Chapter 40
Lucas had just gotten back from the office when Damian came barreling in like a cannonball, head tilted back, demanding answers. "Is Mommy sick? Which hospital is she at? I want to see her!"
Lucas's brow furrowed. How did he find out?
"Who told you that?"
"I don't care who told me! Take me to see her right now!" Damian's tone was uncompromising.
Lucas looked at his son's stubborn face. Juliana's condition had just stabilized—he didn't want any complications. "She's fine. Stay home. You're not going anywhere."
"No!" Damian jutted out his chin. "If you won't take me, I'll go myself! I'll ask Uncle David, I'll ask the driver—I'll find her one way or another!"
"Damian!" Lucas's voice turned cold.
"You can't stop me from seeing her! She's my mom!" Damian shouted back.
Lucas stood up, grabbed Damian by the back of his collar, and despite the boy's struggling, dragged him straight upstairs to the study. The door slammed shut with a bang, the lock clicking from the outside.
"Stay in there and cool off!"
"Lucas! Let me out! You jerk! I want to see Mommy!"
Damian pounded on the door frantically, making a racket until his voice went hoarse. Still, no one came to open it.
Finally exhausted, he slid down against the door onto the carpet, tears streaming down his face. Why was Dad being so mean? Why wouldn't he let him see Mommy?
No. He had to figure something out. He wiped his tears, scrambled up from the floor, and started wandering around the study. At the massive mahogany desk, he listlessly flipped through stacks of documents, then pulled open a drawer. One folder caught his attention.
'Cooperation Agreement.'
Curiosity piqued, he opened it and pulled out the papers inside. Black and white, printed clear as day.
Party A: Lucas.
Party B: Juliana.
Damian's breath hitched as he read word by word.
"...Party B, as a top internal medicine specialist, shall provide comprehensive medical services for Party A's mother, Ms. Ashley, until her complete recovery..."
"...During the term of this agreement, to avoid unnecessary complications, Party B shall have no non-essential contact with Damian..."
Cooperation. Compensation.
So Dad didn't actually like Mommy. He was just paying for a doctor to treat Grandma. And Mommy was only nice to him because of this 'cooperation agreement.' Everything—all of it—was just a transaction.
Damian clutched those pages, the beautiful fantasy of 'home' and 'Mommy' he'd just begun to believe in now shattered into pieces by these cold, clinical terms.
When Lucas opened the door, he found the little terror who could normally raise the roof curled up in the corner of the carpet like a small animal abandoned by the entire world.
Lucas walked over and realized Damian was clutching several sheets of paper in his fist. The cooperation agreement.
Lucas's throat worked. "Damian."
The boy slowly lifted his head, eyes red and swollen. He held the papers up to Lucas, his voice hoarse and breaking. "What is this?"
Lucas instinctively frowned. "Who said you could go through my things?"
That single sentence ignited all the hurt and despair Damian had been bottling up.
"Fake! It was all fake!" His voice cracked. "You don't even like Mommy! You're just paying her to treat Grandma! You tell me she's my mom, but then you put it in the contract that she can't have 'non-essential contact' with me! I'm that 'unnecessary complication,' aren't I?"
"It's not what you think—"
"You're a liar!" Damian didn't listen. He scrambled to his feet and screamed with everything he had. "You have no idea what I want! I don't care about being the Sharp family's young master! I just want a mom! A mom who really loves me, who actually likes me! Not Bianca who just puts on a show! And not some doctor you bought with money!"
The child's sobs were heart-wrenching. Lucas felt like an invisible hand had seized his heart, squeezing until he could barely breathe.
He stepped forward, wanting to hold his son, but Damian shoved him away.
"I'm sorry." Lucas's voice was rough. "Dad messed up."
He crouched down, forcing himself to meet his son at eye level. "Dad didn't lie to you. Dad loves you very much."
Damian's crying gradually subsided into miserable hiccups. "Then... then give Mommy back to me... I want Mommy to really be my mom..."
Lucas looked at his son's tear-stained face. Images of Juliana flashed through his mind unbidden—her lying in that hospital bed, pale as paper; her eyes when she'd woken up, bright but confused; the flicker of something in her gaze when she'd asked him 'Why did you choose me?'
And himself—the unthinking impulse when he'd fed her the medicine, the relief that had nearly burst through his chest when she'd opened her eyes. All those emotions he'd deliberately suppressed and ignored now laid bare by his son's broken sobs.
He finally faced what was in his own heart.
"Okay." His voice was steady. "Dad promises."
He reached out, gently wiping the tears from his son's face. "Dad will make Juliana your mother."
Damian's hiccupping stopped. "You mean... like a godmother? Or..."
The child's thoughts were both sensitive and direct. Lucas met his son's eyes with the most solemn promise one man could make to another.
"I'm going to marry her. Make her your real mother."
Meanwhile, at the hospital VIP ward, Juliana was propped up against the headboard reading a medical journal when she heard a familiar voice.
"Mommy!"
She looked up to see a small figure trailing behind David. "Matty?"
Matthew rushed to her bedside. "Mommy! I missed you so much! Are you okay?"
Seeing her son looking so lively and healthy, Juliana's heart melted. She smiled and ruffled his hair. "Mommy's fine, just a little tired. But what about you? Did you finish your homework?"
As she spoke, both her professional instincts and maternal nature kicked in simultaneously. "Let me quiz you. Those financial derivatives pricing models we worked through last week—do you still remember the formulas?"
Matthew's heart dropped. This was one of his and Mom's 'secret lessons'—Damian hadn't even touched the material.
He silently thanked his lucky stars that they'd switched back today. If Damian were here right now, they would've been exposed for sure.
Keeping his expression neutral, Matthew put on a confident 'you're totally underestimating me' look and smoothly recited several complex formulas. He even extrapolated, offering his own insights.
Juliana nodded with satisfaction.
Only Matthew knew that he'd just broken out in a cold sweat. This whole identity-swapping thing with Damian was like walking a tightrope—one wrong step and everything would come crashing down.