Chapter 15 #2
“Yes. And it worked for four years, until David cheated on her. They fought, and in the heat of that argument, she told him Leo wasn’t his.
” Sam’s voice was tight. “That’s when everything fell apart.
David left, filed for divorce, and suddenly Jenna was a single mother with no support system and no money.
That’s when she decided to track me down. ”
I frowned, my mind kicking in despite the emotional weight of the conversation. “Wait. If David acted as Leo’s father for four years, wouldn’t he have assumed parental responsibility? Wouldn’t a court take that into account for child support?”
Sam nodded, looking thoughtful. “I wondered the same thing while you were gone. Did some research. In Illinois, David was able to apply for disestablishment of paternity during the divorce. Since Jenna admitted everything and a paternity test proved he wasn’t the biological father, the court released him from parental obligations. ”
“So Jenna lost everything.” I felt for her. Not sympathy, but understanding the desperation that had driven her actions.
“Financial support, the house, the lifestyle she’d built. Everything.” Sam’s expression was grim. “And Leo lost the only father he’d ever known.”
“So if her marriage hadn’t imploded and she ran out of money, she never would have told you.
” I felt my hands curl into fists. “Sam, she stole four years from you. Four years you could have been Leo’s father.
His first words, his first steps, birthdays, Christmases - she took all of that from you because she thought some other guy had more money. ”
“I know.”
“That’s not okay!” My voice was rising now.
“Having money doesn’t make someone a good parent.
Being there makes you a good parent. Being present, being loving, being committed - that’s what matters.
Not the size of your bank account or how impressive your job title is.
” I was on a roll now, all the anger I’d been holding back pouring out.
“She’s a gold digger, Sam. She picked David because he had money, and when that didn’t work out, she came looking for you because - surprise - turns out you have money too.
And then she had the absolute audacity to show up at your bar and suggest you marry her for Leo’s stability?
Please. She doesn’t care about Leo’s stability.
She cares about her own financial security. ”
Sam was staring at me with something that looked like wonder. “You’re angry on my behalf.”
“Of course I’m angry on your behalf! She kept your son from you!” I took a breath, trying to calm down. “I’m sorry. I know she’s Leo’s mother, and we have to find a way to co-parent with her, but God, Sam. What she did to you was wrong. So wrong.”
I took another breath, forcing myself to focus. We’d gotten sidetracked, and I realized Sam hadn’t actually answered the question that mattered most. “Wait.” I looked at him directly. “When Jenna proposed this marriage of convenience — what did you say to her?”
“I told her no,” he said firmly. “Multiple times. I told her I was going to marry you, not her. That having a son didn’t mean I’d settle for a loveless marriage of convenience.” He looked at me directly. “I kicked her out of the bar.”
Something clicked into place. “What time was this?”
“Around ten-thirty that morning. Maybe eleven.” Sam’s expression darkened.
The timeline made horrible sense. Jenna had been rejected by Sam and immediately went to eliminate her competition. “She went straight from you rejecting her to my clinic,” I said slowly. “To tell me you were choosing her.”
“Yes.” Sam’s voice was tight with anger. “She went to the clinic out of spite, to manipulate you into leaving so I’d end up with her by default.”
“So when she told me you’d decided to try being a family…”
“She was lying. She’s been lying about everything.” Sam reached across the table. “She admitted she wanted you gone.”
“But the phone call,” I said, needing to understand all of it. “Jimmy called while I was home and said they could move out in two days. That seemed like—”
“Chloe, no.” Sam’s face went pale. “Jimmy called on Emma’s birthday to give me a month’s notice. His wife got a job offer in New York.”
The relief was so sudden it made me dizzy. “But he said—”
“I hadn’t even called him back yet when you left.” Sam reached for my hand. “Your mom told me you’d gotten that call, and I realized the timing. Things just fell into place for them, so they left.”
I closed my eyes, seeing it clearly now. “Right after Jenna told me you were moving in with them, I got a call about your house being available. It felt like proof.”
“It was a horrible coincidence.” Sam’s voice was thick with regret. “But Chloe, if I’d just told you about Leo from the start, you would have known Jenna was lying. The phone call wouldn’t have mattered.”
