The Coldest Man in the Room Melted Only for Me novel Chapter 69

Back when they were dating in college, they used to constantly use each other's phones, and she had always been his only pinned contact.

Now, there were four pinned chats.

Aside from her and two corporate group chats, the very top pinned conversation was Manager Walsh.

She didn't know if the app had automatically synced the name from his contacts, or if he had manually changed it to hide the affair from her.

Riley tapped into Manager Walsh's chat.

The newest message was sent twelve minutes ago. It was a photo of a toddler laughing on a bed in a onesie.

And as for whose child it was...

She had seen him in the elevator at Aegis General Hospital. It was the exact same boy she had seen Seraphina holding.

She had already deduced the truth, fully knowing that Manager Walsh was Seraphina.

But harboring a suspicion and seeing the undeniable proof were two completely different horrors.

Her eyes immediately burned with fresh tears.

Riley aggressively tilted her head back, desperate to stop herself from crying.

The image of Pierce smiling so adoringly at his screen when she walked into the house flashed through her mind.

He had been looking at Seraphina's son.

Alora was his own flesh and blood, yet he frequently ignored the photos Riley sent of her for hours on end.

But right beneath this photo was Pierce's immediate reply: [He has such a cute smile.]

A child he had absolutely no blood relation to. A child he had lied about a business trip to stay with in the hospital.

A child he had blown off his own daughter's milestone celebration to throw a party for.

Why?

Was it entirely because Seraphina was his mother?

Because he loved the mother, so he cherished the son?

A tear slipped down her cheek, completely out of her control.

Riley slapped a hand over her mouth, aggressively shoving down the agonizing sob ripping through her chest. She wiped her face and continued scrolling up.

Seraphina: [You're awful to me.]

The words blurred into an incomprehensible mess of gray and white blocks as tears completely blinded her.

Hot drops of water splattered rapidly across the glass screen.

Riley yanked her head away, furiously swiping the tears off the phone. She refused to torture herself by reading another word. She closed the app, locked the device, and placed it perfectly back on the nightstand.

She slumped back against the headboard.

Her mind hijacked her, violently replaying every flawless memory she had of him like a sick, twisted highlight reel.

Oddly enough, it was only the moments where he had been incredibly good to her.

Bringing her breakfast in bed, driving across town for her favorite milk tea, buying her painkillers when she was sick, getting her fried chicken, drowning her in lavish gifts.

Smiling at her with such pure devotion. Holding her hand while walking around campus. Pulling her behind a tree in the park to kiss her breathless, holding her tight and whining that even seeing her every day wasn't enough.

Getting down on one knee. Taking their wedding photos. Standing in front of the priest and vowing to love her, to cherish her, to never abandon her for the rest of his life.

Spinning her around the living room when she told him she was pregnant...