Chapter 64 Chapter 64
Maxwell
I left Rhea where she was and went straight to my room. I hadn’t even reached the bathroom when the door opened behind me. Rhea walked in quickly and grabbed my hand, stopping me.
“Please,” she said, her voice tight with anger.
“Explain to me why on God’s earth you are married to the very woman who destroyed our marriage.” She glared at me like she was daring me to lie.
“You wouldn’t like my answer if I’m honest,” I replied calmly. What I didn’t say was the truth sitting heavy in my chest, that Amelia was unlike anyone I had ever been with. She challenged me, unsettled me, and somehow still brought me peace. Being with her felt dangerous and grounding at the same time.
Rhea let go of my hand and stepped back, shaking her head. “So how exactly am I supposed to trust you?” she asked bitterly.
“You are already married, and you deliberately left that out. What do you even want from me, Maxwell? What’s in this for me?”
I sighed deeply, running a hand through my hair. None of this was simple, and I knew I had created this mess myself.
After I discovered that Declan might have a child, a secret that could change everything, I started thinking differently. That was when the idea of reaching out to Rhea came to mind.
She had completely disappeared from the public eye after our divorce five years ago. She left the States, stopped appearing in the news, vanished from every circle we once shared.
I had assumed she moved on. I thought she was married, living a quiet life somewhere far away. But I was wrong. She hadn’t been rebuilding a new life with someone else, she had been running from everything, shame couldn’t let her return here.
No one knew where Rhea disappeared to after the divorce. No one knew what country she went to, what she had been doing with her life. For years, it was like she vanished into thin air. I decided to use that to my advantage.
I planned to tell my parents that Rhea had been pregnant before our divorce. It wouldn’t be hard to sell the lie, there was no one to contradict it. Then I would find a child who looked enough like either Rhea or me. We could adopt the child and present it as ours. I would say we were co-parenting.
My parents would get the heir they wanted. I would secure the company, Rhea would get paid and the child would have a home.
“You get paid,” I snapped, my patience wearing thin. “You get paid very well, and you get shares in the company. Isn’t that enough for you?”
She stared at me, her eyes filling with tears, blinking slowly like she was fragile and helpless. “No,” she said softly. “It’s not enough. I want you back. Those five years without you were difficult for me. I can’t stand here and watch you choose another woman over me—especially not the woman who ruined our marriage.” She sounded so innocent.
There was nothing innocent about Rhea. The moment she returned to New York, she went straight back to her old habits, sleeping with Adele’s ex-fiancé again, as if nothing had changed. Rhea was never satisfied, she always wanted more, even when she already had everything.
I looked at her coldly. “I am married to Amelia,” I said firmly. “And that’s it. We are not getting back together.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but I cut her off.
“Can you please focus on why you’re here?” I added sharply, irritation creeping into my voice. “Because this arrangement has nothing to do with love.”
She glared at me, her eyes dark and burning with frustration.
“Fine,” she snapped. “But why don’t we just do this the right way?” She stepped closer, lowering her voice. “Why don’t you sleep with me and put a real child here?” She tapped her stomach pointedly. “Instead of going through all this trouble.”
She didn’t stop there. “What if your father asks for a DNA test?” she continued quickly. “What if we don’t find a child that looks like either of us? Do you even know how long adoption takes? Months. Sometimes years.” She kept throwing questions at me, one after the other, trying to poke holes in my plan.
But I didn’t answer her. I turned away from her completely and walked straight into the bathroom, shutting the door behind me. I didn’t need to hear any more.
I wasn’t interested in thinking about the consequences. I didn’t care about the risks, the delays, or how complicated the plan was. All of that could be dealt with later.
Right now, there was only one thing that mattered to me. Getting my father to sign everything over to me, fully and permanently.
A few days later, I was in my office, going through some files, when the door opened quietly. Amelia walked in.
She was wearing a red dress that clung to her body, hugging her curves in a way that made it difficult to ignore her presence. I forced myself not to stare and kept my eyes on the documents in front of me, pretending to focus.
“Here’s the pitch you asked me to work on,” she said, dropping a file neatly on my desk.
Lately, she had been different. She took her job seriously now, no more careless mistakes or deliberate attempts to get under my skin. If anything, she tried to avoid me. Ever since she met Rhea in the house, there had been distance between us.
“Is there anything else you need?” she asked, already turning to leave. I shook my head slightly.
She took a step toward the door, but before she could leave, I reached out and grabbed her hand. I stood up instinctively, my grip firm but not rough.
She turned back to me, frowning. “What do you want?” she asked, trying to pull her hand free.
“I don’t know,” I admitted honestly, holding her gaze. “But I miss you.”
She stopped struggling. “I miss it when you try to annoy me,” I continued. “When you defy my orders. Even when you refuse to do your job properly just to spite me.” A faint, conflicted smile tugged at my lips. “I miss all of that.”
It hit me then, how much her chaos had slipped into my life without warning. Her arguments, her stubbornness, her unpredictable behavior. Somehow, it all brought color into my otherwise controlled world. I was always waiting to see what she would do next, what trouble she would stir.
And now that she was distant, quiet, and careful, I realized how empty things felt without her madness filling the space.
My eyes stayed on hers, “Well,” she said calmly, though I could hear the bitterness underneath, “I realized the only way I can continue to earn for myself is by taking my job seriously. My company is in your hands, and I have no other source of income.”
Before I could stop myself, I stepped closer and wrapped my hands around her waist. She immediately protested, trying to pull away.
“What exactly do you want from me?” she snapped, her voice shaking with anger. “You brought Camilla into the house a few weeks ago. Now your ex-wife is living with us. And suddenly you are here, saying all this. What are you trying to prove to me, Maxwell?”
I released her and ran a hand through my hair, frustration crawling through me. “I want you,” I said finally. “I brought Camilla in as a distraction, but it didn’t work. Rhea is back in the house for a reason, yes—but there is nothing between us.”
I stepped back, forcing myself to look at her properly. “I’m tired of playing games. I don’t want distractions anymore. I want you, Amelia.”
She studied me for a long moment, her face unreadable. When she finally spoke, her voice cold.
“I am not available for commitment anymore,” she said. “I just want to do my part of the contract and then leave your life for good.”
The door to my office opened suddenly, wRhea walked in, her hips swaying deliberately as if she owned the place. She stopped the moment she saw how close Amelia and I were standing.
Amelia cleared her throat, avoiding both our eyes, and walked out of the office without saying a word. The door closed softly behind her.
My jaw tightened as I turned to Rhea. “What are you doing here?” I asked sharply, anger flashing through me at the timing of her interruption.
She walked in further, completely unbothered, and took a seat across from my desk. “So this is why you employ her,” she said bitterly. “So you can have access to her whenever you want?” Her lips curled slightly. “You’ve never looked at me the way you look at her. Not even when we were married.”
I ignored the accusation. “What are you doing here, Rhea?”
She sighed dramatically and leaned back in her chair. “Such a pity,” she said slowly and smiled faintly. “What if there’s already a real child somewhere,” she continued, “one with your DNA? A child you don’t have to fake or explain away. One your father could never question.”
Author's note: Maxwell is indecisive, and what is Rhea trying to do?.