HIS REGRET (Ex-Husband wants Me Back) novel Chapter 258

Kate nodded once. “Yes. A son.”

Felicia’s napkin hit the table with a slap as she shot to her feet, eyes wide with disbelief. “No! That’s impossible! If it were true, why are we only hearing about it now? Who’s the mother?”

Meeting their stunned stares, Kate forced herself to answer. “Althea.”

Kalina’s chair screeched against the floor as she jumped up. “What?!” Her voice rose sharply. “Althea?! You mean Althea Grayson? The ex-wife we cast out?”

Felicia’s hand flew to her mouth, her whole-body trembling. “Mom… please say you’re joking. Tell me this is just some ridiculous rumor.”

Kate shook her head. Her tone was firm, but her expression betrayed her own lingering disbelief. “No. The boy is real. I met him this afternoon. At first, I thought maybe I’d mistaken him for someone else, but the more I doubted, the clearer it became. That boy is Daven’s son.”

Kalina dragged her fingers through her hair in frustration. “Eight years, Mom! Eight years we lived not knowing Daven had a child. How could Althea keep something like this from us? How could Daven not say a word?”

Felicia’s voice wavered, her eyes glassy with anger and shock. “Then… what really happened, Mom? Can you explain how something this big could have stayed hidden?”

“We have a nephew we never even knew about?” Kalina shot her sister with a disbelieving look.

Kate’s nod was slow, her tone bitter. “Even now, I can still feel that boy’s presence. His laughter, the way he chatted so cheerfully, the look on his face when he was with Daven…”

“What’s… his name?” Felicia asked, her voice trembling.

Kate met her daughter’s gaze with sorrowful eyes. “Joshua Grayson.”

This time Kalina spoke, her voice laced with fury. “Why didn’t Daven ever tell us? Why is this only coming to light now? Did he deliberately keep it from us?”

Felicia moved closer, clutching her mother’s hand as if anchoring herself against the shock. “Was it… was it Althea who forced him to stay silent? Did she make him keep it from us?”

“Althea couldn’t have done something that cruel, Felicia! She should have told us from the beginning, shouldn’t she?”

“Did I hear you wrong, Felicia?” Kalina’s voice dripped with disdain. “You? Defending Althea?”

“I’m just stating the truth.” Felicia gave a casual shrug. “But you’re not mistaken, Kalina. I… am, in a way, defending ‘that woman.’”

Kate shook her head, disbelief tightening her features. “Felicia, you’re talking as if Althea is some saint. She kept that child hidden from us for years. And when I spoke to her, she didn’t show the slightest hint of remorse for what she’s done to this family. How can you possibly defend her?”

Felicia exhaled slowly, her mind restless with memories. She couldn’t erase the past—the words and actions that had once driven Althea into the ground. There had been nights when guilt haunted her, especially as her own bond with Vanessa began to crumble.

As her business grew, Felicia met countless people, shared stories, and learned hard lessons. Somewhere along the way, she realized she didn’t want to live forever in the shadow of her family’s name. She wanted to stand on her own, with her own strength. Maybe that was why, now, she could finally look at things differently.

“Your mother is right,” Kalina pressed, her tone sharp with impatience. “How could you defend what Althea did? It was unforgivable.”

Once more, Felicia drew in a long breath, her gaze shifting between Kate and Kalina. “Because I’ve come to see something clearly, Mom. I regret the way we treated her. We drove her out. We belittled her. We insulted her. We humiliated her, again and again, simply because she was ordinary. Because she had no powerful family, no one left to stand by her side. And worst of all, we did it when she had just lost her mother. We all know the truth of how she lost her, don’t we? Tell me—was that right? Was that fair?”