From His Wife to His Uncle's Wife novel Chapter 38

Jessie’s heart clenched.

What recording?

Was it the one from the gala restroom, where she’d humiliated Eleanor?

For a split second, Jessie felt like her whole world was collapsing.

***

Eleanor took her time getting to the hospital to visit Jared. She switched on her phone at ten, already expecting a pile of missed calls.

Adam had called, threatening her to delete the recording. Jessie had texted first with attitude, then with desperate begging. At the end of the list were ten missed calls, all from her husband, Peter.

She was peeling an apple for Jared when the hospital room door swung open. Her mother stepped inside, dragging along the very man who’d been blowing up her phone.

Jared could sense the tension between Eleanor and Peter. But as long as they were still married, he kept things polite. “Peter,” he greeted softly.

Peter gave a short nod, eyes smoldering.

Juliana, their mother, hurried to find a chair for Peter. “Peter, have a seat. I’m surprised you could spare the time from work to visit Jared.”

She looked at her son. “Jared, Peter has been paying your medical bills. Don’t you think you should thank him?”

Eleanor shot her mother a cool glance. “Mom, I paid for the bills this time.”

She added, her voice icy, “Don’t bother thanking him. He nearly stopped paying for Jared altogether.”

A muscle jumped in Peter’s jaw. He couldn’t believe Eleanor was throwing shade at him right in front of everyone.

Juliana clicked her tongue. “Don’t be so ungrateful. He used to pay, didn’t he? Why can’t you remember the good things he’s done?”

Jared saw his mother trying to rub salt in Eleanor’s wounds and quickly stepped in. “Mom.” He shook his head, silently begging her to stop.

Juliana, annoyed by her daughter’s attitude, looked from one child to the other and finally bit her tongue. Fine. She’d keep quiet.

Peter stared coldly at Eleanor. “We need to talk.”

Peter wasn’t here to argue. He had already tried to get the post taken down, but more people kept reposting it, calling Jessie a homewrecker.

He couldn’t let her reputation be ruined. He needed Eleanor to set the record straight. “I’ll give you fifty million. Just say the recording was fake. That’s all I’m asking.”

“Look, if you agree to this, I’ll go with you to every single prenatal appointment from now on. Okay?”

A chill ran through Eleanor. Even now, he had no idea there wasn’t a baby anymore.

How clueless could he be not to notice the envelope sitting right on his nightstand?

“Peter, I’m telling you for the last time. There is no baby.”

“You don’t need to come to any more appointments.”

It was Peter’s coldness that had killed their child.

In a way, maybe it was better this way. Otherwise, Eleanor might still be clinging to her silly dreams about him, unable to let go.