The Colonel’s Claim: After the Divorce novel Chapter 1

As summer vacation approached, Clara Conway, who had moved away for her marriage five years ago, received a call from her mother.

"Caleb's health is deteriorating, and I don't know if he'll make it through the year," Sarah said.

"Since summer break is almost here, do you and Dominic have time to bring Stella back for a visit? Your father wants to see you two."

"But if Dominic is too busy, just forget it..."

Even though Sarah told her to forget it, Clara could clearly hear the disappointment and hesitation in her mother's voice.

Truth be told, in the five years since she joined the Hayes family, Clara had only visited her hometown during her first year of marriage, but not once in the subsequent four years.

Dominic Hayes always used the same excuses: he was too busy with work, had no time, and it was too inconvenient.

Fighting back tears, Clara agreed to the visit, immediately opened her travel app, and bought three flight tickets to Charleston.

After purchasing the tickets, she hesitated for a moment before calling Dominic.

The phone rang for quite a while before it connected.

"Hello," the man answered, his tone icy.

"Dominic, who is calling this early?"

It was a woman's voice.

Clara gripped her phone tightly.

She distinctly remembered him telling her last night that he was staying at the office.

"Nobody," Dominic replied to the woman.

Without waiting for Clara to speak, he hung up the phone.

Clara froze, staring at the screen with a pale face.

Actually, before they got married, Dominic treated her exceptionally well.

They had a high school sweetheart romance that blossomed into marriage.

He used to cherish her more than anything, and the word 'cheating' never would have been associated with him.

It was only later, perhaps because her body changed after giving birth, or for some other reason, that he started acting cold toward her.

The man sent a text message: [Need something?]

He offered zero explanation about the woman.

Clara forced a bitter smile, swallowing her pride because her father's critical condition left her with no energy to argue.

[Caleb is seriously ill. Since Stella is about to be on summer break, can we go back to Charleston and stay for a while?]

After she sent the message, there was no reply for a long time.

She did not know if he had not seen it or simply did not care.

Yet, he had just texted her a second ago...

Clara stared at the screen, a lump forming in her throat.

However, over the past two years, she had grown accustomed to his coldness and learned to endure it silently.

Figuring she would ask him about it later,

She suppressed the suffocating wave of despair in her chest and went upstairs to find her daughter.

Pushing the door open to leave a small crack, she heard Stella Hayes's voice drifting out from inside.

"Once we finish eating and your dad gets home, we're taking a trip to Charleston. Caleb is sick, and since you're almost on summer break, we're going to stay there for a bit."

Stella paused, the bright smile fading from her small face as she furrowed her delicate brows.

She did not really want to go.

Even though Sarah and Caleb treated her well and often sent her snacks,

Charleston was too far away, and the long flight sounded absolutely miserable.

Plus, they said Caleb was sick, but maybe it was just an excuse to trick her into visiting.

So annoying.

She had already promised to hang out with Scarlett later.

Scarlett had been in a bad mood the past few days because her family member was sick, and Stella hated seeing her sad!

But looking at Clara's uncompromising expression, the little girl pouted, knowing she could not refuse.

She flopped back onto the bed in a sulky mood.

Seeing her reaction, Clara bent down and coaxed her gently, "Come on, Stella, time to get up."

Reluctantly, Stella rubbed her face against the mattress before muttering stubbornly.

"Go get my clothes, run the water, and put toothpaste on my brush..."

Clara hummed in agreement and went to do it.

For years, this was exactly how she had catered to both her and Dominic.