Chapter 3

Tracey's POV

Six years later, I bid goodbye to Julie and my students at the boarding gate.

"We will miss you, Miss Stewart!" They waved their hands at me with tears in their eyes.

Tears also ran down my cheeks.

Saying goodbye had never been an easy thing for me, except for the time that I ran away from my husband.

And five years flew past just like that.

"Mommy, don't cry!" A pair of tiny hands, warm and soft, wiped the tears off my cheeks.

I lowered my head and saw the little boy sitting on my lap.

He had got dark hair just like his dad (little traitor!) and a pair of green eyes just like me.

My little Nathanial looked just like a floating angel.

"Hey, sweetie," I said as I snuffled his hair. "Mommy isn't crying. And you smell so good."

"Mommy, why do we have to go back to the States? Can't we stay with Aunt Julie and your students?" Nathan asked.

"Grandpa has passed away," I said with bitterness. "Mommy has to go back and take care of the aftermaths."

Even though he was only five, he could already understand a lot of things.

But death wasn't one of them.

"Mommy, where did grandpa go?" he asked.

I held him tightly in my arms and replied, "He's gone to heaven."

I didn't know what happened to my father. My uncle called me last week without telling me anything other than "he died in a car accident", which made it very suspicious.

I had to go back to figure it out and take control of my father's company before all my relatives devoured it without spitting out the bones.

After the airplane landed in Dayton City, I walked out of the airport.

Everyone was looking at me. A mysterious lady dressed up in a black sari, immersing in black and sadness from head to toe.

As I got into the taxi, I didn't pay much attention to the changes in my hometown, nor did I bother myself with my unfortunate marriage or a very unhappy ex-husband.

The only thing on my mind was my father's mysterious death.

But at that time, the taxi suddenly stopped as if it had hit a bump or something.

I instinctively grabbed Nathan in my arms and protected him with my body.

"What happened?" I asked the taxi driver.

He hummed and hemmed, walking out of the taxi.

I saw a limo right in front of our taxi.

A collision with a limo right after I got off the plane? Seriously?

At that time, I saw a familiar figure walking out of the limo.

Fuck. Jessica Waddingham?! My ex-husband's high school sweetheart?! The woman that I had stolen Lucas from?!

That Jessica Waddingham?!

"Oh, mine!" She flapped her hands anxiously around her face and said in a slimy voice. "This weather is killing m... Mother of God, I can't believe it! Are you... Tracey?! Tracey Stewart?!"

I stayed in the car without raising my head. By doing so, I wished she could just magically vanish by herself.

But she didn't.

Instead, she approached our taxi and knocked on the window.

"Hey! Tracey! I know it's you! Stop hiding and come ou... Oh my God! Is that... Is that a human child in your arms?!" Jessica exclaimed in a dramatic voice and placed a hand over her chest like she was about to have a heart attack.

"Stay in the taxi. Don't go out." I said to Nathan and walked out of the taxi.

Jessica sized me up and said with undisguised disgust on her face, "Oh my God! It's really you! Tracey Stewart! Luke has been looking for you for six years! He was really worried about you at that time! Where have you been? Why are you dressing like a hun nun? Have you joined a cult or something?"

I rolled my eyes so hard that I could see the back of my head.

Jessica was terminally ill nine years ago and had to go to Europe to receive treatment.

It was at that time I forced Lucas to marry me.

I said, "Lucas and I divorced six years ago. Now I have nothing to do with him. He's all yours."

At that time, a familiar deep voice appeared behind me.

"Really? It's that easy for you to forget everything about your marriage and move on with your life, isn't it, Miss Stewart?"

Like being hit by a bolt of lightning, I was petrified.

No. This can't be it. I'm not ready for this yet.

Not with Nathan still sitting in the car.

Not now!

"What? You feel so guilty for having abandoned your husband six years ago that you don't even dare to look at him in his eyes?" He continued in his signature detached, husky voice.

I sighed and turned back reluctantly.

Six years have passed. What will Lucas be like? Will he look old and ugly? Probably with salt and pepper hair, a haggard face, a crooked back, and a mouth of bad teeth?

But what was I thinking? It was six years, not sixty years that had passed.

That mother fuker dickhead didn't change a bit!

He was standing right behind me, a bit too close, towering over me like a giant oak tree.

And he was staring at me!

I couldn't tell what was in his eyes. Was it love? Was it hatred? Passion or jealousy? I really couldn't figure it out.

"Six years ago, you ran away from me. I've been looking for you all these years around the world..."

"You've done a really sloppy job, I have to say," I said while looking away, avoiding eye contact with him.

"Where is he?" He moved a step forward and asked in a pressing voice.

"What do you mean?" I frowned.

"My son. Where is he?" Lucas asked.

"How can you make me pregnant if you haven't ever touched me?" I asked in a provoking voice.

He grabbed my shoulders and forced me to look at him.

"Don't lie to me, woman! That night! I remember what happened that night!" He said with flames of fire in his eyes. "You were pregnant with my child when you ran away! Now I want my son back!"

"Luke..." Jessica pulled Lucas and whispered. "Stay calm. Tracey has been away for six years. Even though she had a son, we just couldn't know whether it was yours. So just let go of Tracey and..."

"Shut up!" Lucas yelled at Jessica. "Don't ask me to stay calm! I've been staying calm for the past six years!"

Then, he pushed me against the limo and shouted, "Do you know what I have been through in the past six years?! Do you understand what kind of humiliation and torture I've been through?! It's all because of you! Now I want my son back!"