Page 55 of The Billionaire's Special Relationship

But if he still wanted his ex-wife, she wasglad she would find out early enough for her to get out with minimal damage to her heart. It would be still be damaged, but not nearly as bad as it would be if she found out much later in their relationship.

When Stuart saw that his son was upright and doing well, he went straight to him. Alan stood up. And Clare, who had always been her brother’s keeper, stood up as if she would be buffer should his father come at her brother again.

But Stuart was relieved to see that he was okay. Tabby remained where Stuart left her, just inside the parlor. But she noticed how his ex-wife wasn’t looking at him, but was staring at her.

Stuart looked at his daughter first when he walked up to his children. At twenty-two, and with her blonde hair and blue eyes, she was the spitting image of her mother. Stuart saw nothing of himself in her. “Hello Clare.”

“Hello Father.”

And for a few moments, they just stood there. Both were awkward as neither knew what to say to each other. She was five years old when he and Nora divorced, and it was a messy, contentious divorce. Clare refused to spend time with him even though it was court-ordered. He forced the issue, but it was always disastrous. One time, when Clare was prompted by her mother to claim that he had thrown her across the room, he knew he had to let go. Nora was determined to destroy him even though he did nothing but love her. But it was a risk he wasn’t willing to take. He let go. Thehad no relationship at all.

But looking at Clare now, and the hatred she still harbored for him in her eyes, made him know what he already assumed: He was wrong. He should have fought to keep a relationship with her.

But it was too late now.

That was why he turned to Alan. “How are you?” Stuart asked him when he walked up to him.

Alan nodded. “I’m holding up.”

“When did you get released?”

“A week ago.”

“I phoned you several times to check on you, but you didn’t answer any of my calls.”

“What do you expect?” Nora said. “The last time he saw you was the day you beat him to a pulp.”

Stuart ignored her. But that wasn’t good news to Tabby. Because ignoring somebody was usually a good indicator that he still had feelings for his ex and didn’t want to reveal them. “I was getting dressed to come see you,” he said to Alan instead.

But Clare wasn’t buying it. “How convenient,” she said.

“It’s true,” Tabby said, and everybody, except for Stuart, looked at her. “We were getting dressed to leave when Mr. Joshua phoned and said you were downstairs.”

“Mind your own business,” Nora said to Tabby. “This has nothing to do with you.”

“It has everything to do with her,” Stuart said as he finally turned and looked at his ex-wife. Shewas a beauty queen when he married her, and although she was eight years older than he was, she still looked beautiful. The only downside was those duck-looking, plastic surgery-enhanced lips she was sporting. Wholly unnecessary in his view. And this was the woman he used to love? He knew why he married her: She put on the performance of the century to get him. But he didn’t know why he stuck around as long as he did because she revealed her true colors almost immediately.

He went to Tabby, placed his hand around her small waist, and pushed her forward. “This is my lady, Tabitha Morgan.”

Tabby was inwardly overjoyed to hear him refer to her as his lady. And in front of his children and ex-wife. It warmed her heart.

But Nora and her children were shocked to hear him claim her as his lady. Especially Alan, who knew his father made no commitments to anybody. Not even Jennifer. But this person who looked to be right around his age was his father’s lady?Her? When the biggest movie stars in Hollywood wanted to date him, or the number one streaming artist, or the number one supermodel had voiced an interest in him. But he choseher? Some unknown gold digger? It seemed absurd to him.

But Stuart wasn’t in the business of caring what Alan found absurd. “Tabby, this is my ex-wife Nora.”

“That’s Mrs. Jacobs to you,” Nora said.

“It’s Nora or Bitch or whatever name you wish to call her,” Stuart said to Tabby. “That’s what it is to you.”

Nora looked at Stuart with pure hatred in her eyes. But Tabby wasn’t going to play their game. “Hello, Mrs. Jacobs,” she said respectfully.

But Nora wasn’t the type to accept a curtesy and move on. “What do you think I am? A fool? Do you think if you curry favor with me it will help your situation with Stuart? You can forget that, little girl.”

But Stuart stood up for Tabby. “She has no interest in currying favor with any of you. She’s a decent human being who gives everybody the benefit of the doubt. Which is more than I can say for anybody else in this room. So watch yourself, Nora.”

Nora gave him a harsh look. “I see you’re still a bastard.”

He gave her a harsher look. “I see you’re still a bitch.”