SWNOVELS Chapter 1467
They had only been apart for four years, and the child was already over three. If the child were his, Jamie wouldn't be so hesitant to speak up. Maybe, just maybe, she had left him back then because she was already carrying someone else's child. "So who is the father?" Ben pressed, his tone cold. "Was it the guy you were just flirting with, or someone else?"
Jamie couldn't answer. She remained silent.
Ben's patience was wearing thin. "If you care so much about your son and don't want him to see his mother humiliated, then just tell me the truth! Why are you so unwilling?"
Could it be that the father's identity was truly shameful? Was she involved with a married man?
As he continued to speculate, Charlie, lying in bed, spoke up, "Mom, Uncle, what are you talking about?"
"Oh, nothing, honey. This is just a friend of mine, and we're talking about work," Jamie replied with a forced smile, trying to keep things light for her son. Charlie had enough struggles with his illness he didn't need to bear her troubles too. "Work, huh?" Ben's gaze turned sharper. "No wonder you don't know who the child's father is. Seems like you conceived him while 'working.""
Jamie could hear the venom in his words. If this had been in the past, Ben wouldn't have dreamed of speaking to her like this. He had once been so tender, even worrying about small things like an oil splash from cooking. But there was no going back now. "Mom, does that mean this uncle is your coworker?" Charlie asked, only able to grasp the simplest meaning from their exchange.
Ben's expression darkened. To him, if Jamie's "work" involved her body, then what did that make him if they were "coworkers"? A gigolo?
Had anyone but this three-year-old asked, he would have set them straight.
Charlie, now more comfortable with Ben, continued, "Uncle, my mom works really hard. Can you maybe help her get an easier job or one where she could earn more?"
If his mom could make enough from one job, she wouldn't have to juggle so many side gigs.
Ben let out a mocking laugh. "This is what you've taught him?"
Jamie's silence was her only response.
.n
To him, she had left him in ruins, enduring four years of sleepless nights and battling depression. Back then, any mention of Jamie's whereabouts had sent him dropping everything, chasing any lead desperate to find her. But every search ended in
disappointment. And in one of those searches, he had flown abroad, only to land and receive the call that his beloved grandmother had passed. He hadn't made it in time for her last moments.
He still didn't remember how he managed to make it back home after that trip. The moment he stepped through the door, his mother had sent him an audio recording. It was a recording he hadn't deleted to this day, still hidden at the very bottom of his phone's gallery.
After everything Jamie had done, all the heartache she had caused, she actually thought a few words from her child would make him soften, would make him want to help her.