Unmatched Wife: Not His To Claim Anymore novel Chapter 16

Chapter 16

MATTHEW

I found Theo in his room, sitting on his bed with his arms crossed. The red mark on his cheek had gotten darker and I felt guilty although I was the one who caused the hurt.

“Theo, we need to talk about what happened at school.” I sat down beside him, keeping my voice gentle but firm, needing him to know the consequences of his actions. “Fighting is never okay, son. No matter how upset you are.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong!” His small voice was fierce, sounding righteous as a four year old could be. “Emma was lying about Mama. She doesn’t know anything!”

“Theo—”

“It’s Mama’s fault!” Tears were gathering in his eyes now, his anger shifting into that of vulnerability. “Aunty Mia is dying, Daddy. She’s really sick and Mama can help her but she won’t. Why won’t she? Why is she being so mean?”

The pain in his voice made my heart ache. “It’s complicated, buddy. Adult stuff that’s hard to explain.”

“I don’t care if it’s complicated!” He was crying now. “I just want Aunty Mia to get better. I don’t want her to die like—like—” He broke into sobs, his small body shaking.

I pulled him into my arms, holding him tight against my chest. His tears soaked into my shirt, and fury burned hot in my veins— fury at Bianca for putting this burden on our son, for being so stubborn and selfish that a four–year–old was carrying the weight of someone’s life on his shoulders.

“Shh, it’s okay. It’s okay, buddy.”

“Promise me,” Theo hiccupped against my chest. “Promise you’ll get Mama to help Aunty Mia. Promise she won’t die. Please, Daddy. Please.”

What was I supposed to say to that? How could I promise something I couldn’t control, when my own wife was refusing to do what any decent healer would do?

“I’m working on it,” I said instead, smoothing his hair back. “I promise I’m trying to help Aunty Mia, okay? You don’t need to worry about this. That’s for the grown–ups to figure out.”

But even as I said it, I wondered where Bianca was. She should have come home by now. She should be up here, trying to comfort our son.

The front door opened downstairs.

“I’m home!”

Mia’s voice floated up the stairs echoing through the large space. Theo’s head jerked up immediately, his tear–stained face brightening.

“Aunty Mia!”

He scrambled off my lap and ran for the door. I followed him down the stairs, watching as he threw himself at Mia in the foyer. She caught him easily, kneeling down to his level, her hands immediately going to his injured face

“Oh, sweetheart, look at you.” Her voice was soft with concern as she examined his split lip. “Let’s get you cleaned up properly, okay? Come to the kitchen.”

I stopped as I looked around, I thought I had heard Bianca’s voice just now, but it seemed like I had been mistaken.

I followed them, watching as Mia wet a clean cloth and dabbed gently at Theo’s lip. Her movements were tender, practiced, like she’d been doing this her whole life. Theo stood still for her, trusting her to take good care of him.

“There we go,” she murmured, pressing a kiss to his forehead. “All better. You’re such a brave boy.”

My chest clenched watching them together. She was so good with him. So natural and present, the way they just… fit.

For a dangerous moment, I let myself imagine what life would be like if —

“I know it’s wrong,” she continued, her words muffled against my shirt. “I know I shouldn’t think like this, but I keep imagining what it would be like to have a family like yours, Matthew. To have a little boy like Theo call me Mom for real, not just pretend. To have someone to love me, to need me, to remember me after I’m gone.”

My heart was hammering. Her words painted pictures I’d been trying not to see, Mia living the life she’d always dreamed of before illness had stolen it away.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I should be grateful for the time I have left, not wishing for impossible things. I’m being selfish and foolish, and I-”

“You’re not selfish.” The words came out rougher than I intended. “You’re allowed to want things, Mia. You’re allowed to dream, even now.”

My phone buzzed in my pocket, cutting off whatever I’d been about to say. I pulled it out, grateful for the interruption, as this was leading into forbidden territory before I would promise her something that I couldn’t take back.

A text from Beta Marcus: Alpha, I need to discuss some papers the Luma asked me to prepare. It’s urgent. Can you come by my office tomorrow?

I felt uneasy run down my spine. Papers Bianca had asked Marcus to prepare? What papers? What had she been planning without telling me?

“Matthew?” Mia’s voice was soft, questioning. “Is everything okay?”

I looked at her tear–stained face, at the pregnancy test still clutched in her hand, at this woman who’d been my first love and who might be dying.

“It’s fine,” I said, shoving the phone back in my pocket. “Just pack business. I’ll deal with it tomorrow.”

Right now, Mia needed me. Whatever Bianca was planning, whatever papers she’d asked Marcus to prepare, could wait until morning.

I pulled Mia back against my chest, letting her cry herself out, and tried not to think about the growing sense that I was standing on the edge of something I couldn’t take back.