Chapter 8: The Woman Who Called It Love
I stared at Simone.
Save it.
That was the word she chose.
Not steal.
Not destroy.
Save.
After everything.
After six years of lies.
She still believed she was the victim.
“You expect me to believe that?”” I asked.
Simone stepped closer.
Her silver gown sparkled under the hallway lights.
She looked exactly like the woman I married.
That was the cruelest part.
She didn’t look like a villain.
She looked like someone I once loved.
“I know how this looks.””
I laughed.
“No, Simone.””
I held up the hospital bracelet.
“You don’t know how this looks.””
Her eyes moved to it.
“You think Grace is innocent?””
Grace immediately stepped forward.
“I never hurt you.””
Simone looked at her.
“You don’t know what I lost.””
Grace’s face tightened.
“What did you lose?””
Simone looked away.
For a second, she looked vulnerable.
Then the anger returned.
“Everything.””
The word echoed.
“You had Darius.””
She pointed at Grace.
“You had Noah.””
Then she touched her own chest.
“I had nothing.””
I stared at her.
“You had a choice.””
“No.””
Her voice cracked.
“You don’t understand.””
“Then make me understand.””
Simone looked at Marcus.
“At first, I only wanted a chance.””
Marcus shook his head.
“A chance you never earned.””
She ignored him.
“I loved Darius.””
I said nothing.
Because I didn’t know if that was true anymore.
“I loved you,” she said, looking at me.
“And when I found out Grace was pregnant, I knew everything was over.””
Grace looked hurt.
“I never wanted to hurt you.””
Simone laughed bitterly.
“Of course you didn’t.””
She looked at Noah.
“You just happened to have the one thing I wanted most.””
My stomach turned.
“He’s not a thing.””
Simone looked at me.
“I know.””
But her voice didn’t sound convincing.
Noah moved closer to Grace.
I noticed.
He was afraid.
Of Simone.
The realization hit me harder than anything.
My son was afraid of the woman who raised him.
I stepped between them.
“Enough.””
Simone stared at me.
“You’re protecting her.””
“I’m protecting my son.””
The silence afterward was brutal.
Simone’s eyes filled.
For a moment, I thought she might finally admit everything.
Instead, she said:
“You really think Grace is the innocent one?””
Grace frowned.
“What are you talking about?””
Simone looked at her.
“You never told him everything.””
Grace froze.
My heart sank.
“What does that mean?””
Grace looked at me.
“Darius…”
I felt exhausted.
“No more.””
My voice was quiet.
“No more secrets.””
Grace closed her eyes.
Then she whispered:
“I was going to tell you.””
Simone smiled.
“There it is.””
I turned toward Grace.
“What didn’t you tell me?””
She looked at Noah.
Then at me.
“When Noah was born…”
She swallowed.
“I didn’t leave because I was forced.””
The hallway went silent.
“What?””
Grace’s eyes filled with tears.
“I left because I thought you chose Simone.””
My chest tightened.
“That doesn’t make sense.””
“It does.””
She looked at the floor.
“When I woke up after giving birth, Simone was there.””
My hands curled into fists.
“She told me you signed papers.””
“What papers?””
“She told me you wanted full custody.””
I shook my head.
“I never did.””
“I know now.””
Grace wiped her tears.
“But at the time, I was broken.””
She looked at Noah.
“I thought you wanted him and didn’t want me.””
My heart hurt.
“You believed that?””
“Yes.””
“Why didn’t you call me?””
Her voice became barely audible.
“Because she showed me a message.””
My blood went cold.
“What message?””
Grace looked at Simone.
“The message that looked like it came from you.””
Nobody spoke.
Marcus stepped forward.
“She forged another one.””
Grace nodded.
“She said you were done with me.””
I closed my eyes.
All these years.
I thought Grace abandoned us.
She thought I abandoned her.
And Simone had stood between us.
Holding both sides apart.
Simone suddenly spoke.
“You see?””
Everyone looked at her.
She spread her hands.
“I protected both of you from a painful truth.””
I stared.
“You destroyed us.””
“No.””
Her voice became emotional.
“I prevented chaos.””
I shook my head.
“You created it.””
A phone rang.
Everyone froze.
Not mine.
Not Marcus’s.
Simone’s.
She looked at the screen.
Her face changed.
A message appeared.
She quickly locked the phone.
Too late.
I saw the name.
*Dr. Bennett.*
I recognized it.
The doctor who handled Noah’s birth.
My heart raced.
“Why is Noah’s doctor texting you?””
Simone said nothing.
“Simone.””
She looked at me.
And for the first time…
She looked genuinely afraid.
“I need to explain.””
I stepped closer.
“Then explain.””
May you like
She whispered:
“Because Dr. Bennett knows something about Noah that you were never supposed to find out.””
