We Want Mommy Not You Daddy (Cedar) novel Chapter 84

Cedar’s POV

After cleaning up the mess Sterling had made, I finally managed to cook a simple bowl of noodles. When I carried it to the dining table, I found him already seated across from my usual spot, watching me with an intensity that made me uncomfortable.

‘Mr. Sterling, please wait on the sofa. I’ll discuss work after I’ve eaten.”

“You’re going to eat food prepared in a kitchen with cockroaches? His voice dripped with disgust.

I nearly slammed the bowl down. “No one’s asking you to eat it! If you can’t handle it, the door’s right there.”

1 aggressively slurped my noodles, partly out of hunger and partly to annoy him. To my surprise, I caught him watching the food with what almost looked

like longing.

“Finished, I announced, pushing the empty bowl aside. “Now, about the project-”

“What’s your son’s name?” he interrupted.

I stared at him. “Excuse me?”

“Your son. What’s his name?”

“Mr. Sterling, I thought we were discussing work.”

“Is his nickname Oliver?” His voice had taken on a strange intensity.

“Yes,” I answered cautiously. “Why?”

“What’s his full name? His last name?”

I stood up, my patience evaporating. “How is this relevant to our work?”

“It isn’t. But I want to know.”

My phone buzzed on the table. I glanced down and saw “Sweetie” on the screen. My heart jumped–I hadn’t expected him to call again tonight.

Something about Sterling’s questions made me uneasy. I declined the call,

“That was your son, right? Why didn’t you answer?” Sterling’s lips curved into an ‘unsettling smile.

“I don’t want my son knowing there’s a stranger in our home,” I replied tersely. “Mr. Sterling, it’s getting late. Perhaps we should continue this tomorrow.”

My phone buzzed again insistently. I snatched it up and hurried to the corner of the room, answering the video call.

“Mommy! Why didn’t you answer? I miss you so much!” Oliver’s voice came through clearly.

“Sweetie, Mommy’s busy right now. I’ll call you back later,” I said quietly, eyeing Sterling warily. “My boss is here discussing work. It’s not a good time.”

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2:51 pm P

Chapter 84

Your boss is there this late? That’s so mean! It’s almost eleven! When I come home, I’m going to tell him to stop being so mean to my mommy…

I couldn’t help smiling at his protective indignation. Just hearing his voice made everything better.

Suddenly, Sterling lunged toward me. I instinctively turned the phone screen down. “Mr. Sterling, what are you doing?

“Let me say hello to your son,” he demanded, his eyes cold.

The call disconnected. I felt an inexplicable relief. ‘He hung up. Mr. Sterling, my son was just being silly. Please don’t take a child’s words seriously. I apologize on his behalf…”

Sterling grabbed my phone from my hand. The screen had locked automatically.

“Mr. Sterling, I don’t understand what you’re doing in my home tonight. If the company wants to fire me for having a child, I accept that. But please return

my phone.”

He stared at the locked device, frustration evident on his face before he handed it back. “I apologize for my behavior.”

As he turned to leave, the pepper spray fell from my pocket, rolling to stop right at his feet.

The label faced upward, clearly visible: PEPPER SPRAY.

Sterling’s expression darkened as he stared at it. I casually picked it up and tucked it back into my pocket.

“Good night, Mr. Sterling. Watch your step on the way down.”

He left without another word, his tall figure disappearing into the darkness of the stairwell. Seconds later, I heard a loud crash–the shoe rack by the stairs toppling over.

I couldn’t help but smile. For a man who commanded an empire, he certainly didn’t belong in my world of rickety stairs and resilient cockroaches.

Ridley’s POV

I watched Cedar attack her noodles with surprising enthusiasm. Despite the kitchen incident, despite the late hour, she seemed determined to maintain her dignity. There was something admirable about it.

My own stomach reminded me that I hadn’t eaten dinner either. The simple noodles looked unexpectedly appetizing, though I’d never admit such a thing

aloud.

When she finished eating, I couldn’t contain my curiosity any longer. I needed to know more about her son. Each question I asked seemed to increase her discomfort–exactly the reaction I’d expect if she had something to hide. Her defensiveness when I asked about the boy’s full name particularly caught my

attention.

The timing of her phone call couldn’t have been more perfect. When “Sweetie” flashed on her screen, she immediately declined it–another suspicious action. Why wouldn’t she want me to see or hear her son? My comment about her avoiding the call clearly rattled her.

When the phone rang again, her retreat to the corner of the room only heightened my suspicions. Then I heard it–that voice. A voice I would recognize anywhere, under any circumstances.

My youngest son has a distinctive way of speaking–the slight pitch change on certain words, the way he extends his syllables when excited, even that tiny lisp that our speech therapist says he’ll outgrow. Every father knows his child’s voice as intimately as his own heartbeat.

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2:51 pm P

Chapter 84

And that was unmistakably Oliver Sterling–my Oliver–calling this woman “Mommy.”

My body moved on autopilot as I demanded to see her son. The panic in her eyes told me everything I needed to know, but the call disconnected before ! could confirm what my ears had already proven to me.

When I grabbed for her phone, desperation overrode propriety. But the screen had locked, leaving me with certainty but no proof. How could my son be calling another woman “Mommy“? Had she somehow gotten access to him? Was he being manipulated? Or was there a connection between Cedar and my

family that I’d never suspected?

The pepper spray rolling across the floor was the final insult–she’d come prepared to defend herself against me, as though I were some common predator. The realization stung in a way I hadn’t experienced in years. I, Ridley Sterling, CEO of Sterling Design Group, father of three, had been viewed as a potential threat requiring chemical deterrent.

I left her apartment with my dignity barely intact, my mind consumed by questions without answers. The darkness of the passage matched my mood perfectly. When my foot caught on something–sending it crashing to the floor–it felt like a fitting end to this surreal evening.

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