Twenty-Six receipts of betrayal Novel novel Chapter 64

Nathan burst into tears, his tiny body trembling in Sean’s arms.

Everyone lowered their heads, too terrified to breathe.

Charlotte scooped up the crying child and looked Sean straight in the eye.

“Stop yelling at them. It was me. I told him.”

He glared at her, then waved dismissively at the cowering staff.·

“Get out. All of you. Now!”

Sean strode over and took the still–sobbing Nathan from Charlotte’s arms.

He carried him into the adjoining bedroom and locked the door behind them.

Minutes later, he returned to the study, fury simmering just beneath the surface.

“Why would you say that to a kid? We had an agreement! We’d co–parent. I’d compensate you fairly!”

“Whatever you want–properties, cars, stock options–I’ll give it to you!”

Charlotte’s hand moved protectively over her belly. Her face was eerily calm as she stared at him.

Then she smiled–cold and hollow–and stepped closer.

“What if I want you to stay married? What if I want you to be a good father? A good husband?”

“Can you do that, Sean?”

It was like she’d struck a nerve. His response was instant.

“NO.”

The word came out sharp, with no hesitation.

“Charlotte, I promised Lanie I’d marry her. She’s waited seven years. I can’t make her wait anymore.”

“Seven years?”

Charlotte repeated the number softly. The defiance and restraint she’d been clinging to finally shattered. Tears spilled

down her cheeks.

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Twenty–Six Receipts of Betrayal: My Silence Was the Countdown to His Eternal Regret

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Chapter 9

“You say Lanie waited seven years for you. What do you think I’ve been doing, Sean?”

“I spent seven years playing the perfect wife in your business arrangement. I hosted dinners, dealt with your family, played the role of Mrs. Winters while you kept your REAL girlfriend on the side!”

“And now, just because you love her, you think you can discard me?”

“You want to get married, we get married. You want a divorce, we divorce. Who the hell do you think you are?!”

Sean looked at the tears streaming down her face, and a sharp, suffocating irritation clawed at his chest.

Everything was unraveling.

His carefully constructed plan was falling apart.

Charlotte’s second pregnancy was an accident–but it had also been his trump card.

His leverage to force her into signing the papers quickly.

He’d planned to use the baby to secure the Vanderbilts‘ cooperation. To buy himself and me a future free from

interference.

But now that leverage had turned into chains–locking him in place.

Sean sat in the study from midnight until dawn.

Finally, the butler knocked softly.

“Sir, Mrs. Winters took young Master Nathan back to the Vanderbilt estate.”

Sean let out a barely audible grunt.

The butler said nothing more and quietly withdrew, closing the door behind him.

Sean’s gaze drifted to the silver picture frame on his desk.

In the photo, I stood in a field of wildflowers, smiling brightly at the camera.

A sudden, overwhelming wave of longing crashed over him, threatening to drown him completely.

He grabbed his phone, fingers moving instinctively to the contact at the top of his list.

But instead of my warm, familiar voice, a cold, robotic recording answered.

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Twenty–Six Receipts of Betrayal: My Silence Was the Countdown to His Eternal Regret

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Chapter 9

**The number you have dialed is currently switched off**

Sean froze.

*Switched off?*

I never turned off my phone.

*Her battery must’ve died.*

He told himself that. But a creeping sense of dread coiled tighter around his chest.

He dialed again.

*“The number you have dialed is currently switched off“*

Again.

And again.

His knuckles turned white around the phone.

*Drip.*

A bead of cold sweat slid down his temple and landed on the screen, spreading into a small wet stain.

The most terrifying thought clawed its way to the front of his mind.

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