The Rejected Wife: Chapter 47

‘Mommy, wake up.’ Little fingers dance over my face. The breathless little girl’s voice brings a smile to my face. I know it’s Serene. Know I need to open my eyes. Sense the light pouring in through the window and filtering through my closed eyelids. But every bone in my body feels tired. My muscles are sore—in a good way. I feel more than well-fucked. I feel satiated. Well taken care of. There’s a warmth that suffuses my being. I’ve never felt this contented.

The days on this idyllic island have been the happiest of my life. We collected Serene from the Sterlings yesterday after brunch and took her on a walk through the paddy fields which the resort organized. Followed by snorkeling in waters so clear, you could see the fish in all their glory. Then, it was back for dinner at the villa. Serene fell asleep very soon after. Tyler wasted no time in carrying me off to bed, and proceeded to fuck me senseless. The man has an insatiable appetite, and the stamina to match. Lucky me. I feel so fortunate to have him and Serene in my life.

‘Mommy.’ There’s a tug on my arm. ‘I want brekkie.’

‘Let your mother sleep. I’ll get you breakfast,’ Tyler’s voice rumbles.

‘But, Papa, I want to eat brekkie with Mama.’ The disappointment in her voice urges me to crack open my eyelids.

I wrap my arm about my daughter and bring her in for a kiss. ‘Hello, pumpkin.’ I pretend to bite her cheek.

She giggles. ‘Mama, you’re awake.’

‘I am.’ I beam at her, then spoil it by yawning hugely.

‘Give your mom a chance to wake up fully.’ Tyler walks over to sit next to me on the bed. ‘How are you feeling?’ He scans me with quiet intensity. ‘You were sleeping so deeply; I didn’t want to disturb you.’

‘I was…knackered,’ I murmur. There’s a knowing look in his eyes, which makes me flush. I bite down on my lower lip and am gratified when those hypnotic eyes of his flare. He leans in and kisses me firmly. As always, that goes to my head. My heart feels like it’s galloping in my chest. I can feel my pulse at my wrists, at my ankles, at my temples.

Then Serene giggles. I try to pull away, conscious our daughter is watching us, not that my husband lets me. He kisses me thoroughly and at leisure. When he finally releases me, there’s a look of satisfaction on his face. He rises to his feet and hauls Serene into his arms. She squeals, locking her arms about his neck. Both of them look at me with twin grins of delight. Warmth squeezes my chest. This…feeling of being complete… I hold it close to me. I tuck it away in that corner of my chest where it will continue to warm the rest of me.

‘Get dressed, we’re meeting the Sterlings for breakfast.’

‘There, honey, have some fruit.’ I place a few slices of mango on Serene’s plate, then help myself.

We’re seated by the main pool in the resort having breakfast with the Sterlings.

I bite into the fruit, and the sweet-tart juice fills my palate. ‘This tastes so good. Everything tastes so good.’

‘It’s the appetite you worked up.’ Tyler smirks.

Summer laughs.

Sinclair arches an eyebrow.

‘Did you work out, Mrs. Davenport?’ Matty asks me in that solemn, grown-up voice of his which I’m still getting used to.

‘Oh, she did.’ Tyler puts his arm around me. ‘In fact, we worked out together.’

‘Tyler.’ I dig my elbow into his side.

Tyler’s smirk turns into a grin.

Summer coughs.

To my relief, Matty loses interest in the conversation and focuses on his pancakes. I shoot Tyler another scowl, then look past him to find a woman at the next table staring at us. It’s the same woman I noticed at the reception when we’d checked in. I almost forgot about her. But here she is and, once again, she’s staring at Serene.

Something in her expression makes the fine hairs on the nape of my neck rise.

‘What’s wrong?’ Tyler must notice my expression, for he looks her way. His entire body goes still. His muscles bunch. That’s when I know, my instincts are right at being alarmed.

‘Who is she? Do you know her?’

He doesn’t reply. His hand tightens around mine. I sense the tension bouncing off of him. ‘Tyler? ‘

His jaw hardens. A vein at his temple pops. I glance at the woman, only to find she’s gone completely pale. Her throat moves as she swallows. Then, she rises to her feet and walks toward our table.

She comes to a stop before us, looking from Tyler to Serene, then back to Tyler.

Something in the rigid set of her body, the edge of desperation in the way she looks at me—and that flicker of hope, fragile and raw—triggers alarm bells in my mind. All of my instincts scream. I should move. I should grab Serene and protect her from this woman. I try to move, but my arms and legs don’t seem capable of functioning.

‘Don’t do this,’ Tyler growls.

The woman’s lips twist. ‘You know who I am, don’t you?’

‘You are Lauren Bolton, the woman who dropped off Serene at my doorstep,’ he says softly through gritted teeth.

She nods slowly. ‘I’m Serene’s mother.’

At that, Serene stops eating. She looks up at the woman and frowns. ‘You’re not my Mama.’ Serene clutches at my arm. ‘This is my Mama.’

The woman’s features crumple, then she seems to get a hold of herself. ‘No, sweetheart, I’m your mother. Your father probably hasn’t told you, but I dropped you off with him when you were only a year old. But I am your mother.”

She grabs Serene’s arm, who tries to shake it off, but the woman doesn’t let go.

‘Stop that, you’re scaring her,’ Tyler says in a low voice.

Summer, Sinclair and Matty are watching the woman in stunned silence.

As for me? I’m unable to get my brain to function. She’s Serene’s mother. Her biological mother? This is the woman who Tyler slept with? I shove that thought out of my head.

Then, Serene makes a sound of distress, which snaps me out of my fugue state.

‘You should realize how confusing all of this is for Serene.” Tyler glares at her. “She has no concept of you, since you dropped her off when she was so young. And by coming so suddenly into her life, you’re going to cause her a lot of distress. Surely, you don’t want to do that, do you?’

