“I don’t want her anymore! Who needs a mom who only knows how to make slop fit for pigs?” Dames shouted, clutching a paper bag as he sprinted across the
schoolyard.
Fuming, Daph marched up to the stone bollard at the gate, wrapped her arms around it, and glared daggers at Dames’s retreating back. For a moment, it looked like she might actually hurl the thing at him. In the end, she set the stone down with a huff.
Patting her chest, Daph tried to calm herself and muttered under her breath, “Girls shouldn’t act like this. I have to be patient!”
*
When Harrison returned to his office, he immediately noticed a sleek, three–tiered insulated lunchbox waiting for him on his desk.
He couldn’t help but smirk.
See? No matter how bitter things got between them, Selene always made sure he had a homemade lunch delivered to his office.
Just then, his phone rang. He picked up.
“Harrison, are you eating lunch? How’s my cooking?”
It was Felicity’s voice on the other end.
“You made this?” Harrison asked, unable to hide the irritation flickering in his eyes–even if he didn’t realize it himself.
“Yep! Surprise! It’s my first time cooking for you. I sliced my fingers at least three times. Honestly, kitchen work is just not my thing–way too girly for me!”
After her little rant, Felicity added, “So, you’d better appreciate this lunch. I’m never doing it again!”
Harrison’s tone was flat. “Got it. I’ve got to get back to work.”
She burst out laughing. “Hey, buddy, don’t forget to take a bathroom break when you’re swamped! Wouldn’t want you to ruin your kidneys!”
He hung up before she could say more. The lunchbox now looked even less appealing.
Harrison buzzed his assistant. “Did my wife drop off lunch today?”
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Chapter D
“No, sir. Mrs. Vaughn hasn’t been by the office.”
A cold, stony expression settled over Harrison’s handsome features.
He gave a curt order. “Finish this lunch for me. If my wife brings food later, tell her I’ve already eaten and have her take the container home.”
The assistant, already feeling queasy, nodded quickly and carried the lunchbox out, not daring to ask questions.
Harrison waited from noon until late afternoon, but Selene never came by.
Later, in the conference room, his phone buzzed again. For the third time, he declined Selene’s call.
She’d broken his one rule: never call him during work hours.
Almost immediately, her name lit up his phone again.
He finally answered, his voice icy enough to chill the room. “No lunch needed. I’ve eaten.”
“Harrison, I’m at city hall. Where are you?”
He froze. Only then did he recall–Selene had mentioned yesterday, three o’clock at city hall.
She actually meant it?
A surge of irritation swept over him.
“Selene! Enough. Can you stop bringing up divorce every single day?”
Her voice, calm and clear as lake water, came through the phone. “Harrison, once I leave you, I won’t be Mrs. Vaughn anymore. I just want to be Selene again. And if the Thompsons don’t want me back, I’ll go back to my old name.
Being with you is exhausting. I’m the only one fighting to make this work, loving you, loving our son…”
She paused, then laughed softly. “Honestly, I doubt there’s a road in this world rougher than the one we’ve walked in this marriage.”
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