Chapter 5

From that day on, Clearlight Court was flooded with visitors. The doorstep might as well have been worn down.

Premium prenatal supplements, imported vitamins, and the finest organic foods arrived in an endless stream.

Frank personally oversaw the kitchen, making sure the menu rotated daily to keep my meals both nourishing and appetizing.

The household staff no longer looked at me with mere respect. Now there was awe in their eyes.

Phillip still made himself scarce, but every day he sent someone to check on me.

What had I eaten? Had I slept well? Was anything bothering me? No detail was too small.

I had become the undisputed center of this household.

I knew that whatever Phillip's private thoughts were, he was determined to protect the children.

Or rather, he was dead set on keeping the Sherman family line going.

I finally started to feel at ease.

No matter what happened, the children were mine. They were my only family in the world.

I was determined to protect them, to make sure they'd be born safe and sound.

One day, I was lounging in the garden while Cathy read aloud from the latest serialized novel everyone in Vanderlyn was talking about.

The days were so pleasant that they felt like a dream.

Just then, Frank hurried in from outside. His expression was odd. "Lady Chloe."

"What's going on?" I asked.

Frank hesitated, then spoke. "The Ludwigs are at the front gate. They are asking to see you."

My hand paused, the cup halfway to my lips.

The Ludwigs? What could they want? Had they caught wind of something?

Counting the days, word would have reached them by now.

I was certain Frank had already let news of my pregnancy slip "accidentally" to the right ears.

I set down my cup and asked calmly, "Who is it?"

Frank replied, "It is Dutton. He says he has urgent business and must see you."

Cathy was trembling with rage. "He has the nerve to show his face? Ms. Marsh, do not see him. Tell him to leave."

I said nothing. Inside, I felt nothing but ice.

Dutton. He had finally come.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. When I opened them again, my gaze was perfectly clear.

"Frank," I called out.

"Yes, my lady," he replied.

"Let him in. Take him to the formal parlor. I want to see what he's really after."

*****

I sat in a carved walnut armchair in the formal parlor. A silver serving set rested on the side table, wisps of steam curling into the air.

The aroma of the dark roast curled through the air, yet it did nothing to thaw the ice in my chest.

Cathy stood behind me, fuming. "Ms. Marsh, do you really have to see him? That no-good snake, what is there to see?"

I ran my fingers along the rim of my cup. "What is coming will come. Refusing to see him would only make us look guilty."

After a moment, Frank brought someone in.

It was Dutton.

He wore a tailored charcoal suit, his hair combed back with precision.

He looked thinner than I remembered. His eyes were bloodshot.

When he saw me, he stopped short. Disbelief flickered across his face.

The woman before him was nothing like the Chloe he remembered.

I was in a simple ivory silk dress, my hair swept up and held with a single pearl pin.

My cheeks had rounded slightly from the pregnancy.

But my eyes held none of the old timidity. In their place was a calm, steady composure.

I did not rise. I merely glanced at Dutton coolly. "Mr. Ludwig."

Two words, distant and polite.

Dutton's lips moved as if he wanted to speak. In the end, he swallowed whatever it was.

He took a deep breath. Then he slumped to the floor at my feet.

Yes, right there on the floor.

His body hit the hardwood with a dull thud. He sat hunched over, his head dropping into his hands, his shoulders shaking.

Cathy gasped. Frank's eyes widened in surprise.

My cup did not so much as tremble. My face showed no ripple of emotion.

As if the man who collapsed at my feet were a stranger.

"Chloe." Dutton's voice shook. "I was wrong. I know that now."

He looked up, his eyes red. "I should not have treated you that way. I should not have listened to my mother's poison. And I should never have divorced you."

He spoke each word with crushing weight.

Regret and anguish seemed to swallow him whole.

I simply watched him.

Looking at the face that had once haunted my every dream, I felt nothing at all.