Chapter 33
Hope
I’m frozen in place, unable to move my limbs, as if everything I’ve just learned about Kaden has rendered me motionless, numb—broken.
He cheated on his wife, betrayed her in the most painful, unimaginable way, and not once did he bother to share that truth with me during all the time we were getting to know each other, hoping I’d never find out.
He’s no better than Adrian. They’re all the fucking same.
“Zac!” Adrian’s voice rings out, immediately snapping me out of my fog, and I quickly spin around.
My son stands a few feet away, the devastated look on his face telling me he heard everything. When I call his name and step towards him, he turns and rushes back to his room, slamming the door so hard it rattles the walls.
“Let him go, Hope,” Adrian says, his hand gripping my elbow, instantly halting my movements. “Give him some space for now.”
I turn to face my ex-husband, expecting a triumphant look in his expression, an arrogant smirk curling his lips. But what I see instead is so much worse—pity. I don’t know why, but that only angers me more.
“I bet you’re loving this. I bet you’re thinking what a complete idiot I am. What a fool I’ve been to believe and trust Kaden this whole time.”
No, Hope. I don’t think you’re an idiot,” he reassures me. “I think you were misled by someone who pretended to be someone he wasn’t. He played on your emotions and your vulnerability to take advantage of you. You could never have known who he really was deep down. None of this is on you.”
I gaze at him through tear-filled eyes, each one burning a trail down my cheeks like acid.
This is the last thing I wanted Adrian to witness.
I’ve tried so hard, for too long, to be strong, to not shed a single tear.
And I haven’t. Not since I first found out about my husband’s infidelity more than a year ago.
But now it’s as if the dam has finally broken, and I can’t contain it anymore—months upon months of heartbreak and disappointment pouring out of me all at once, soaking my cheeks.
Adrian pulls me into him, his arms closing around me, instantly surrounding me with his warmth. I don’t even have the strength to push him away, or the voice to tell him not to touch me. Instead, I let him hold me as I come apart, sobbing into his chest, my tears seeping into his shirt.
“I’m so sorry, baby,” he whispers, his hand cradling the back of my head. “Let it all out, I’m here now.”
His palm moves in slow, soothing circles against my back, and my eyes flutter shut on instinct. It takes several long minutes for my tears to subside, for the tension to slowly drain from my body, but the effort leaves me tired and hollowed out.
All I want now is to crawl back into bed, to sleep the day away, and pray that when I wake, this will have been nothing more than a nightmare.
I slowly pull away from Adrian, wiping the remnants of my tears on the sleeves of my robe. We stand facing each other, his worried gaze fixed on my face, as though he’s bracing himself for me to crumble all over again.
“Thanks,” I say, my voice barely steady, but no longer shaking. “This was not how I expected my day to go.”
“I can stay if you need to me to, make sure you’re okay.”
I shake my head. “I’ll be fine. I think I just need to sit on it for a little while longer. And I don’t think having you here will be very helpful.”
Disappointment flashes in his eyes. It’s quick but not quick enough for me not to notice. “And what about Zac? What will you tell him?”
“I’m not sure,” I admit. “My mind and emotions are a mess right now, and I haven’t even had a cup of coffee today. I just need to get my head clear before I can sit down and talk to him.”
“I still think I should be here when you do. Just in case you need some support.”
“Look, Adrian, I know you’re trying to help, but you being here will only confuse him. And I don’t have the energy to explain the complexity of our situation to our nine-year-old right now.”
“And what about Kaden?”
“What about him?”
“Are you still going to see him?”
“I don’t know. I’m angry with him. But I also deserve answers.”
“What more is there to say, Hope?” he grits out. “The guy is a liar, a manipulator, and a fucking hypocrite!”
“Keep your voice down, Adrian!” I snap. “He might be all of those things, but there’s also another side I’ve gotten to know, something—”
“Are you kidding me? You’re willing to forgive a man you’ve only known for a short time, but not me—the man you married, the father of your child?”
“I never said I’m forgiving him, Adrian. Don’t twist my words. I may not know who he was back then, but I do know the man he is now, and I can’t just ignore that. He’s done so much for us, more than anyone ever has, and I owe him at least the chance to explain himself.”
“What’s there to explain?” he asks, his tone clipped.
“He cheated on his wife, betrayed her with her best friend, out of all people, and then omitted the truth when you two met. Lucia even mentioned that they continued their relationship immediately after his wife left him, like she didn’t even matter at all.
Is that the kind of person you want to trust? You want in your life?”
I release a long, exasperated sigh. “I don’t know what I want right now. And you standing here saying all of this isn’t making anything easier for me.”
“I just don’t get how you can’t see that he’s brainwashing you.”
“No, he isn’t. And I’m not trying to defend him. Everything I’m saying is based on what I’ve seen—on his actions, not just his words.”
He scoffs bitterly, shaking his head. “You make him sound like he’s some redeemed hero.
Well, I hate to break it to you, my gullible ex-wife, but once a cheater, always a cheater.
He’s nothing by an impostor. He might’ve wooed you with sweet gestures and pretty words, but it’s all an act to make you believe he’s a genuinely good guy. ”
“And you know this from experience, right?”
