Behind the Veil

Force

In the end, Nathaniel and his mother brought Helen and the boy back. Helen was protective of her grandson.

"Nelson will always be my grandson. No one's going to push him around as long as I still breathe." She kept giving me looks that said I was an evil witch who cooked children for dinner.

Helen's eyes shone smugly. The anxiety she showed earlier was gone, and she held Nathaniel's arm. "I won't take your place as Nathaniel's wife, Ms. Holloway. All I want is for my son to stay with his father so no one can call him a bastard child."

I grinned sardonically and shot back, "That wouldn't be an insult, but a description."

Helen paled, and she turned to Nathaniel like a hurt puppy. A frown creased Nathaniel's forehead. "That was crude. You're better than this," he said icily.

Something in my heart shook. I clenched my fists for a moment before slowly unclenching them. My throat was parched, and I said raspily, "I've told you, I wanted no second time."

Nathaniel held his son's arm. He shrugged me off and answered, "I've given you the papers. You can sign them. No one's stopping you, but you're still pregnant with my child." His eyes turned to my swollen belly.

"All I want is to take Nelson home. He's just a five-year-old boy. He needs his father. For God's sake, be the bigger woman. Besides, I know our baby will be happy they have a brother."

Nathaniel spoke so matter-of-factly. I could tell that he truly thought this was the most natural thing in the world, just like breathing. Still, those words had successfully snuffed out the last of my hopes.

Before I could say anything, he added, "Mom and I have decided to throw a ball next week. Nelson will be calling you his godmother after that. No one can call him a bastard anymore."

I shoved my sadness down before it could show. He'd thought that far ahead, huh? "I'm not playing along."

Nathaniel chuckled. "Sure, then you're getting a labor induction done at the hospital right now."

My head jerked up. My fury surged forth as I roared, "Are you mad? The baby's not even eight months along!"

Nathaniel was calm, but the words that came out of his mouth were filled with malice. "I'm the baby's father, and I have the right to approve that. It's only a baby if you've given birth to it. If you haven't, it's nothing more than a ball of flesh.

"Think about it. You can either take up the mantle as Nelson's godmother or get a labor induction. Of course, you can refuse, but I can always use force."

Then, he left with his other family.

We stayed out of each other's way after that disagreement, and Nathaniel never came home.

Now that the truth was out, Nathaniel kept updating his socials. That was something he'd never done before. Most of the photos were of him and his family.

Even the captions nearly told everyone they were a real family. My friends saw his new posts, and all of them wanted to know the story behind the scenes.

"Who's that woman in his stories, Ginny? And that boy looks just like him. Is he…"

"Is that woman his…"

I had no energy to answer my friends' questions. The one friend who knew about that night five years ago told me, "Your marriage is in a crisis, isn't it? I hate to say I told you so, but you shouldn't have forgiven him back then. Cheaters never change."

A bitter smile twisted my lips. My friend had seen through Nathaniel's act like he was glass, yet I stupidly placed my faith in him after his betrayal.