Broken Vows and Buried Twins novel Chapter 4

This was Northwood City's most exclusive affluent district, where money alone couldn't buy property. Her marital home with Julian, Stellamare Villa, was located in District A, while this property, 'Silverstream Villa', sat right here in District B. The two estates were separated by barely a mile of private neighborhood roads.

Julian and Melody had built a secret home together behind her back and raised a son here, hadn't they? How long had this been going on?-

The boy was five. That meant while she was trapped in a living hell, consumed by the grief of losing her children for five entire years, Julian was here, enjoying the warmth and perfection of his secret family.

He had a new home. A new child. Why would he ever care about the twins they had lost?

Hester got back into her car and slammed the door shut. Sitting in the driver's seat, she masochistically pulled out her phone and dialed his number again.

It rang out. She dialed a second time...

She lost count of how many times she called him. Just like the countless times over the last five years when her grief had spiraled out of control, she kept hitting the call button, fully knowing he wouldn't answer, yet desperately trying anyway.

It wasn't until night completely fell that her phone finally died and slipped from her fingers. She blinked her burning, swollen eyes, and fresh tears spilled over.

The estate's exterior lights flickered on, casting a dim glow inside her car.

As if guided by some twisted sixth sense, Hester looked up at the second-floor master bedroom.

Through the sheer curtains drawn across the floor-to-ceiling windows, she could perfectly make out two silhouettes locked in a tight embrace.

Hester pressed her lips together, fighting desperately to maintain her composure, but her chin wouldn't stop quivering.

Her heart felt like it was being shoved through a meat grinder. The agony was so suffocating she thought she might genuinely lose her mind!

She grabbed the door handle, ready to storm the gates. But as she moved, her eyes caught the ultrasound printout sitting on the center console. The voices of her twins echoed in her head.

She used to internalize it. She used to blame herself—until yesterday, when she saw Julian and Melody playing house. That was when she realized just how incredibly stupid she had been.

Why would Julian be hurting? He was basking in the joy of fatherhood in his secret home. When he came back to her, he probably just saw an unreasonable, hysterical woman.

The signs had been there all along, buried in his endless 'late nights at the office' and 'business trips'. She just hadn't wanted to see them.

Thinking of that little boy, Hester's chest seized with a violent pang of grief. Her children deserved so much better!

After a night of icy clarity, her resentment and fury toward Julian had reached their absolute peak. Hester spoke, her voice dead flat. "Sabrina, I'm filing for divorce. Julian is at fault. I want him to leave with absolutely nothing."

"What?!" Sabrina stammered on the other end, completely shocked. "He is at fault?! He... he cheated? That's impossible."

"He's been living with Melody Monroe behind my back, and they have a son together," Hester paused, her voice cracking just slightly. "Sabrina... the boy is five years old. Exactly the same age my babies would have been."