Chapter 286 Rejecting Charles

Chapter 286 Rejecting Charles

Sean didn't want Vivian to be his mom anymore?

Seraphine and Charles had been divorced for so long now — how could Sean still not read the room?

Could a kid like that really take over all of the Stuart Family's assets someday, and actually grow the business? She might be overthinking it. With a father as foolish as Charles, the Stuart Group would probably be bankrupt by the time Sean came of age. What Sean would inherit wouldn't be a business empire — it would be a mountain of debt.

Seraphine's gaze drifted back and forth between Charles and Sean a few times. She let out a quiet breath and didn't answer Sean right away. Instead, she turned the question back on him.

"Sean, if after your dad and I got divorced, I hadn't become a well-known jewelry designer — if I really only had a high school diploma — would you still have come looking for me? Would you still have said you wanted to live with me?"

Sean hadn't expected her to say something like that. His mouth opened slightly, and his whole body went still.

"See? You can't answer me."

Seraphine smiled, but it never quite reached her eyes.

"Admit it. You want me to be your mom — not because you actually like me, and not because I'm your birth mother. It's because I'm successful."

"Back then, you chose Vivian over me because you thought she was better. Now you've realized you were wrong — that her whole image was a performance, and she doesn't even measure up to me. So now you want me back."

"But what about down the road? What if someday another woman comes into your life who seems more impressive than me? Would you walk away again?"

No. Never.

This time, Sean truly understood he'd been wrong. He didn't want any other mother. He only wanted Seraphine.

He shook his head frantically, desperate to tell her she had it all wrong.

But before he could find the words, Seraphine let out a cold, humorless laugh.

"And another thing, Sean — do you realize how ridiculous you and your father both are? I'm already in a relationship with Andy's dad. What exactly makes you think that a simple apology is enough to bring me back to either of you?"

"Think hard. What do you have to offer that Andy and Jason don't?"

"Do you need me to spell it out? Sure, Andy and Jason pull their little games sometimes — stirring things up between us just to watch the drama unfold. But they have never once done anything to actually hurt me."

For Vivian's sake, Charles and Sean had hurt her. Again and again.

But Andy and Jason?

Every time she needed someone, they showed up. First. Without hesitation. And they did whatever it took to help her.

The words landed like a blow. Sean and Charles both went quiet, the air leaving them at the same moment. Their heads dropped almost in unison, their faces tight with something that looked a lot like shame.

"I'm tired. I don't have the energy to keep going in circles with you two."

"If you genuinely want to make it up to me, then leave. Right now. And from this point on, get your lives together — and stay out of mine."

Seraphine was done wasting her time on them. She made a quick call, and a moment later her bodyguard stepped through the door. She gave him a single, unhurried wave.

"Show them out."

"Yes, ma'am."

The bodyguard gave Seraphine a nod, then moved swiftly — gripping Sean by the arm, pulling him away from her side, and depositing him firmly into Charles's arms.

"Mr. Stuart. Let's go."

The bodyguard rolled his wrist once and fixed Charles with a cool, flat look.

"Ms. Lavien does not wish to see you. Please don't make this harder than it needs to be."

The way the bodyguard spoke to Seraphine — the quiet, unquestioning respect in it — made something click for Charles all over again.

When it came to genuinely valuing Seraphine, the gap between him and Jason was not small.

But he wasn't ready to accept that.

He had known Seraphine longer. She had fallen for him first. They had a son together — a real, living piece of both of them.

Why should he just give up? Why should he stand there and watch her walk further and further toward Andy and Jason?

After holding his ground against the bodyguard for a long, tense moment, Charles suddenly lifted his head and looked straight at Seraphine, his expression utterly serious.

"I'll go today. But I'm not giving up on you."

"Seraphine, I don't believe there's no room left for me and Sean in your heart."

"I'm going to show you — not with words. This isn't me brushing you off. I mean it. Everything that should have been yours all along, I will bring it to you with my own hands."

"Charles." Seraphine rolled her eyes. "I've said it more times than I can count — if you actually want to make it up to me, the best thing you can do is stay away."

She flipped open her sketchpad and picked up where she'd left off on the design she hadn't finished.

She genuinely did not want to look at Charles anymore. Not even once.

"Mr. Stuart, please. Don't make us do this the hard way."

The bodyguard caught the shift in Seraphine's mood and stepped smoothly into Charles's line of sight, blocking his view of her completely.

"Seraphine. I'll come find you in a few days."

Charles pressed his lips together, didn't bother arguing with the bodyguard. He looked at Seraphine one last time — all quiet longing — and then gathered Sean into his arms, stood, and walked toward the door.

"Dad." Sean's voice was small once they were outside, the words coming slowly as he replayed everything Seraphine had said. It wasn't until they were both settled in Charles's car that he finally surfaced. He wrapped his arms tight around Charles's neck, his eyes wide with something close to panic. "Mom was so cold just now. The way she looked at me — like I was a stranger."

"She said she has Andy and Andy's dad now. She said she doesn't want us bothering her life anymore." His voice dropped. "Did she really let us go? If she never forgives us — what do we do?"

"That's not going to happen."

Charles held Sean close, his voice rough and low.

He wasn't entirely sure, in that moment, whether he was trying to reassure his son — or himself.

"The reason your mom won't come back to us isn't because we apologized. It's because we apologized and Vivian is still here. Once we cut Vivian out of our lives completely — once we make things the way they were before your mom left —"

"She'll come back to me. I know she will."