“She made me think I was the problem. That Leo needed your complete attention, and I was just… in the way.”
“You were never in the way. You are the solution I was too scared to ask for.” Sam reached across the table and took my hand. “Arthur hired a private investigator to look into her.”
“A private investigator?”
“I should have done it from the beginning. I should have been strategic instead of reactive.” He gave me a rueful smile. “But I’m thinking clearly now. Arthur’s handling the legal side, documenting everything, making sure any arrangement protects Leo’s interests, not just Jenna’s wants.”
I felt something settle in my chest. This was the Sam I knew - the one who thought ahead, who protected the people he loved, who didn’t just react emotionally.
I studied his face across the table - the exhaustion carved into the lines around his eyes, the stubble shadowing his jaw from days of not caring about appearances, the way his hands trembled slightly as they rested on the table between us.
He’d stayed. Despite my note telling him to leave, despite three days of silence, despite not knowing when I was coming back, he’d stayed and waited.
Sam’s voice, raw and broken, pulled me from my thoughts.
“Chloe, I need you to understand something. What I did to you… the lying, the secrecy, the distance…” He took a shaky breath.
“I know what happened with Sean did to you. You told me about it, about how he made you question your own instincts, how you felt crazy for months because you knew something was wrong, but he kept telling you everything was fine.”
I felt tears prick my eyes because he was right.
“And then I did the same thing to you.” Sam’s voice cracked. “I saw all the signs that you were hurting, and I told myself it was temporary, that once I fixed everything, you’d be okay again. But Chloe, I was making you relive your worst trauma while telling myself I was protecting you.”
“Sam—”
“No, please let me say this.” He finally looked up at me, and his eyes were red-rimmed. “I did that to you. My lies, my secrecy, my cowardice — I made the woman I love physically ill with anxiety.” His voice broke completely.
“I’m not asking you to forgive me,” Sam continued.
“I’m telling you that I see it now. I see what I did to you, how I made you doubt yourself, how I triggered every fear you had from Sean.
And I’m asking for the chance to spend the rest of my life proving that I will never, ever do that to you again. ”
He took a shaky breath. “You want to know the worst part? I knew better. I watched Jack nearly lose Harper. I gave him lectures about being honest, about being a partner.” His voice turned bitter.
“And then when it was my crisis, when it was my life falling apart, I did exactly what I’d told him not to do. ”
“Why?” I asked quietly. “If you knew better, why did you do it anyway?”
“Because I panicked. When Jenna texted me that photo at the restaurant, showing me Leo’s face, I couldn’t think straight.
I just… froze. And instead of doing what I knew was right — turning to you, telling you immediately, asking for your help — I convinced myself I needed to fix it first. Present you with a solution instead of a problem.
” He shook his head. “It’s easy to see the right answer when it’s someone else’s crisis.
But when you’re emotionally invested, when you’re terrified of losing everything that matters…
I couldn’t see anything clearly. I just kept reacting instead of thinking. ”
“How did you finally see it?”
“Jack and Harper.” Sam’s voice softened.
“After you left, they stayed with me. Jack asked me what the hell happened to the Sam who lectured him about honesty.” He looked at me.
“They made me see that I wasn’t acting like myself.
That fear had made me stupid, made me do the exact opposite of what I knew was right. ”
“The truth is I was a coward,” Sam continued.
“I was so terrified of losing you that I kept lying, kept putting it off, kept convincing myself I could manage everything alone. And by the time Jack and Harper shook me out of that panic and made me think clearly again, Jenna had already poisoned the well.”
I thought about Leo at the grocery store, his innocent excitement about animals, his easy trust in adults he felt safe with. “And Leo? How is he handling all this?”
“He’s okay.” Sam’s voice softened. “He doesn’t really understand the adult drama, which is probably for the best.”
My heart ached for this little boy. “I want to see him,” I said quietly.
“Chloe–”
“I want to see him, Sam. I want to meet your son properly, not as a stranger in a grocery store parking lot, but as someone who might be part of his life.”
Sam’s eyes filled with tears. “Are you sure? This isn’t what you signed up for when we started dating. Leo comes with complications, and an ex who’s going to be part of our lives whether we want her to be or not.”