Mom, Don't Cry! Here comes a new Daddy! novel Chapter 133

Chapter 118-2

Chapter 118-2

Jake is holding my hand, walking carefully in his dress shoes. He’s wearing the navy suit we bought specifically for occasions like this. Hair combed. Tie straight. Looking like a

miniature businessman.

“Remember what we talked about,” I whisper to him.

“Best behavior. No phone unless it’s an emergency. Listen more than I talk.”

“Good boy.”

But as we get closer to the private room, I start to see other guests filtering in the same direction. Men in tuxedos. Women in floor-length gowns. Jewelry that catches the light.

My stomach drops.

I’m wearing a black pencil skirt and a silk blouse. Professional. Put-together. What Rosalie said was “cocktail attire” when I texted her this afternoon asking what to wear.

This is not cocktail attire.

This is black-tie.

We enter the private dining room and I want to disappear. There must be twenty people here already. All dressed in formal evening wear. All turning to look at us.

At me.

Kate is at the head of the table, resplendent in a deep purple gown with diamonds at her throat. She takes one look at my outfit and her eyebrow rises.

Just slightly.

But it’s enough.

“Sabrina,” she says. “How lovely to see you. Though I must say, didn’t Rosalie tell you this is always formal attire?”

Every eye in the room turns to me.

“I-“My voice comes out wrong. Too high. I clear my throat. “I was told cocktail attire.”

Rosalie appears from somewhere to my left. She’s wearing a champagne-colored gown that

Sun Mokoun perfect

<Chapter 118-2

“Oh no!” Her hand flies to her mouth. “Did I say cocktail? I meant black-tie! I’m so sorry, Sabrina. I must have confused it with the spring gala.”

She sounds genuinely distressed. Looks genuinely apologetic.

But her eyes tell a different story.

Ethan’s hand tightens on my back. “It’s fine. Sabrina looks beautiful regardless.”

“Of course she does,” Kate agrees. “Though perhaps a bit underdressed for the occasion.” She gestures to the table. “Please, sit. We’re about to start.”

I want to leave. Want to grab Jake and walk out and never come back.

But that would prove her right. Prove I don’t belong here.

So I lift my chin and walk to the seat Ethan indicates. Jake sits beside me, small and quiet in a way he never is at home.

The other guests settle into their chairs. I recognize a few faces from photos Ethan has shown me. Cousins. Board members. Family friends. All part of the world he comes from.

All watching me like I’m a specimen under glass.

“Sabrina works in advertising,” Kate announces to the table. “Creative Director at Hale Global Ethan speaks very highly of her campaigns.”

It should sound like a compliment. Instead, it sounds like she’s listing my qualifications for a job interview.

“How interesting,” an older woman across from me says. She’s wearing sapphires. Actual sapphires. “And before Hale Global?”

“Sterling & Co. For seven years.”

“Ah, yes. I’ve heard of them. Smaller agency, if I recall?”

“Mid-sized,” I correct. “We handled several national accounts.”

“I’m sure you did.” She smiles. It doesn’t reach her eyes. “And you have a son?”

“Jake.” I put my hand on his shoulder. “He’s six.”

“How lovely.” She doesn’t look at Jake. Just continues studying me. “From a previous marriage, I assume?”

“Yes.”

< Chapter 118-2

“Divorce is so difficult. Especially with children involved.”

I’m being dissected. Evaluated. Found lacking.

The appetizers arrive. Some kind of seafood arrangement that probably has a French name ! don’t know how to pronounce.

Jake picks up the wrong fork.

I gently guide his hand to the right one.

Across the table, I catch a woman whispering to her companion. Both of them glance at me. At Jake.

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