The woman looks at Serene, and something in her posture loosens, gentles. They lock eyes—blue meeting brown.

I always assumed Serene’s eyes came from her birth mother, but clearly, that’s not the case. The woman’s hair is a light, golden blonde, nothing like Serene’s deeper, darker strands—so much more like her father’s.

And yet, despite the differences, despite the fact that Serene shows no recognition of her, my chest hurts.

‘I’m sorry, I didn’t have the courage to bring you up alone.” Lauren bows her head. “I was convinced you’d do better with your father. But you should know, I regret dropping you off that day. I’ve spent so many sleepless nights thinking about my decision.’

Serene goes still, her whole body tight with unease. Tears well, then spill silently down her cheeks.

“Papa.” Her chin trembles. “I want my papa.”

Tyler snaps to attention, his whole body coiled tight like a wire pulled to its breaking point. His fingers clamp down on the edge of the table until his knuckles bleach bone white.

“You don’t belong here,” he says, voice low but razor-sharp. “And you sure as hell shouldn’t be unloading all of that onto Serene—not here, not like this. You’re upsetting her.”

He stands, slowly, deliberately—like he’s approaching a wild animal that might bolt or bite if provoked.

Across from me, Summer’s face drains of color. We lock eyes, and I see the same thing reflected in hers: dread, and the sharp, rising awareness that something fragile is slipping out of our control.

Sinclair’s jaw is hard. His forearms flex, and when I glance down, I realize his fingers are flying over his phone. Is he calling security? His gaze, though, is focused on the woman.

‘I am going to calm down my daughter.’ Tyler rounds my chair, reaches Serene, and places his hand on her shoulder. ‘Don’t worry, Poppet. Everything is going to be okay.’

‘I… I didn’t mean to upset you.’ The woman swallows. ‘I promise, Serene. I’m here because I knew I had to put things right by you.’

‘It’s a little late for that. You can’t just undo your actions,’ Tyler growls.

The woman looks genuinely distressed. ‘You don’t know what it is to be pregnant on your own. I didn’t have any emotional support.’

‘You could have come to me,’ he says through gritted teeth.

She shakes her head. ‘The circumstances of her birth were complicated. More than you can imagine.’

I frown. What does she mean by that?

‘And her birth was not easy.’ She swallows. ‘Then I had post-partum depression. I couldn’t deal with it. That’s when I dropped her off. I regretted it right away. But it was too late. It’s not like I could walk back to you, say it was a mistake, and ask for her back.’

‘You had the opportunity to come to me and explain your actions.’

She jerks her chin in his direction. ‘And be judged by you? No, thank you. I… It’s why I decided to leave the country. I thought, putting distance between Serene and me would help.’

Clearly, it didn’t, because here she is. I can’t help but feel a tinge of sadness for this woman. How messed up must she have been to drop off the baby she gave birth to with a stranger. Then, seeing the child and realizing how much you missed of her early years, would be heartbreaking.

‘I understand this cannot be easy for you—’ I begin.

‘It’s not. But you wouldn’t know that. You think you’ve taken over my place, haven’t you? You’re trying to be her mother. But you’re not. You never will be.”

A thickness squeezes my throat. My chest tightens. Her words are my worst nightmare come true. A fear I’ve never articulated, even to myself. Subconsciously though, I realize, I’ve wondered what I would do if Serene’s birth mother turned up one day and asked for her daughter back. My stomach drops to my feet. Not her mother. I’m not her biological mother. I never will be. So what, if Serene took to me right away? So what, if I fell for her the moment I saw her. We don’t have a blood relationship. That can never be replaced. It’s not my blood running in Serene’s veins.

The pressure in my chest spreads to my head and presses down behind my eyes. I blink away the tears. Tyler must sense my distress, for he flicks his gaze in my direction. Whatever he sees there has his face turning to stone. ‘You’re causing a lot of pain to both my daughter and my wife.’

She fixes her attention on me, sharp and unflinching. “I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you. But that doesn’t change the truth.”

Then she turns to my daughter, her tone shifting, gentling. “Do you know how you got your name, Serene?”

Serene looks up at her, wide-eyed. There’s confusion on her face. She shrinks into the chair and closer to Tyler, who squats down next to her. ‘It’ll be okay, princess. I promise.’

The woman goes on as if she hasn’t heard him. ‘I called you Serene because, though your birth was traumatic, when you came out, you didn’t cry for long. You fell asleep as soon as they placed you on my chest. And you looked so much at peace. For a few seconds, it felt like it had all been worth it. That’s why I named you Serene.’

‘You’re not her mother; Mrs. Davenport is.’ Matty looks at her steadily with his piercing blue eyes.

‘I gave birth to her. She didn’t.’ The woman twists her fingers, growing agitated. Summer places her hand on Matty’s shoulder. The boy scowls but falls silent.

‘I’m your mother, Serene. I promise you⁠—’

‘Enough.’ Tyler rises to his full height. ‘You should leave.’

The woman’s face falls. ‘I need to talk to you. I need to tell you about⁠—’

‘We can talk about it later. You should leave now. You’re upsetting Serene and my wife.” Tyler stabs his finger in the direction of the doorway leading away from the pool.

She wrings her hands. ‘But you need to listen to what I have to say, I⁠—’

Serene darts forward.

‘Serene!’ I jump to my feet in such a hurry, my chair falls back.

She runs past the woman and toward the pool.

My heart is a wild thing, battering my ribs like it’s trying to escape. ‘Serene, stop!’ I race after her.

She looks at me over her shoulder, tears in her eyes. ‘I’m scared, Mama, I—’ Her feet slip from under her. She screams as her head hits the cement with a resounding crack. Then, she rolls into the pool.