Trey’s voice was filled with an excitement she had never heard directed at her. For the first time, she saw him truly, unreservedly elated.
This wasn’t the calm happiness he showed with her. This was passion, raw and unrestrained-the kind that only exists with a true, consuming love.
“Ms. Thompson?” Khloe arched an eyebrow, feigning surprise while her stomach churned with nausea.
The elegant, composed woman in front of her was a world away from the breathy, coquettish voice she’d overheard in the office.
“Khloe, it’s been so long!”
Angela eagerly took Pete’s hand and came downstairs, greeting her warmly.
Khloe’s eyes lingered on Pete.
Shortly after their wedding, Trey had persuaded her to adopt him from the same orphanage where she’d once lived. He’d claimed it was the only way to placate his parents, who would stop pressuring her to bear children.
She had believed he was doing it for her. She had agreed.
But raising Pete had been torment. The boy was volatile, often throwing objects at her in fits of anger, as if harboring deep-seated hatred.
Once, he had even shouted in her face, demanding Trey give him back his “real mother.”
She had wanted to give up. But Trey always pleaded with her to endure, reminding her how pitiful the boy was without a mother, and how she herself had been abandoned as a child.
Now, as she watched Pete clutching Angela’s hand, the pieces finally clicked into place.
They had been married for five years. Pete was five years old.
So that was it. The Fox family had barred Angela from the household, and Khloe had been the convenient shield-raising their son, bearing the scorn, while they lived their hidden life in secret.
At dinner, Trey and Pete took turns serving Angela. The three of them chatted and laughed like a family, while Khloe sat silent, the outsider at her own table.
Seizing a lull in the conversation, Trey set down his fork and turned to her, his tone deceptively gentle. “Khloe, Ms. Thompson is working on a new book about parenting. She needs a quiet place to write. With the company’s IPO and you being so overwhelmed, I was thinking…”
His voice softened further. “I’d like her to stay with us for a while. She could even help you with Pete. He adores her.”
She could hardly believe it. Five years of hiding their affair wasn’t enough. Now he wanted to move her into their home.
Khloe continued eating calmly, as if she hadn’t heard a word.
An uncomfortable tension thickened the air.
“Khloe,” Trey prompted, his voice tight with embarrassment, “I’m talking to you.”
With a soft, deliberate clink, Khloe set down her bowl.
Before she could speak, Angela quickly interjected, her voice a placating murmur. “Oh, please, I never meant to cause any trouble. Khloe, Trey is only suggesting this because he’s worried about you. He doesn’t want you to be so exhausted, juggling work, the house, and Pete. He just thought I could help share the burden.”
“No! I want Angela to stay!”
The little boy beside her slammed his tiny fist on the table, his cutlery rattling.
“Pete, sweetheart, we don’t act like that…”
“Pete, that is enough!”
Their voices overlapped-Angela’s gentle coaxing and Khloe’s sharp reprimand.
In a flash of pure, unbridled rage, Pete snatched his glass of juice and hurled it directly at Khloe.
The maids rushed over at once to help clean her up.
“Pete!” Trey’s face darkened with fury.
Startled, Pete bolted upstairs in a streak of panic.
Trey made to chase after him, but Angela quickly stood and blocked his path.
“Trey, he’s just a child. Violence won’t solve anything. Let me check on him.”
As she spoke, her eyes flicked toward Khloe, who was wiping herself clean. She seemed to want to say something more but held it back.
Only then did Trey return his attention to Khloe. “Are you alright? Let me see.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.