Chapter 206
Carter looked at Sharon, something unreadable flickering behind his gaze.
“Just make sure you’re not the one who backs out last minute,” he said. “In case something suddenly comes up.”
Sharon’s lips curled faintly, but there was nothing warm in her eyes. “What worries me, is that you’re the one who’ll suddenly have something come up and decide not to show.”
Theo’s fall into the lake, coupled with Carter’s interrogation and accusations, had pushed her patience past its limit.
She was done. Done with this ridiculous family and their endless drama. (2)
Today Madeline had called the police, accusing her of abducting her own child. Who knew what kind of stunt that crazed old lady would pull tomorrow?
And though she’d been married to Carter for five years, the truth was, she barely knew his mother at all.
In the past, Sharon had always been deferential whenever they met. She knew Madeline wasn’t easy to get along with, so she had kept her head down and tolerated everything in silence.
Maybe it was that restraint that earned her at least a surface-level courtesy. But once things turned ugly, she saw it clearly-how utterly absurd Madeline truly was.
It was better to extract herself from such a toxic family sooner, before the whole thing came crashing down.
Lately, she found herself wondering what life would look like once Kelly married Carter.
His voice broke into her thoughts. “Time.”
Her lashes fluttered. The drifting thoughts snapped back into place.
So… he was agreeing.
“Tomorrow morning at ten,” she said. “Outside the courthouse. Any objections?”
“Fine.”
He still didn’t believe she would actually go through with the divorce.
Kelly and Nate stepped into the hospital together. After hearing Theo had been found, they’d come right away to check on him.
There was no way Kelly could stay away when something had happened to him. She still needed him as an important pawn, after
all.
But when they reached the hospital room, she found Theo sitting there alone.
She glanced around. “Theo, where’s your dad? Why isn’t he here with you?”
The boy’s lips trembled a little, his expression full of hurt. “Daddy and Mommy went out.”
Kelly’s eyes flickered. “Sharon was here?”
At the mention of his mother, Theo’s mood dropped. He nodded listlessly.
Kelly walked to the side of the bed, her voice gentle. “Theo, where did you run off to today? Do you know how worried your dad was about you?”
Nate chimed in from the side. “Exactly! Where did you go? As soon as Kelly heard you were missing, she got so anxious she
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skipped her doctor’s appointment and rushed right over.”
He let out a short, cold laugh. “When Carter found out you were missing, he called your mom right away. Even told her you were at the amusement park. But she just denied it. Hung up on him, told him to go look for you himself and stop bothering her.”
Theo’s head jerked up. “Mommy knew I was missing?”
Nate waved it off. “Of course. Carter called her the moment he realized you were gone. And your mom? She just said there was no point in calling her. She asked your dad to look for you instead.”
Of course, Carter hadn’t told him that himself. Nate and Kelly had overheard it while coming upstairs-Simon, Carter’s assistant, had been talking to someone about it.
Simon hadn’t meant to criticize Sharon. He was just sighing about how different she was now from before. Back then, whenever Theo so much as had a scratch, she’d be calling in a panic, unable to get a coherent word out. (1)
Now she could say things like, “What’s the point of calling me?” so easily, so coldly.
The contrast was sharp and hard to ignore.
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