Chapter 203
Jullian stared at his mother like she had completely lost her mind. His eyes narrowed, confusion flickering across his face as though he wasn’t sure he had heard her correctly.
“Mom… what are you talking about?” he asked slowly, his voice rough with disbelief.
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Esther Blackwell leaned back in her chair, her fingers interlocked on top of her desk. She wasn’t rattled by her son’s tone, not one bit. Instead, she looked him dead in the eye and said with the kind of calmness that only fueled his
unease, “She has a child, Jullian. A three–year–old child.”
The words sank into him. His eyes widened as he repeated them, almost as though saying it out loud would help
him understand.
“Mia has a child?”
His mother nodded, her expression steady, almost too steady. “Yes.”
Jullian blinked hard, then scoffed, shaking his head. The idea felt wrong in every sense, and yet he couldn’t deny the way his mother’s voice carried certainty. But still, something in him wanted to resist it, to push it away.
“Wait, that doesn’t add up,” he said quickly, his words rushing out as his brain tried to catch up. “Mom, it’s been
almost five years since we left Willowcrest. Almost five. If she had a child, the child should be four. Or maybe even
older. Not three.”
Esther leaned forward, her eyes sharp as she corrected him. “Three years plus,” she said firmly, not missing a beat.
The correction only made Jullian more frustrated. He shook his head in disbelief, running his hand through his hair
like he was trying to shake the thought out of his mind.
“Mom, no. You can’t… you can’t just assume this. She probably got pregnant after leaving Willowcrest. You don’t
know who she’s been with, what she’s been doing all this time. That child might not even be Alex’s. Even if she was pregnant before leaving, it doesn’t mean it was his.”
His voice hardened, his jaw tightening as he spoke the words he thought would cut off his mother’s suspicion.
“She’s a Turner, Mom. Never forget that.”
The word Turner left his lips with a kind of disgust that made Esther glance at him sharply.
“If I remember correctly you used to defend Ethan Turner” his mom said.
“That was then mom”
Jullian would not sit here and let his mother romanticize the possibility of Mia Turner carrying Alex’s child.
Esther didn’t argue back. Not immediately. Instead, she reached out across the desk, her hand brushing against her son’s until her fingers closed around his. Her touch was soft, motherly.
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“Which is why I am going to find out myself,” Esther said quietly, her tone steady but deep–something that made Jullian uneasy. Her eyes didn’t waver from his. “Something tells me that child could be your brother’s. And if I’m right…” She trailed off, letting the weight of her words settle between them.
Jullian exhaled sharply. He stood up, tugging gently at her hand as though trying to physically pull her away from the thoughts running wild in her mind..
“Mom,” he muttered, shaking his head again as if repeating it enough times would snap her out of it. “Stop
stressing over unnecessary things. You’re making a mountain out of nothing. Don’t you think we’ve had enough drama from that family already? Don’t you think Alex has had enough scars?”
But Esther just looked at him, her lips pressed together in that firm, knowing way that drove him crazy. It was the
same look she wore when she had already made a decision in her heart, long before speaking it out loud.
Jullian sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat as he led her out of her office.
He knows her.
He knows the way her mind works, the way she clings to her instincts. And no matter what he said, no matter how
logical or harsh his words sounded, they would not pull her away from the path she was already walking.
“Stop this,” he tried one last time as they stepped into the hallway. “Just… let it go mom, fire that girl and forget
you met her again
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But his mother only hummed softly, a low sound that made his stomach twist.
It wasn’t an agreement. It wasn’t surrender. It was the kind of sound she made when she was deep in thought,
when her mind was already racing ahead, piecing together steps and plans he could not see.
Jullian didn’t need to ask. He knew.
She would not let this go.
And as much as he wanted to believe she was wrong–wanted to believe Mia Turner’s child had nothing to do with his brother–something in the pit of his stomach told him otherwise.
He clenched his jaw, refusing to give voice to the thought. Refusing to let it win.
But he knew his mother.
If Esther Blackwell set her mind on something, nothing and no one could stop her.
She would get to the bottom of it.
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Alex stared at his phone long after the call had ended. His jaw tightened, his thumb pressing against the edge of the phone like he wanted to crush it.
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He had just gotten off the line with his father’s lawyer, and the words kept echoing in his head.
“Your father has changed. He just wants his family close again.”
Changed? Alex almost laughed. Charles Blackwell can never change.
He was the kind of man who bent people until they broke, and even then, he wouldn’t let them go. To hear his father’s lawyer say those words, like Charles had suddenly grown a heart, felt like some kind of cruel joke.
Alex dragged a hand down his face. He wanted this to be over. He wanted his mother free from that man once and for all, but it was never simple when Charles Blackwell was involved.
He needed him to sign the god–damned divorce papers.
With a long sigh, Alex finally pushed himself off the edge of the counter where he had been leaning and walked into the living room.
His mother sat on the couch, her attention fixed on the TV though it was clear she wasn’t really watching.
On the other side of the room, Jullian was spread out in a chair, phone pressed to his ear. The grin on his face gave him away instantly–he was talking to a girl.
“Mom,” Alex greeted quietly.
Her eyes lifted immediately, and her whole face softened. “Hey, baby.”
He bent down and kissed her cheek gently, breathing in her familiar scent.
Then he straightened and lowered himself onto the sofa opposite her.
“How did it go?” Esther asked, her voice careful, but her eyes searching his face for answers.
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Alex glanced down at the phone still clutched in his hand, then exhaled heavily, “He still won’t sign,” he admitted, his voice tinged with frustration. “He still believes we can be a family again.”
From the corner of the room came a loud burst of laughter. Jullian, still on his call, his head ti…u back as if he had just heard the funniest thing in the world. Alex’s eyes flicked toward him briefly, then back to his mother.
“When did he become so pitiful and delusional?” Esther asked, shaking her head. The bitterness in her voice was sharp.
Charles Blackwell had done too much/damage for her to ever see him as anything other than a monster.
Alex’s lips pressed into a thin line. “We can get him to sign, Mom. But it’s going to be a really long process. He’s not going to let go easily.”
As the words left his mouth, Julljan finally ended his call. He slid his phone into his pocket, then pushed himself up with a sigh and moved across the room. Dropping down onto the sofa beside Alex, he leaned back, rubbing a hand
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over his face.
“I want to be free, Alexander.” His mom says tiredly
He nodded slowly. He knows that, he wants that for her too….
“Well, damn,” Jullian muttered after a moment, letting out a low chuckle though there was no real humor in it. “This is going to be messy.”
“I’m ready for messy,” His mom said, her voice low but strong.
The room went quiet after that.
They all knew what it meant. Messy was an understatement.
Messy meant war.
And they were ready for it.
