Chapter 18
Jeha paused for a moment, then lowered her head and went back to slotching the initial design draft. She had too much on her plate to get caught up in anything else.
Not long after she refocused on her work, her phone buzzed again. She glanced at It mid–task and frowned, clearly not in the mood to deal with whoever
was calling
Still, the caller was relentless.
Someone like Sebastian would usually give up after two attempts. Unless… something was wrong,
Frowning, Julia ansivered the call, clearly annoyed.
Sebastian better have a good reason for this…
“What is it?” she asked.
“Xav has a fever!”
They both spoke at the same time, and then went silent for a few seconds.
Sebastian’s brows drew tight. Was that really all she ever said to him now?
He bit back the urge to snap and instead asked through clenched teeth, “Julia, what are you so busy with that you can’t even come home?”
Julia let out a long breath. Sebastian’s tone instantly smothered any concem she’d felt for Xavier.
“He’s sick? Then take him to the hospital or give him some fever meds. I’m not a doctor. What? Do you think calling me is going to bring his fever down magically? Or do you believe that even taking him to the hospital is only my job because I’m the mother?”
She snapped back in one breath, not giving him a chance to respond.
For six years, she’d done it all, caring for both of them with tireless attention. Sebastian had gotten far too used to being hands–off.
Now that Xavier was sick, was he still expecting her to do everything?
Sebastian hadn’t expected her to snap so hard. He hadn’t even gotten the chance to say half of what he intended.
After a pause, his tone dropped. “He already took the medicine and went back to sleep. I just wanted you here.”
Julia let out a cold laugh. “Moira’s trained. She’s more than capable of taking care of him.”
Then she added, voice flat and even, “Besides, isn’t Penelope there too? She’s sweet, nurturing, and great at taking care of people. Since Xavier loves his Aunt Penny so much, wouldn’t she be the perfect one to stay with him?”
What she really meant was that since both father and son clearly preferred Penelope, they should let her take care of them. Julla was just giving them exactly what they seemed to want
Sebastian said instinctively, “Penelope has work. She doesn’t have time-
Julia let out a bitter laugh.
So, Penelope had work, but Julia was supposed to drop everything, give up her career, and colpe running back to take care of their father–son duo?
In his eyes, was she always the one who had to sacrifice?
“I’m not coming,” Julia said coldly. “Xavier doesn’t even want me around. If I go take care of him, wouldn’t that just make him feel worse? Let his Aunt Penny handie it.”
She didn’t wait for Sebastian to respond and hung up on the spot.
It was funny how he only ever called when he needed her to be selfless.
Julia closed her eyes, waiting until the tears that had welled up finally faded. Then she slowly opened them again.
She wasn’t going to let that father–and–son dao affect her anymore.
It was just a fever, nothing serious.
-Back at the Holt residence, Sebastian stood over Xavier’s bed, watching him sleep. His grip on the phone tightened.
Julia had hung up on him again, and this time…
Two knocks sounded on the door.
“Come in.”
“Mr. Holl, I heard Xay was sick?”
It was Penelope at the door.
She wore a simple white dress and light makeup–clean, polished, and picture–perfect
She walked over to the bed and gently touched Xavier’s forehead. After confirming his fever had gone down, she let out a quiet breath of relief and asked a few concerned questions.
Sebastian, still in a bad mood, only gave curt answers before asking, “What are you doing here?”
At this hour, Penelope was supposed to be at work.
“Oh, right, I almost forgot,” Penelope said, suddenly remembering
She held out a folder to him and spoke softly. “Mr. Holt, this is… this is the court summons for the divorce. From Jules.”
