Chapter 35
Cadi's expression didn't waver.
Drinks? Two nights ago?
Gray had been home.
Cadi had checked—feverishly, compulsively, almost obsessively. Phone logs, the family tracking app, even the home CCTV.
Maybe a little stalker-ish.
But she knew the truth.
Vanessa's lips curved, mistaking Cadi's silence for discomfort. "He said he was leaving you," she pressed, voice thick with feigned sympathy. "We even talked about custody. He wanted to take Tomos with us. Why don't you do us all a favor and give in without a fuss? He doesn't want you anymore."
That got Cadi's attention.
Vanessa had no idea.
No idea about the DNA.
No idea how deep this really ran.
Vanessa smirked. "And it's not the first time. We met at a hotel in November when you were at that Liverpool conference..." She smiled, reliving something scandalous. "Now that was a fun night."
A hotel?
Cadi remembered that day.
What Vanessa didn't know was that she had cut her trip short and returned home early for Tomos's rugby game. She and Gray had gone together, watched, and come home.
Cold certainty settled in.
Vanessa was lying.
Fishing.
Cadi placed the file down and straightened, smoothing an invisible crease on her sleeve.
Vanessa scoffed. "Well? Nothing to say?"
Cadi smiled, slow and sharp. "You know," she mused, "when I was a kid, we lived in a council estate in Manchester. There was this girl—bigger than all of us. Loved ginger jokes. At first, it was just words. Then a push here, a shove there."
Vanessa blinked, thrown. "What does that—"
"My mum put me in kickboxing." Cadi's voice remained calm. "We kept out of her way. Until the day she made a comment about Ana's mum. She lost two teeth. The next day, her mother came banging on our door—but funnily enough, Ana and I never saw her again."
She leaned forward, voice dropping an octave, her voice the sharpest of blades. "Don't mistake silence for weakness, darling."
Vanessa paled.
She recovered quickly, scoffing. "We'll see what Gray has to say."
Before she could react, Cadi picked up her phone and dialled.
Gray picked up on the first ring.
"Cadi?" His voice was sharp, alert.
"You're on speaker," she said evenly, cutting to the chase. "Vanessa says you weren't on call two nights ago. You know, last week, when you took emergency leave and swapped your shifts."
Vanessa's face barely hid her growing unease.
"She says you went out for drinks," Cadi continued, cool and detached. "Spent the night with her."
The room tensed under the weight of silence.
Then Gray's voice came through, quiet, lethal.
"What?"
Vanessa stiffened.
"She also says," Cadi went on, her voice smooth as glass, "that you're leaving me. And that the two of you are getting custody of Tomos."
Another beat.
Then Gray laughed.
But it wasn't amused.
"Vanessa." His voice was a blade honed to an edge. "What the hell are you talking about?"
Vanessa's bravado faltered. She forced a light laugh. "Oh, Gray, you don't have to pretend. I told Cadi everything. How we—"
"I was home," Gray cut in, his tone like ice breaking. "All. Night."
Vanessa flinched.
"I was going to speak to you, Vanessa," he continued, his words sharp with controlled fury. "To apologize for what I said in the consultant's room. But it looks like we're having that conversation now."
His voice turned to steel. "I never met you for drinks. I never spent the night with you. You're lying."
Vanessa opened her mouth.
Gray didn't let her.
"And in case you need reminding," he said, "there's CCTV in the common areas of the consultant's room. "
Cadi watched Vanessa's face drain of colour.
She sputtered.
Gray wasn't finished.
"I don't know why you're doing this," he said, voice quieter now, but more dangerous. "I've told you, time and again, I am not interested in you."
His tone dipped lower, weighted with fury. "You know I never touched you. Whatever you thought, you imagined it. And if this is about what I said about taking you up on your offer..." his voice turned razor-sharp, "Cadi was standing right behind you. I was trying to make her jealous."
Vanessa's lips parted, but no words came.
Her hands curled into fists. Then, with a sharp inhale, she spun on her heel and stormed out, heels clicking in fury.
Cadi exhaled, rubbing her temple.
Gray's voice softened. "Cadi..."
She didn't miss a beat. "We'll talk later, Gray," she said smoothly. "But first—ask James's dad if Tomos can stay over tonight."
A pause.
Then Gray's voice, calmer now, but resolute.
"All right."
Cadi set her phone down.
Now she had a clinic to get through and a very important phone call to make.