Chapter 108

Of course, there was something even more important behind all this. He'd wanted to give that person a kid.

Lucie stared at him, feeling completely numb inside. "You're out of excuses, aren't you, Steven?"

"If you really think I've misunderstood you, then just divorce me already. Maybe then I'll finally see you as a real man."

Steven's chest tightened and his expression grew dark. "Lucie, do you want a divorce so badly because you've found someone else?

"If you've fallen for another guy, just say it. I'll let you go. No drama.

"I don't want a divorce because I still care about you. I don't want our family to fall apart."

Lucie's face was ice-cold. "There's no one else. I just don't see the point of staying married anymore."

Steven let out a heavy sigh and paused for a long moment. "Is this all because of Cody?"

"Fine. I'll admit it. Cody isn't your biological child. But you still carried him, Lucie. If you could just move past that, couldn't he still be your son?

"If you can't accept it, we can have another kid. One that's really ours. Hell, we can have five kids if you want."

Hearing him finally say it out loud, Lucie felt her heart shatter all over again. Tears poured down her face.

"Why? Why would you do this to me? Why did you have to lie and manipulate me like this?"

Steven was silent, his chest aching.

"I told you, we can have a child of our own!

"If you really can't accept Cody, I'll send him overseas for school. You won't have to worry about him or get involved at all. And you don't have to stress about him inheriting anything from you. What's yours stay yours. Give it to whoever you want.

"Lucie, we've been fighting for so long. Can't we just let this go and move on? Go back to the way things were?"

Lucie's face was streaked with tears. "No way. Let me go, Steven. I would rather die than go back to how things were between us.

"I just want to know-who is his real mother? Is it Shannon? Or someone else?"

Steven looked away, refusing to answer.

"Just tell me. I deserve to know the truth, even if it kills me."

Steven felt like he'd been stabbed in the heart. His eyes were red as he finally said, "Lucie, just think of her as dead Cody's real mother is gone. She will never show up in our lives. She's as good as dead. There's no reason to hang onto this."

"So what, besides me and Shannon, you had someone else all along?" Lucie's vo

voice shook. "You've been

lying to me for years. If there was another woman, someone you

loved why didn't you just have

child with her? Why did you have to humiliate and deceive me?"

"It's not what you think," Steven said quietly. "I can't explain it, not in a way that makes sense. I just want to move past this and get back to normal.

"I promise you, she'll never show up. She'll never touch your life. She'll never be any kind of threat to you."