Unmatched Wife: Not His To Claim Anymore novel Chapter 25

Chapter 25

MATTHEW

I was in the middle of explaining to Bianca why her paranoia about Mia was destroying our family, because she was so focused on seeing things that wasn’t there and was losing fact about what was real when my phone rang. The screen lit up with Mia’s name, and I felt the familiar pull, that I always got when it involved Mia, the need to make sure that she was doing fine and wasn’t needing a medical emergency.

“It’s Mia,” I said, moving toward the window to create some distance from Bianca’s stare, which seemed to be accusing me of things that I was innocent of. I wanted to leave the room, to have this call on private, Blanca wasn’t privy to listen to your personal conversation but the hospital corridor outside was busy, which was full of the usual chaos that seemed to be a daily routine here and I wouldn’t be able to hear what Mia was saying with the background sound, so I decided to answer the call here instead. Here being the lesser evil of the two options.

I answered and put it on speaker, partially because of the noise and partially because I had nothing to hide, irrespective of what Bianca kept saying.

“Matthew? Is everything okay? How’s Bianca?”

But before I could answer, I heard Theo’s voice in the background, talking to Mia.

“Aunty Mia, when you get better, can you be my new mummy?”

My breath caught when I heard the words from his mouth. I glanced at Bianca and saw her face go white, her hands gripping the bed sheets so tightly her knuckles turned white from gripping it too hard. She had heard what

Theo said.

* “Oh, sweetheart.” Mia’s voice was soft, touched, sounding both honored and hesitant at the same time as she

replied. “That’s so sweet of you to say. I would love that more than anything. But you already have a mummy.”

“But she’s never there!” Theo’s voice carried that sulking tone of a four–year–old who’d been holding in his feelings too long, and was finally speaking it out loud.. “She’s always working and never plays with me anymore. And she’s always bossy and telling me what to do and—and she made you cry! I saw it! She’s mean to you!”

There was silence on the other end. Then Mia spoke again, her voice gentle, soothing. “Your mummy loves you very much, Theo. She’s just… she’s going through a hard time right now. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t care about you.”

I was touched by Mia’s words. This was the Mia that I knew and grew up with, the Mia that Bianca swore was lying to me. Always defending Bianca, even when my wife didn’t deserve it. That was Mia’s true self, she was always kind to a fault, unable to see the manipulation happening right in front of her.

“Matthew?” Mia’s attention shifted back to me, remembering that she had called me and I had picked up. “Is Bianca really sick? The hospital said she collapsed, that it was serious. I’ve been so worried about her. Exerting herself until she faints is not good for her body, she needs to take good care of herself, she shouldn’t abuse her good health like that.

I looked at Bianca again. She was sitting up in bed, clearly conscious, clearly functional despite looking pale a bit, but this did nothing to hide the anger burning in her eyes. She’d heard everything. Every word Theo had said about wanting a new mother. Every accusation about her absence, her coldness, her failure to be present for our son. Alwyas fighting and trying to hurt an already dying friend of mine.\

Good.

1/2

Chapter 25

+25 Bonus

Maybe this would finally make her understand what her stubbornness was costing us. Maybe hearing it from Theo himself. Especially an innocent, honest Theo who couldn’t lie to save his life, and was speaking things as he was seeing it in black and white would break through her jealousy and paranoia. Maybe she’d realize that she was destroying this family, alienating our son, all to prove some point about Mia that wasn’t even true.

“She’s fine,” I said, my voice harder than I intended. “It’s just her trying to manipulate things as usual. She’s perfectly healthy, sitting up in bed, glaring at me like I’m the problem here.”

“Matthew…” Mia’s voice held a note of concern. “Maybe she really isn’t fine. Maybe we should-”

“Don’t.” I cut her off, frustration bleeding into my tone. “Don’t defend her, Mia. You’re too kind for that. She’s been making your life hell for months, refusing to help you, accusing you of faking your illness, and now she’s selling her hospital shares to spite you. She doesn’t deserve your compassion.”

A pause. Then Mia’s voice came back, shakier now. “Matthew, I… I didn’t call just to check on Bianca. I think–I think someone’s following me.”

My entire body went rigid. “What?”

“There’s a car. It’s been behind me for the last fifteen minutes, through multiple turns. I’m heading back to your house now because I didn’t want to lead them anywhere else, but I’m–I’m scared, Matthew. What if it’s someone that is looking for me? What if they found out I came back here, that I’m here with you-”

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