Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
SOPHIA
“Be good for your grandmother,” I said as I knelt down in front of Hazel and Violet and kissed their little cheeks.
I loved spending time with my girls. In between work, and the constant drama that was my ex, sometimes I didn’t feel like I had enough of it.
But they were the light of my life, and I hoped they knew that.
“Of course, Mommy,” Hazel said softly as she kissed my cheek right back.
“Love you,” Violet added and kissed my other cheek.
“Are you ready to spend time with Grammy?” my mother asked as she ran her hands over my little girls’ heads and smiled.
My mother had been a good mother growing up. She had cared about us and ensured that we were able to lean into our strengths. We’d played sports, danced, and Kyler had always been able to focus on his music. She had loved us and helped us strive to become who we needed to be.
A side of me had always wondered if she had focused so hard, had pushed with so much devotion, because she knew she held a secret.
She had tried to take the place of both mother and father when our dad couldn’t be bothered, but then again, she had known about the secret family the entire time. Had worked out a way to still be with the man that she loved—despite his faults—and keep the secret from her kids.
As a mother myself, I partly understood why she had done it.
Growing up, if we had known we were only second best in his eyes, or worse, I don’t know if we would’ve thrived like we had. She had put blockades in front of us to protect us, and perhaps it hadn’t been enough, but she had done her best, and honestly had to atone for her sins.
It wasn’t my job to judge her or the choice that she had made as a wife.
And as a mother, well, as I looked back on everything that she had done for us, I realized that she had tried her best. Maybe it wasn’t enough for some of my siblings, but knowing that I would raze the earth to protect my girls, I understood some of her choices.
“You guys are going to have a blast today,” I said as I looked up at my mother and hoped she saw the truth in my gaze. I didn’t hate her. I didn’t resent her. Maybe part of me would always wonder why she had made those choices, but I was not my mother.
“We will. We’re going to be playing with slime.”
I groaned. “Really?”
“It’s a grandmother’s prerogative. Plus I set aside a whole part of the house, so it looks like Dexter’s basement.
The girls looked confused, and I tried not to laugh because my mother was doing her best. And honestly, she was a fantastic grandmother. She deserved all of the love and adoration for that. She even cared for the grandkids that weren’t hers by blood.
Melanie Cage had essentially been kicked out of the family. She hadn’t been a good mother. Had been cruel, and vindictive, and had hated my own mother. So no, I would never forgive that woman for the pain and terror she caused. But I was not part of that circle.
My mother held Aston’s son as if she were his grandmother in truth, and from what I could see, that baby would grow up knowing that he was loved by so many people, including his grandmother Constance. It was the same with Ford’s child, and any other child who would come from the Cages.
My mother now had twelve sets of Cage families to watch over, and all of their next generation. So while mistakes had been made, there had been a purpose none of us could ever hope to understand.
“Do you have any good plans for the day?”
“Paperwork. My team is running the studio today, since I worked late into the night, but household chores and paperwork are calling my name.”
My mother reached forward and touched my face. “Take care of yourself too, my darling.”
“I will. I promise.”
“Is Mr. Carson coming?” Violet asked and it took me a moment to get through the buzzing in my ears to answer.
My mother gave me an odd look, the curiosity in her gaze blinding.
“I believe he’s working. With your uncles.” I looked at my mother and hoped that she didn’t ask any questions at this moment. I still answered a few unasked ones anyway. “He’s friends with James and Flynn and has met the girls a few times because of the merger.”
“Ah.” I didn’t know if my mother truly believed that, but she wouldn’t ask.
Because once the truth had been laid out about the formation of our family, she would never pry.
And while some of me wanted to bare my soul to her, the rest knew that doing so would open up all the pieces I wasn’t ready to speak on.
Namely, the fact that I’d had the best sex of my life with a man I might never see again.
It was totally normal.
“Okay, have fun, girls. And try not to make too much of a mess for Grandma,” I teased.
The girls chattered in their own secret language, speaking a mile a minute, and I only caught every fourth word or so. My mother leaned forward and squeezed my hand, the touch startling.
“Enjoy your time alone. The quiet is always nice.”
As a mother of five, I knew my mother understood that more than most.
