“Get out,” I demanded, but James is not leaving. He is roaming in my kitchen and opening the refrigerator like he owns it. He even touched the flowers of lavender, that I brought as the symbol of calmness, devotion, purity after Norma packed the bag. That's unfair. “I don't need you,” I whined at James.

“I know… You are well without me.” James mumbled took the seat on the dinner table.

“You knew.”

Rising his captivating eyes, he stared at me. Even though his mouth didn't speak, but Those eyes spoke a lot. He was amusing, looked excited with my reaction.

I am dying with the realization of betrayal, and he is enjoying it. Is he a sadist?

I stormed to him and grabbed his neck, making him look at me. I want to choke him to death, but my body is not cooperating. Despite my command to kill him, my hands around his neck loosened, and they cupped his jaw.

“You enjoyed seeing me, making a fool of myself.” I was trying to control my emotion. “You knew I am unaware of the situation.”

He caressed my hands. “If you are talking about Theo, then he is guilty. He willingly left his practice. He can go back to his life, but he wanted to repent for something he didn't do intentionally.”

Hearing him, I laughed. This is a nuisance. I thought he didn't like Theo. Somewhere, in my heart, I was expecting that he is jealous of Theo because kids like him, I feel better around him. But James is supporting Theo.

“Mom lied to everyone..... She was not aware that I wanted to give Adrian his son back. She thought I want my son. But I wanted to give him my son because… I failed to take care of his son.” James held me to my place, and tighten his grip around my waist.

“Who is Adrian?” My voice was deadpan.

“Father of Malcolm.”

I wanted to kill him. Undoubtedly, I am ready to be a sinner. An evil. He thinks by giving someone a child will replace the grief of death. He thinks my sons are substitutes for Malcolm.

“My sons are not a substitute.” I clenched my teeth.

“I never said that.”

I struggled to get out of his grip. “But you planned to.”

“Mrs Carter….”

“Don't.....” I snapped at him. “I am not your wife. Everybody fooled me. Was I that easy to fool? Did you enjoy me? Do you need me now? We can go to bed… I don't want my sons to see that scene.”

“Anastasia....... You are…”

Covering his mouth, I pulled him out of the chair. “Come on… We need to finish this.”

“You are misunderstanding me.” He didn't budge. His huge build body is still comfortably on the chair.

“Now, I am understanding you…” I mocked him. “You didn't leave Willa because you loved her. You wanted revenge from Adrian. You knew he loved Willa, so you took his precious thing from him, Willa and Malcolm. Not only that, but you are not guilty, you feel sad because I am sure Adrian was there at the funeral. He must have blamed you. So, you shifted blame to my father. You thought of returning him a son. Are you out of your mind?” I grabbed his collar. “No one will ever replace Malcolm. And no one will replace Jace and Jamie. I hate your ideas.”

“Even I hate that plan now….” James was calm. “That morning when I saw you with Jamie in my shirt… I rushed to meet Adrian. He is fucking married to Willa's sister. They have an 8-year-old daughter, together. He thanked me for not divorcing Willa. Because he didn't love Willa. Their relationship was sexual. He wanted Malcolm. Just Malcolm. His child. But now he is fine, but he misses Malcolm. He even told his daughter that, Malcolm was like his son because..... Malcolm was my son.” Looking at me, “I held that grief for 16 years, and he moved on in 16 months… It was that easy for him.” He looked guilty.

“Because you never wanted to move on.” I managed to get out of his hold. “I want you to stay away from my kids. You don't have a good sense of judgement. This may harm my kids.”

“I will listen to you. We live in a free country.” James insulted me. “I can do whatever I want.”

“In a free country, spouses don't violate their partners.” I taunted him.

“I am not denying my crimes… You can always report them. But you are choosing not to.....”

“You don't have problems with that.” I raised my eyebrow, challenging him.

“I do have a problem with that but..... Trust me, you need to visit a psychiatrist.”

“And you need rehabilitation Center. You are an alcoholic.”

“I am already working on it… I am nothing like you. I address my issue..... even try to solve it. I don't behave like they don't exist. You need to address that you have an issue with hallucinations and reality. Dr Harrington was helpful, but you are not visiting her.”

“I feel it would be better not to see with your other woman.”

“I had sex with her twice. I have known her since Cherish was a kid. It was just sex.” He shrugged off.

“Twice? You had sex with her twice. What would you do if I am with Theo?"

The question left James silent. He didn't answer me. Shutting his eyes, he took a deep breath before opening his eyes. There was something in them, that was a sigh of approaching storm.

Getting up if his chair, James dragged me to my bedroom. “Theo can have you….” He tossed me on my bed. “But Carter kids will be home with me.”

Crawling at the edge of the bed, I faced him. “You are not a good Father.”

“You think that's important… I have a horrible army of lawyers. George will lose his job… I own that fucking firm and Theo will never be able to practice. He left his practice willingly. He can always go back to it… But if he does something unpleasant, then it will be me, who will sign his termination from his job… His club, store, your business… Everything.”

“That's what you do… Ruin everything.” I was about to hit him. But he stopped me.

“You ruined everything … I tried to help you. But you never allow me to touch you.”

“So how Cherish and Jamie are born? What about my two other pregnancies?” I sneered at him.

“That's the problem… You don't know the difference between reality and….”

“I am not mentally unstable.”

“I didn't mean….”

“That's exactly what you were saying.”

Sighing, James rubbed his forehead. When he looked relaxed, my blood boiled. I attacked him, but he stopped me and kissed me. I couldn't move. What is happening?

Breaking the kiss, “I can fuck you until you get exhausted.” James warned me.

I couldn't help but scoff at him.

.