Mom, Don't Cry! Here comes a new Daddy! novel Chapter 122

Chapter 110-2

“Try the navy suit.”

“It’s too formal.”

“Try it anyway.”

+25 Pointe

I put it on. Look at myself in the mirror. The suit fits well–tailored and professional–but something

about it feels wrong. Like I’m trying too hard.

“Next,” I call out.

Sophia hands me a dress. Then another suit. Then a combination of pieces that somehow work

together even though I never would have chosen them separately.

Jake is sitting in the chair outside the dressing room, providing commentary.

“Mom, that one makes you look like the Judge lady,” he says when I emerge in a gray pencil skirt

and blazer.

“Is that good or bad?”

“Do you want to look like you’re going to argue with her or get to know her?”

“Get to know her.”

“Then not that one.”

We go through six more outfits before we find it. A dress in deep emerald green, fitted but not tight, professional but not severe. It has three–quarter sleeves and a hem that hits just below my

knees.

When I step out of the dressing room, Sophia gasps.

“That’s the one.”

I look at myself in the three–way mirror. She’s right. This is the one.

It’s not trying to be something I’m not. It’s not hiding who I am. It’s just… me. Elevated. Confident.

Like someone who belongs at a table with Kate Hale.

“Mom, you look really pretty,” Jake says.

Coming from a six–year–old boy, that’s high praise.

We buy the dress. And shoes to match. And a pair of earrings that Sophia insists are “the finishing touch.” By the time we leave the store, I’m lighter than I’ve been all day.

TUE

14

O

|||

O

r

< Chapter 110-2

Not because of the clothes.

+25 Point

Because Sophia spent the entire shopping trip telling me stories about Kate. How she built Hale

Global from almost nothing. How she’s known for being tough but fair. How she values

competence above everything else.

“She’s not going to judge you for being divorced,” Sophia says as we walk to the car. “She’s going to judge you based on what you bring to Ethan’s life. And baby, you bring everything.”

“What if she doesn’t see it that way?”

“Then she’s blind. But Kate Hale didn’t build an empire by being blind.” Sophia loads the shopping bags into her trunk. “Trust me. You’re going to be fine.”

I want to believe her.

I want to walk into that meeting on Friday with confidence and grace and all the things Kate will expect from someone marrying her grandson.

But the doubt keeps creeping in.

That night, after Jake is in bed, Ethan comes over. We sit on the couch with takeout containers and

he walks me through everything I need to know.

Kate’s history. Her business philosophy. Her thoughts on family and legacy and what it means to

be a Hale.

“She never approved of Giselle either,” he says at one point.

I set down my fork. “Your ex? The one who came with her daughter claiming her to be yours?”

“That one.”

“Why not?”

“She said Giselle was fake. She cared too much about appearances, and focused on playing a role instead of being herself.” He pauses. “Kate values authenticity above everything else. She can smell fake from a mile away.”

“So what does that mean for me?”

He turns to face me fully. Takes my hand. “It means you walk in there and you be exactly who you are. Smart, Strong, Unafraid to speak your mind. That’s what I fell in love with and that’s what she’ll

respect.”

“But what if being me isn’t enough?”

“It will be.”

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify