Chapter 22
break. You need it.
probed bee car keys and moved to Jan, nothing time to explain.
She thought m
bed the door, the
body in
Gurminens, there’s a little boy here asking for you.”
realized her worry for Xever came from something instinctual, deeper then what she thought–even if she’d tried to emotional
paraprionier Brought
you could’ve just called
fulla begen, then paused, remembering it had been she who refused to answer is calls.
rier had come because he missed her. Her eyes welled up slightly, and she stepped forward to
Revier pushed her handewey.
moth Ebe Sebestia
ffection–only blame
if you were hiding woman from Daddy and me,” Xavier said sharply
The wond ikea slap, sharing the fragile place of maremal hopefulla had just begun to rebuild
ok ber head, laughing bitterly base for even during to hope.
nd the office, then spored Haley, who
cognize.
small, with no other man in sight. The whole space gave off the vibe of
In his mind, Xavier mused, “So Mommy wasn’t hearing with another man. She was just too busy with work to care about her family. Did she even have the ability to work?”
“Why didn’t you co home to take care of me? Xavier demanded as if it were the most natural question in the world.
“Why didn’t you cook for me? I was sick, and you didn’t come back. You wouldn’t even answer my calls. Do you still love me, Mommy?”
The repid–fire questions hit Julls like blows. Her eyes reddened slightly, but she didn’t bother explaining errymore.
She might as well call Sebastian and have him come pick Kevier up
“Aunt Penny stayed with me at the hospital. When I said I wanted something to eat, she made it, even burned herself trying to cook it. She was there right away when I got sick and you…”
Xavier pointed a finger at Julia. “You don’t deserve to be my mommy. I want Aunt Penny to be my mommy. I’m never calling you that again!”
All the frustration he been holding in since the night before came spilling out
“Julia Summers, you’re mean, petty, and jealous because Aunt Penny’s better than you. You’re a cruel woman who doesn’t even care when your son gets sled! I’ll never want you es my moeminy again!”
His voice was hoarse, probably from being sick, but it cut through the room like broken glass.
Julia stared at him, expression blank, like none of it touched her.
Her gaze was cold as she said, “Hafey, I’ve still got a deadline to finish. Call Sebastian and tell him to come and get his son. I don’t have time for this
Xavier’s words were like a bucket of ice water, dousing whatever fragile, lingering warmth Julia still held for him.
She blinked fast, swallowing back tears, and picked up her pen again to fine–tune the design draft.
But she had barely sketched a few lines when a small figure lunged forward.
Before she could react, Xodder grabbed the draft from her desk and ripped it to shreds.
“That’s what you get! You care more about this dumb drawing than taking care of me!”
Xavier born into the paper as he shouted, furious that she had stayed here drawing Instead of coming home.
Who would take care of everything at home if she were just wasting time like this?
He remembered back when Julia stayed home to raise liin, she used to draw sometimes when inspiration struck. He knew even then how much she
loveit
She would lose herself in it, like she didn’t need him or Sebastian at all. But all it ever took was for him to knock something over or cause a mess to regain her attention.
Jula felt her temples throb
“Get out!” she snapped, pointing to the door.