That instantly shuts him up. His mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water, unable to form a response. What he’s describing sounds a lot like himself, and the way he’s tearing into Kaden—without Kaden here to defend himself, says more about him than it does about Kaden.
“Thanks for bringing Zac home, but I think you should go now.”
He doesn’t make an effort to move right away, lingering a beat longer, his expression hardening. “If he ends up breaking your heart, don’t come crying to me. I’ve tried to warn you.”
With those final words, he storms out of the front door, his car peeling out of the driveway moments later.
I’m left standing alone in the middle of the hallway, my head pounding with an unbearable ache, but it’s nothing compared to the pain crushing my chest.
My day had barely begun, and yet it had already been upended by everything I’d just learned about Kaden. In less than twenty-four hours, he came from being a reliable and trustworthy friend, to just another person who betrayed me.
He knew what I’d been through. And while he, too, had been hurt by the same two people who helped destroy my life, what he did in the past was still as devastating. I don’t know if we can ever come back from this.
I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to trust him again.
I want nothing more than to go into Zac’s room and wrap my arms around my boy. He’s always been my comfort, the one thing that calms me in the middle of the storm. But right now he’s too upset, too disappointed by the men he trusted.
I need to talk to him. I need to know if he’s okay.
Walking towards his room, I gently knock on his door. “Zac, honey. Can I come in?”
Faint sounds of paper rustling and the bed creaking reach me before the door slowly opens. Zac appears in the narrow gap, sadness heavy in his eyes, and my chest tightens.
“Can we talk?” I ask gently.
He nods quietly, then opens the door wider and walks back to sit on the edge of his bed.
I follow, my gaze immediately roaming over the crumpled pieces of paper scattered across the floor, his sketchbook lying open on the mattress, its pages marked with lines that look like the beginnings of a building.
I sink down beside him, leaving enough space between us in case it’s what he needs right now.
“I’m so sorry you had to hear what was said earlier between your dad, Kaden, and me. If you have any questions, or if you just want to talk, I’m here for you.”
He shrugs his shoulders—not dismissively, but as if he’s unsure what to say about any of it.
“Can you tell me how you’re feeling?”
He gives another small shrug, and just when I’m convinced he’s not ready to talk, he releases a sharp breath.
“I’m a little sad, and angry,” he murmurs, so softly I almost miss it.
“Because of what you heard?”
He nods, slowly. “That, and because of Dad.”
“Why are you upset with him?”
“Because he talks to me like I annoy him all the time. He’s not patient with me anymore. He snaps at me a lot more now. Sometimes I think he only spends time with me just to keep you or me quiet, but I know he wants to be somewhere else.”
“I’m sorry, sweetie. I didn’t know. I’ll talk to him.”
“There’s no point. He’s just going to make up excuses again, and he’s not going to change. I don’t want to spend the weekend with him anymore.”
“Oh, honey. I wish it were that simple. But there’s a court order in place, and I can’t just keep your dad from seeing you without a judge approving it first.”
“Well, Pop is a judge. He can approve it.”
“No, sweetie,” I chuckle softly. “He’s not that kind of judge, and he can’t sign off on it because he’s family. The courts won’t allow that.”
His gaze falls to his hands, disappointment settling heavily over his features.
“We’ll work something out, okay,’ I reassure him. “I don’t want you to worry. I promise you, I’ll take care of it.”
He nods, his gaze still lowered. “Are we never going to see Kaden anymore?” he says, almost sadly.
“I don’t know, baby. I’m not happy with him at the moment.”
“He looked really sad when Dad said all those things about him.”
“Yeah, he did.”
“But he made you more sad, didn’t he?”
I nod. “Yes, I wasn’t expecting to find out what I did, but now that I know, it’s made me very sad.”
“Is it true what he did?”
“Yes, he admitted to it. I also think Kaden has something more he wants to say.”
“I think you should hear it. Maybe you’ll understand him a little better.”
“Maybe. But I’m not ready to listen. Not just yet.”
He nods, his gaze softer now. “Whatever you choose, Mum, I’ll always be on your side.”
I smile back, warmth in my chest. “I know you will—just as I’ll always be on yours.”
A small, heartfelt smile breaks across his face, and I can see him relax just a little.
“What were you doing just then?” I ask, glancing at his open sketchbook.
“Drawing. I draw when I’m upset.”
“You’re getting better each time I see a new drawing in your book.”
“Kaden gave me some tips on how to make a building look a bit more real,” he explains, and my chest tightens even more.
I draw in a deep lungful of air, hoping the tightness will ease even just a little, but the ache still lingers.
Needing a distraction, I rise to my feet, and glance over at the digital clock on his bedside table.
“Seeing you’re home early, would you like to go with me to Uncle Finn’s, and spend the day with your cousins?”
He nods with a little more energy than before.
“I’ll quickly make some coffee and shower, then we can head off.”
Zac stands and starts picking up the crumpled pieces of paper from the floor, throwing them across the room and into the rubbish bin, with the same skill I saw that day in the park with Kaden.
The memory sends a jolt through the pit of my stomach, and I have to shake it off quickly before it takes hold.
My day may have begun in chaos, but I’m determined to end it on a brighter note, surrounded by people who’ve never once let me down—my family.