Chapter 13 Chapter 13
Amelia
I froze the moment I heard my daughter’s voice. Aria stepped away from the man beside her and ran straight into my arms, hugging me tightly.
“Mom, I met this nice stranger,” she said happily, pointing toward Declan.
My heart dropped. I hadn’t seen him since the day I ended things with him at Adele’s wedding. All the memories I have fought so hard to bury, the heartbreak, the humiliation, the way he drained me emotionally and financially came rushing back with full force.
For a second, it felt like I couldn’t breathe. If I hadn’t been given a second chance at life, I would have died carrying the wounds he left on me.
Declan looked different, Life clearly hadn’t treated him kindly. His clothes were worn, his shoulders slumped, that desperate look still sitting in his eyes. He was still the same struggling, upcoming fashion designer who never found his ground. Still chasing a dream with no support, still waiting for someone else to carry him.
And to think I had been so blinded by love back then that I poured my hard‑earned money into someone who didn’t even have real talent. A man who took and took until there was nothing left.
I had made sure that the few fashion houses I had connections with never gave him a chance. I warned them that hiring him would be a mistake, that he would ruin their business. My plan had been to push him down, to make him amount to nothing. But then life took over, my girls, and my quiet quest for revenge faded into the background. I had almost forgotten about it entirely.
Now, here he was, standing up from the floor with that same calm confidence I once hated.
“Hi, Amelia. It’s good to see you again,” he said softly. He nodded politely at Adele, who completely ignored him, acting as though they had never met.
“Mom, do you know him?” Aria asked curiously.
Declan’s gaze moved to the other girls. He smiled and waved, but they all looked back at him with confusion and a hint of suspicion.
“You disappeared completely from New York,” he said, his voice tinged with surprise. “I tried looking for you and now you are back with five kids, five years later?”
“It’s none of your business what I do with my life,” I said sharply, cutting him off. “It’s not nice seeing you again, and as you can see, I’m far too busy for small talk.” I gestured toward the kids. “Let’s go.”
Adele guided the girls toward another activity, but before I could step away, Declan grabbed my hands. “The kids, are they mine?” he asked, his voice low but urgent.
I jerked my hands free, anger bubbling up. “Do they look anything like you?” I snapped. “Or have you forgotten how you used to insist I take pills immediately after sex, just to make sure I didn’t get pregnant for you?” My words cut sharper than I intended.
He shook his head, looking almost confused. “They just look familiar. And I thought you got pregnant not long after we broke up, so I assumed—”
“Assumed?” I interrupted, frowning. “Declan, the kids are not yours. If you need a DNA test to be sure, fine. But stay away from me and my children.”
With that, I walked away, my heart pounding, leaving him standing there.
When Aria ran off again, Adele and I hurried after her. We finally spotted her standing right in front of Declan, again.
“Aria!” I called, my voice sharp with anger and worry. I was exhausted at this point. Why didn’t she ever listen? I had just told her not to talk to strangers.
“I told you to stop talking to strangers,” I said firmly. She frowned. “But he is not a stranger. He is my friend."
Declan smiled at her, as if that helped.
“He is not your friend,” I said, marching toward them. I reached out and pulled her gently but firmly away from him. Then I turned to Declan, my patience gone. “If I see you near her again, I will report you for stalking and attempting to kidnap my kids. I’m not joking.”
He lifted his hands in the air like he was surrendering.
I took Aria back to the car where the others were waiting. Before we drove off, I warned all the girls again clearly and calmly not to talk to any stranger. I wasn’t going to let anything happen to them, not on my watch.
✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿
A week later, I was buried in work in my office, completely absorbed, when Kelvin walked in.
“Ma’am, there is a man outside waiting to see you,” he said.
I looked up, frowning. “Does he have an appointment? And who is he?”
“He came by yesterday, but you had already left. He says his name is Declan,” Kelvin replied.
I froze. Declan? What did this fool want from me now, after I had clearly told him to stay away?
I sighed and decided to handle it with caution. “Let him wait. If he is still here in five hours, then let him in. Otherwise, he can come back tomorrow.”
Turning back to my work, I tried to focus, knowing that Declan’s patience would run out long before I did. He would likely leave rather than wait and that was exactly what I was counting on.
After what felt like an eternity, the door to my office finally opened. I didn’t look up, assuming it was Kelvin, until a clearing of a throat made me snap my head up. My blood ran cold, Declan was standing right in front of me.
“What on earth are you doing here?” I yelled, unable to keep the fury out of my voice.
“You need to sit and listen to what I have to say,” he said calmly. Without waiting for permission, he pulled the chair in front of my desk and sat down.
“What the hell do you think you are doing?” I demanded, my surprise mixing with anger at his audacity. I rose to my feet and pointed sharply at the door. “Get the hell out of my office, you monster!”
My hands were trembling, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t about to let him waltz in here and disrupt my life or my peace again.
Every time I looked at him, a shiver of disgust ran through me. Declan had always been a man who would do anything for money or stability, someone who would step on anyone or destroy anything to get what he wanted. A man like that could never be human in my eyes again.
He cleared his throat and gave me a strange, unsettling smile. “I know the kids aren’t mine,” he said.
I scoffed, my voice dripping with contempt. “You really think I would get pregnant for a fool like you? Why on earth are you even here?”
For a brief second, I realized he must be worried that I might try to pin my kids on him, a man who could barely take care of himself. The thought was almost laughable.
“But they belong to my brother,” he said, his tone serious and unwavering.
I couldn’t help it. Laughter burst out of me, loud and uncontrollable. I clutched my stomach, shaking my head as the absurdity of the moment hit me. A man like him, showing up to talk about my children as if he had any claim.
“Are you sure you haven’t lost your mind?” I asked, my voice trembling with anger. “My kids belong to your brother? After dumping a desperate, demented, broke fool like you, I am supposed to go after your brother, who is probably just like you or worse?”
He smirked, a calm confidence in his eyes that made my blood boil. “Funny, isn’t it? We will soon see who has the last laugh,” he said.
Then, in a voice that carried authority, he added, “My brother is Maxwell Sinclair. I am his elder brother, Declan Sinclair. And here—” He dropped a stack of documents onto the table. “—are the DNA test results. They prove that I am completely right about this.”
I froze, my eyes widening as I stared at the papers. My heart skipped a beat, disbelief and shock rooting me to the spot.
This this couldn’t be real. Could it?
Author's: who wasn't expecting that🤔, even me too, I wasn't expecting that 🏃🏃, someone should hold me, I really want to smack Declan