The little boy on the other end paused, thinking, before answering in a singsong child’s voice. “Daddy’s with Mommy. They’re throwing me a party at the Clarion Hotel for my fifth birthday.”
The words hit me square in the chest.
The Clarion was the finest hotel in Belvedere City.
In our circle, unless we hosted the celebration at home, it was the place to go.
And now Ridley Swicord was throwing a grand party there—for his mistress and their illegitimate child…
Where did that leave me?
The question drained the color from my face.
The next second, I hung up and drove straight toward the hotel.
Inside my car, the familiar trinkets swayed gently from the mirror, pulling me back through the years.
Ridley and I had been married for ten years. Our relationship had always been good.
But because I’d never been able to conceive, even with our families equally matched in status, his mother had gradually begun to look down on me.
I’d swallowed countless bitter herbal tonics to nourish my body, endured appointment after appointment at the hospital—anything just to give him a child.
Every time he saw me in pain, Ridley would look more stricken than I was.