“I will. The vacuum is calling me.”
“It always does,” she said with a small laugh. She studied my face once more, and I knew she had other questions, but she didn’t ask and I didn’t answer. Instead I watched as she took the girls for their afternoon with their grandma, and I went back to my small office.
This home wasn’t my dream home, wasn’t our forever home.
But it was the one I could afford after the divorce.
Cale had taken so much from us, but I never wanted to sleep under that old roof again, not after the attack.
My girls had never stepped foot inside that house after we had taken them away.
No, they would never even look upon it again.
If I could bulldoze it, I would. Cale had sold it and moved to a bigger place once he was finished with the courts.
I didn’t want him to have the girls, didn’t want him to see them, but I knew once I was done with this phone call with my lawyer, I was going to end up being rageful.
But Cale would never walk into this home of mine.
He would never see what I had made with my own two hands.
One day we would move to a bigger place, where the girls could have their own rooms, and my office wasn’t a mere closet off the kitchen.
I loved this home, and I knew that if I asked, any one of my siblings would help me buy a bigger one for the girls, but I needed to do this on my own.
With a sigh, I looked at the clock and understood if I didn’t call my lawyer soon, I would be late. So I sat down at my desk, pulled out my notebook, and hoped that this would have a better outcome than last time.
When I hung up the phone, I rubbed my temple, and realized that no, it hadn’t gone well at all.
In fact, the concept of things being truly evil settled in.
Cale would be taking the babies for his night soon. We would go over a time through our lawyers, but it would be coming.
He didn’t even have supervised visitation.
That man had nearly killed me with my babies in the next room, and yet he was allowed to see the girls without somebody there to make sure that they were cared for, that they were safe.
How the courts had failed us this deeply, I would never know, but I would never trust them again. I wanted to bundle the girls up and run away, to keep them safe forever, but I knew that there would be no hiding.
Laws didn’t exist to keep us safe.
They just existed for men to thrive.
My phone rang, and I looked at it as if it were a snake ready to strike. As Cale’s name appeared on the readout, perhaps that was truth.
He wasn’t supposed to be calling, no, he should have been contacting me through our lawyers. But Cale never did listen.
I needed to send him to voicemail, but I was also about to give him our babies—no, my babies—for a weekend. And if I angered him now, I didn’t know what he would do to retaliate.
Fear and anger warring within me, I answered.
“Yes.”
“I see the lawyers have spoken with you. We’ll be arranging a time soon for me to see my girls.”
I gritted my teeth, knowing he was going for my reaction. He had wanted sons, and had never called them his with that proprietary tone. No, he would only do so to try to get me to fight back.
He wanted to get a reaction, and I wouldn’t give it to him.
“The lawyers will let us know on the calendar. I will have a list of things that the girls need, what they’re allowed to eat, and things for their allergies.”
“I know what my girls want. Don’t patronize me. You might think that you’re acting the good mother, but I know for a fact that they’re rarely under your roof, yet a certain man seemed to be.”
Ice crawled up my veins as I knew he had been watching us. It didn’t matter what security I had on my house, what my family did to protect us, it would never be enough.
Because evil prevailed.
“Our lawyers will handle it then.” And with that, I hung up the phone, knowing I would just anger him. Yet maybe not. Because he’d gotten the rise out of me that he wanted.
Heart racing, I pulled away from my desk, grabbed my phone, and began to pace.
My lawyer was doing what he could, but Cale had more connected friends than I had ever guessed. He had married me for my money and all my connections, but he hadn’t been able to get anything out of that, so he had tried to ruin everything.
He tried to ruin me.
I knew he was taking my babies.
With a deep sigh, I stared at my phone and realized I needed to talk to someone.
Isabella and Blakely would be working, as there was a large meeting coming up with the Cages. I could call any one of my siblings, even my mother, but as my phone went to my contact list, I called the one person I shouldn’t—and hadn’t even realized I was doing so until it was too late to back out.
“Princess?”
At the sound of his deep voice, my heart slowed ever so slightly. No longer feeling as if I was going to pass out, I leaned against the counter and wondered if I had lost my mind. Why the hell was I calling this man at this moment?