Chapter 4 - The Shadow of the Past
Life at the estate became a cycle of healing and growth. Sawyer and Quinn were thriving, their personalities beginning to emerge. Sawyer was the quiet observer, his eyes always scanning the room, while Quinn was a firecracker, always demanding to be held, always loud and vibrant.
However, the peace was shattered one rainy Tuesday.
Elias appeared in the nursery, his face uncharacteristically pale. "Jade, there’s a visitor. He’s insisting on seeing you."
"Who?"
"Weston’s brother. Lucas."
I felt a chill. I hadn't thought about Weston’s family. They had been entirely absent during the divorce and the corporate takedown.
I left the children with the nanny and descended to the grand foyer. Lucas Vance was standing there, shivering in the rain, looking remarkably like a less polished, more desperate version of his brother.
"I need your help, Jade," he started, not even offering a greeting.
"You’re trespassing on private property, Lucas," I said, my voice steady. "I have no reason to help a Vance."
"Weston is being targeted in prison!" he shouted. "He’s in deep with some of the men he testified against. He’s going to be killed! I know you’re angry, but he’s still the father of your children. Don't you want them to have a father?"
"My children have a protector," I said, pointing toward the doors where my grandfather’s security guards were standing. "And my children do not have a father. They have a biological donor who is currently serving time for fraud. That is where the story ends."
"You’re just like your grandfather," Lucas spat, his mask of desperation slipping. "Cold. Calculating. You don't care about anyone, not even the people you once claimed to love."
May you like
"I learned that from the best," I said, turning my back on him. "Elias, escort him out. And if he comes back, make sure the local police are waiting for him."
As I walked away, I felt a strange sense of detachment. The anger I had felt toward Weston’s family was gone. They were simply people living in the aftermath of a fire I had survived. I realized that my former life with Weston was becoming like a bad dream—a dark, distorted memory that was losing its power over me every single day.
