“Vanessa, why are you texting me?” Claire typed, her hands shaking. “If this is meant to mock me, you’re wasting your time.”
A photo came through seconds later.
Daniel, smiling, his arm wrapped around Vanessa. Next to them stood a little girl in a red hat, posing in front of a massive Christmas tree covered in artificial snow.
Location: Paris, France.
Caption: “Christmas in Europe is so magical! Thank you, my love, for this beautiful trip. So glad you finally got rid of your burden.”
Claire’s chest tightened.
A burden?
She was his wife. The mother of his child. The woman who had stood beside him through every struggle—and now he saw her as something to escape from?
“Where is Daniel?” she typed.
Vanessa replied instantly.
“He’s out shopping for gifts for little Lily. If you need something, talk to me. Don’t ruin his vacation. And don’t expect him to pay your son’s tuition. He says his money should go toward better investments.”
Claire dropped the phone, covering her face as her body shook—not from fever, but from humiliation and heartbreak.
Her seven-year-old son was scared because the school had called about unpaid fees… while his father spent money building a fake life with someone else.