Chapter 4

Cora

I stepped between them so fast my vision blurred, my hands covering Riley’s ears before he could hear that last part.

“Don’t you dare say that again,” I said coldly.

Zach didn’t.

For a moment, it looked like he had plenty to say, the options hanging on the tip of his tongue. But then he turned abruptly and disappeared into the bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

I crouched to pick up Riley, whispering gently. “We’re leaving, baby. Right now.”

I didn’t care where we went. We just had to go.

I packed up the essentials we would need as quickly as possible and in silence, my body moving on autopilot while my mind spun in circles. I pulled Riley behind me hurriedly, eager to get him out of the house in case Zach decided to return and begin shouting again.

As we left, I heard Amy laugh shrilly behind us.

Riley snored softly in the car while I drove. He deserved so much better than this chaos.

I took us both to the old house—the one I’d kept paying rent on after our parents passed. It still smelled like lemon cleaner and dusty books. It was familiar. Safe, in a way.

Daisy was already there with her son, Ben, their toys strewn across the living room floor like nothing had changed. They had moved in years before when Ben’s father had left them without warning, leaving Daisy and their newborn child with nowhere else to go.

Daisy watched me enter the home with a concerned look. She stood, wasting no time before asking me what was wrong. My sister could always tell when something was amiss.

I sat down on the couch with a huff. After I told her everything, Daisy came over and sat beside me on the couch, her expression serious.

“So, Riley’s not Zach’s son?” she asked quietly.

I shook my head.

She frowned. “Then who is?”

I pulled the IVF report out of my bag and unfolded the worn paper. I pointed at the bold, sterile number near the bottom.

“No. 59,” I said. “Anonymous donor. Maybe he was an athlete? Even the doctor mentioned that Riley’s development has been… advanced.”

Daisy didn’t look convinced by this assumption. She kept glancing between the paper and Riley, who was now sharing popcorn with Ben and giggling at cartoons. Her lips pressed into a tight line.

“I’ll bring the report to the hospital this weekend,” I added. “Try to confirm his identity. Maybe I can talk to someone more about everything.”

Daisy looked at me, worried. “You sure you want to dig into this? What if it’s something weird? Something you don’t want to find out?”

I didn’t answer her right away. I wasn’t sure what I wanted. But something in my gut told me I had to know.

For Riley, I needed to figure this out.

***

The next morning, just after breakfast, the doorbell rang.

I opened the door to find a middle-aged man in a charcoal suit, holding a clipboard. His expression was neutral, but his eyes were sharp like he was taking in every detail about me and the house.

“Hello. I apologize if this is too forward, but are you the one who did IVF at Silverpine General about six years ago?” he asked.

I opened my mouth to reply, but before I could answer, my phone buzzed. A message popped up in my work group chat: "Mandatory meeting at 9 a.m. CEO introduction. No late arrivals tolerated."

My heart stuttered. I had thirty minutes to get there.

I glanced back at the man, who was still drawling on, but I barely registered his words. I tuned him out, nodding quickly, before I murmured something polite and motioned for him to speak with Daisy.

I didn’t have time for this. It was probably just another safety check.

Werewolf communities had strict policies about human residency. I’d learned to live with the constant background hum of suspicion.

I made it to the office ten minutes early, my hair slightly frizzy and one heel scuffed. But I was there.

I exhaled, clutching my coffee like it was a lifeline, and took a seat in the assistant bullpen. With a few minutes to spare, I finally called the divorce lawyer I'd found online. My hands were still shaking when I hung up.

Zach had filed for a freeze on our joint assets. His claim? That I’d committed adultery and had a child out of wedlock.

I could have screamed right there in the middle of the office.

He knew about the IVF mistake! He knew Riley wasn’t born from some affair. But instead of owning his own infidelity, he had weaponized this mistake, twisting the truth.

I’d always known Zach was selfish. But this? This was cruel.

With a quickly sent text, I set up an appointment with the lawyer for later that week and shoved my phone back into my bag.

Every card I owned was frozen—except for my payroll card. And as a junior assistant? My salary barely covered groceries, let alone food for four, rent, school fees…

I rested my head in my hands, a wave of nausea hitting me. How was I going to make it all work? I had to figure something out—fast.

A new message popped up in our group chat, tearing my attention away from my self-pitying.

“The new CEO will select one of the junior assistants to promote as his personal secretary,” it said.

I sat up straighter.

It wasn’t much, but it was something. The secretary position came with a pay raise, benefits, and influence. It could be a lifeline in this deepening mess that was my life.

I typed a quick message to Daisy: “Tell Riley I’ll be home late tonight. Big opportunity. I need this.”

Hurriedly, I typed out my application at my desk, filling it out as fast as I could so that I could get to the mountain of work waiting for me.

I sent it in and sighed with relief. No sooner had I completed the task than the gossip group on our groupchat lit up. Curiously, I clicked open the thread.

“Have you seen the new boss yet?”

“He looks like a damn supermodel. I swear I forgot how to breathe.”

“Did you see the boss’s face? He looks like he just walked off a runway.”

“I’d die in his arms.”

I rolled my eyes. This was completely unprofessional. But I couldn’t help scrolling through the full chat thread.

Everyone was in a frenzy over this new CEO. Despite my initial hangups about their conversation, the flood of emojis, memes, and grainy hallway photos made me laugh for the first time in days.

Surely they were blowing this all out of proportion.

“Probably just some narcissist in a nice suit,” I muttered to myself.

Footsteps echoed down the hall. A hush fell over the office like a flipped switch.

And just like that, he was here.

I turned my head slowly, resisting the urge to act too eagerly. But then I saw him, and my heart slammed into my ribs.

No. Fucking. Way.

It was him.

He looked striking in his black tailored suit. Even at a glance, it was clear that he was covering a powerful, muscular figure beneath.

He had the face that could inspire an artist with a strong, perfectly chiseled jaw and flawless, smooth skin. I could still remember the feel of his stubble brushing against my neck the previous evening.

His eyes were gray and cutting, so beautiful I could get lost in them. And I had.

The escort. The angry man who had given me a ride. The same man I had seen at the clinic the day before.

He was walking toward the other employees who were still openly ogling him. When he moved, it was like he owned the world.

But he was still lost in another conversation, his phone pressed to his ear.

“So you found the woman who used my sperm?” he said tensely into the device.

I froze.

His gaze lifted.

He was headed straight toward me, eyes locked on mine.