered.
Chapter 11
44.00%
“Mr. Robinson-it’s bad. Please come to the office. Something serious happened.”
Edmond arrived at the company and froze the moment he opened his office door. Finn stood barefoot on the soaked carpet, wielding a water gun like a toy soldier. And floating in the nearby aquarium-was a USB drive.
The USB drive.
The one locked in his drawer, holding three years’ worth of core project plans-now completely ruined.
“You little brat! What the hell are you doing?!”
His stomach still raw from the night before, Edmond felt his blood pressure spike. He roared.
Blanche rushed in and threw herself in front of Finn.
“Please, Mr. Robinson, don’t be mad-he didn’t mean it. He was just curious-he didn’t know what it was!”
“Didn’t mean it?” Edmond’s voice dripped venom. “Then how did he even get into my office? How did he open a locked drawer?
Finn flinched at the fury in his voice. His lip trembled, and then he burst into tears.
“Stupid daddy! You didn’t play with me! Waaaaah!”
All around them, coworkers stopped in their tracks.
“Did… that kid just call Mr. Robinson dad?”
“And he can get into the CEO’s office?”
“Wait… don’t tell me…”
Blanche paled. Blood drained from her face. She had warned Finn countless times never to say that in public. Edmond’s reputation was everything. Their whole agreement depended on secrecy.
“I’m sorry,” she gasped, nearly collapsing to her knees. Her eyes glistened with perfect tears. “I should’ve watched him more carefully. He’s never had a father around… he doesn’t know boundaries. He’s just a child.”
“If you want to punish someone, punish me. Just don’t blame him…”
She knew exactly what to say. And just like that, Edmond’s rage dulled.
“Fine. Get up. It’s not your fault.”
Blanche immediately turned to Finn, pressing his head down.
“Say sorry to Daddy.”
Edmond waved it off. But deep down, the thought stuck.
Amelia would never have let this happen.
By the time the day ended, he and the tech team had only been able to recover fragments of the damaged data. Exhausted Chapter 11
44.00%
and furious, he finally headed back to Blanche’s villa.
The sound of running water ceased just as he entered. Blanche stepped out in a silk nightgown, barely long enough to skim the tops of her thighs.
She walked over, draping herself against him, her fingers tracing lightly over his chest.
“Edmond… Finn’s tantrum today… he’s just lonely.”
She slid closer.
“I was thinking,” she whispered, curling into his chest, “maybe it’s time to give him a little brother. Or sister. Then he won’t
need you so much anymore…”
