Mom, Don't Cry! Here comes a new Daddy! novel Chapter 68

<Chapter 48

Chapter 48

(Dustin’s POV)

The city blurs past as I navigate through traffic on autopilot. My mind keeps replaying the courtroom scene. Jake’s testimony. The judge’s ruling. Sabrina’s face when she realized she’d

won.

That small smile. Like she’d been expecting this all along.

That’s when it hits me.

She knew.

Lay

Sabrina knew about the pre-nuptial agreement. She knew it was never voided. And she let me think

we were safe, that she’d taken care of it years ago, while secretly holding onto it like a weapon.

My hands tighten on the steering wheel until my knuckles turn white.

She played me. For seven years, she played the role of the devoted, trusting wife while keeping that agreement in her back pocket, just waiting for me to screw up so she could take everything.

The betrayal burns through me with the force of concentrated acid.

I trusted her. Gave her access to everything. Put her name on accounts, included her in decisions, let her into every aspect of my life. And the whole time, she was planning this. Waiting for the

perfect moment to destroy me.

That phone call after we fought. Her voice so cold, so certain: I promise you, by the time this is over, you’re going to find out just exactly who you messed with.

She meant it. Every word.

This wasn’t about Jake. This wasn’t about justice or fairness or giving our son a stable home.

This was revenge. Pure, calculated revenge.

By the time I pull into the Sterling & Co. parking garage, my rage has crystallized into something

cold and sharp.

I storm into the building, ignoring the receptionist’s greeting, and head straight for the elevators. Jessica’s probably already on her way here, ready to continue our argument. But I need time alone first. Time to think. To plan my next move.

Sabrina thinks she’s won. That she’s outsmarted me. If she thinks I’ll just roll over and accept this humiliation…

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Chapter 48

She’s dead wrong.

Clair

The elevator ride to the eighth floor feels endless. When the doors finally open, I practically run to my office, slamming the door behind me.

The silence should be comforting. Instead, it just amplifies the chaos in my head.

I yank at my tie, pulling it loose with more force than necessary. Then I unbutton my collar, trying to

ease the pressure building in my chest.

It doesn’t help.

Nothing helps.

A knock at my door makes me freeze.

“Go away,” I call out.

The door opens anyway. Parker sticks his head in, his expression cautious.

“Hey, man. I heard about the ruling. I just wanted to say-”

“Get out.”

“Dustin-”

Something inside me snaps.

I grab the nearest object-a crystal paperweight Sabrina gave me for our fifth anniversary-and

hurl it at Parker’s head. He ducks just in time, and it smashes against the doorframe with a

satisfying crash.

“I said get out!” My voice is raw, barely human. “Get out of my sight, you jinx!”

Parker’s face goes white. “What the hell, man?”

“This is your fault!” I’m shouting now, not caring who hears. “You and your stupid karma bullshit.

You said it would come back to bite me, and it did. You cursed me!”

“Are you for real? A curse? You believe in that-“、

“Get out! Now!”

Parker backs out quickly, closing the door behind him. I hear his footsteps pounding down the hallway and sink into my office chair, my whole body shaking with rage.

Karma.

What a joke.

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Chapter 48

Char

I don’t believe in karma. Never have. Never will. The universe doesn’t keep score of half the shit that’s going around out there. Why would it focus on me? If there was a cosmic justice keeping track of everyone’s good and bad deeds, then I wouldn’t have become an orphan at the age of five.

But I do believe in bad luck.

And right now? I’ve got it in spades.

Parker’s words that day. They must’ve attracted this bad luck to me. Called this nightmare down

on my head.

But bad luck doesn’t last forever. Eventually, it finds a new target and moves on to someone else. A

new victim to torture.

And when it does, when my luck finally turns around, I’ll appeal this ruling. I’ll request for a new

judge, one who isn’t biased against busy fathers and loyal men to their first love. One who’ll look at

the facts objectively and see that Sabrina manipulated everyone-the judge, the lawyers, even

Jake, to get back at me.

I’ll get my son back. My house. My car. The investments. The jewelry. Everything she thinks she’s

won.

She won’t get to keep any of it.

I’ll make sure of that.

My phone buzzes with a text from Jessica: We need to talk. Please, don’t shut me out. You know

how much I love you.

I delete it without responding.

Another text: Dustin, please. We’re in this together.

Delete.

Another: Are you sick of me now? Is that what this is?

Delete.

And another: I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t mean that. I promise, we’ll figure this out.

I turn off my phone and toss it onto the desk.

Then I pull out the bottle of whiskey I keep in my bottom drawer for difficult clients and pour myself a generous glass.

The burn as it goes down is almost comforting. A familiar pain that I can control, a pain I can handle, unlike everything else in my life right now.

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