GIDEON

She was pregnant.

She was pregnant with my child, and she still left us.

She gave birth to my daughter, and she didn’t even tell me.

For once, I was grateful that I pitied her. Even though she put herself in that situation, and we were no longer together, I felt sorry for her.

At least all those cheques I’ve been giving Serena for the past decade and a half have been used well. Her children…my daughter…they’ve benefitted from that money.

“Why are you home, Diana?! I told you to stay out until I called you to come back!”

Diana.

What a sweet name to call my daughter.

Lyra and Diana.

My two girls.

As Serena steps forwards, Victor…her son, steps backwards with Diana as I keep a firm grip on their mother.

“I didn’t want to stay out any longer, Mum. It’s getting dark and all my friends have gone home.”

Diana says as her brother quickly jumps to her defence.

“Why the fuck do you want her to stay out so late? You’d be screaming at her if she came home any other day at this time.”

Serena pulls her arm away from my hold as she points a finger in Victor’s face.

And still, even after twenty odd years of knowing her, she keeps up with the theatrics.

“Of course you would defend the spawn of the devil! You’re both just as bad as each other!”

As she speaks, I feel my blood growing hot and hotter.

Spawn of the devil, devil being me.

Shit, did she hate me that much?

Was she ever going to tell me I had another child? Or did she hope I would never find out?

“Will someone please explain what the fuck is going on here? How do you both know each other, and why are you here in my house?”

His question is directed to me, and even though it’s coming out from his mouth, my eyes move past him and land on the girl that’s standing by his side.

My daughter. My youngest.

Her eyes are locked on the back of her brother’s head but even from here, I can tell that she’s got my Lyra’s eyes.

She’s got my eyes.

“Your sister,” Serena finally begins as she points a finger towards me. “Is his daughter.”

Diana’s eyes widen, and as she slowly turns to look over at me, so does Victor. He takes a deep breath in, turning his body slightly as his eyes dart between myself and Diana, as I give my youngest a small smile.

She’s too shocked to even know how to react.

Honestly, I am too, but she’s the spitting image of my Lyra so that makes things a little easier for me. It's like looking at a younger version of Lyra all over again.

Beside me, Serena mutters under her breath, and as I hear the words fall from her lips, I lose it.

“If you want to play Dad so badly, Lucas, how about you start with the decade and a half worth of child support you owe me?”

I so fucking lose it.

Goodbye, Harlington’s born and raised Gideon Florian James.

Hello, to this mannerless, ill-speaking man who stands in his place.

Turning, I face Serena and look down at her, forcing her to meet my eyes. When she seems to realise just how much her words have affected me, I watch her throat bob as she swallows, and now she’s suddenly lost her voice.

“I have supported you ever since you walked away. Even though you left us for a son who had no idea you existed, I supported you, Serena. Me. Even after the father of that child walked out on you, and I had nothing to do with you, I still supported you. I pitied you and the situation you chose to put the two of yourselves in, and you know that’s true, Serena. I was the one to put a roof over your heads, I was the one to put clothes on your bodies, I was the one to put food on your table. I’ve been providing for you for fifteen years straight. That was all me, Serena. How many other men do you know who would give their ex a percentage of their wage every damn year without expecting anything in return? Don’t you dare mention child support to me. I made sure you and your son would live as comfortably as one could in this town of yours without having to sell your body to make ends meet!”

By the end of it, my chest is heaving and that familiar feeling of hatred hits me just as hard as it did when I first realised Serena had left us completely, leaving my child in my home all alone without saying a word to anyone.

I’m not one to hold my support over someone’s head, but when it’s somebody who is as selfish and as ungrateful as my ex-wife, I can’t myself.

Serena glares at me as her entire face flushes red, but she doesn’t say anything.

Diana gasps and as I turn, I realise that something in my tone, or possibly something which I’ve said, has made Victor step closer to us. I look over at him and notice him growing angrier by the second.

Could it have been that last comment I made?

No, that wouldn’t make sense.

He does this for pleasure–I’m certain of that. There would be no need for him to sell his body to make ends meet, not with the type of money I’ve been handing Serena over the years.

I’ve paid enough to make sure that they wouldn’t need to work unless they really wanted to.

With a small frown, I take a long look at sweetness.

Why is he so angry?