AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Estelle shrugged. “I was so sure that he would find someone else. Someone more... suitable. I had no idea he had found his soul mate in you.”
Chloe didn’t know what to say.
“Nikolas wasn’t interested in love or marriage after that.” Estelle’s eyes teared up again. “He had his share of female company, of course, but he never let them in. He didn’t open his heart to any of them. I made such a terrible mistake by thinking what the two of you had was youthful fantasy. He loved you, and I stole that from him.”
“If you’re truly sorry, will you tell him everything?”
“I will. I plan on it, but I know he’ll hate me. First, I wanted to make sure he had someone to love him, someone to comfort him when I’m gone. My health isn’t what it used to be, and someday I’ll be dead. All the money in the world can’t keep a person from dying. You need to make him believe in love again.”
“I’m not sure that’s possible.”
“I have another confession to make. Last year I had a private detective track you down. I needed to see if you were as miserable as Nick, and you were. You are. But the detective brought some unexpected news back to me.” Estelle’s eyes narrowed to deceptive slits. “He told me about the child. My grandchild.”
Chloe’s jaw dropped. “So that’s why you gave my sister a free trip to Vegas for her bachelorette party? You knew about Mia and wanted Nik to find out? I don’t get it. Why didn’t you just tell him?”
“He would have hated us both. Instead, I arranged it so you’d be in Vegas and I would be in another country. You and Nik just needed a chance to reconnect. I prayed my son wasn’t too proud or too stubborn to listen to you.”
“Do you have any idea how he treated me when I showed up here? I barely recognized him. All he wanted was vengeance for something he thought I had done to him.”
His mother nodded. “The Andropolis men burn for justice when they feel they’ve been wronged. They need strong women to keep them in check, and you are a strong woman. I knew you could handle Nikolas and anything he threw at you.”
“How do you know how strong I am?” Chloe scoffed. “You barely took the time to get to know me.”
“The detective did a lot of digging into your past and your present. Any woman who could raise a child on her own while growing a small business has got to be strong. I couldn’t have done it if my Dominic had left me to raise Nikolas alone.”
The admission caught Chloe off guard. Estelle seemed to be on board with Chloe’s marriage to Nik, but she worried the woman would keep manipulating them. If she decided she didn’t like Chloe, she would break them up again. Or worse. She could manipulate Nik to go for full custody.
“I want to see my grandchild.”
Chloe froze. Ice entered her veins. She hadn’t expected the woman to start making demands so quickly. “You’re right about Nik being mad and never speaking to you again after he learns everything. He’s going to hit the roof when he hears you are manipulating us.”
Estelle nodded.
Chloe took a deep breath before plunging down a steep cliff with no way to stop. “I’m willing to keep my mouth shut. I’ll even endorse his relationship with you... if you sign an airtight contract saying you will never take me to court over Mia. You won’t try to sue for visitation, and you will never support Nik in taking custody from me. In fact, if he ever mentions it to you, you will do your best to talk him out of it.”
Chloe held her breath, waiting for the coming explosion.
Estelle burst out laughing instead. “Oh my, our little lamb from nowhere has grown teeth.”
“If you are going to start with the insults again...”
“I accept your offer. You promise to work it so my son and granddaughter are a part of my life, and I will sign anything you want.”
Estelle grabbed her phone and called her attorney to give him the details of the contract she wanted drawn up immediately.
For the first time since Mia was born, Chloe began to relax.
They couldn’t take Mia to the hospital to see her grandmother; Estelle went home to her large estate. Chloe had the feeling the whole heart attack event was a set-up to get Nik back in Vegas and Mia with him. Since there wasn’t any proof, Chloe kept her suspicions to herself. She also didn’t tell him about the agreement she’d reached with his mother. The woman had had her lawyer rush the paperwork so they could sign it before Chloe left the hospital.
Mia looked adorable in her pretty pink dress and matching sandals. When she saw the Andropolis estate, her eyes grew to a nearly impossible size. They climbed out of the limo. She grabbed Nik’s hand. “Daddy, was this your house when you were a kid?”
“That’s right.”
“It’s so big,” Mia said. “I want to play hide and seek in there. Can I?”
Nik chuckled. “Maybe we can do that later after you meet your grandmother.”
“I never had a grandmother before. Mommy didn’t have a mom.”
