Chapter 4

He questioned how he failed to recognize it sooner. Why hadn't he realized that he wasn't a blasted idiot? 

He was disgusted by the fact that it had required a vengeful lady, whom he had hardly even dated, to get his attention.

 A man ought to have a thorough understanding of his own son. Perhaps it was because the idea of a brother and sister having a child was so unbelievable.

No, he snorted inwardly: a stepsister and stepsbrother. If only everyone in the world besides him and her would keep that in mind.

Little Leo's fingers curled around the hand that was holding the bottle up for him as he lazily looked at his hand. Jason felt his son's small body warm on his chest as he gazed at his amazing face.

He felt astonishment. With a deep sigh, Leo cooed and pushed his head on his breast.

Jason had never considered starting a family—damn. not ever since he and Jane fell out of love. 

Although he was too stupid at the time to think about it, he was confident that he would have soon busted up if they hadn't already.

Having children in her soft belly had undoubtedly crossed his mind, but only in the I-want-to-fill-you-with-my-come manner. Because of how prohibited their relationship was already, he had never gotten to the family portion.

Jason removed the bottle from Leo's mouth as he was sucking it dry while keeping his eyes closed.

He was pleased to do nothing more than sit and hold him. He was usually a serious thinker, and he needed to deal with his rage, but he wasn't sure he could.

"I'll tuck him in."

He could hear Jane's faint, unsure voice floating above him.

Jason immediately wanted to hold on. He was upset that she was attempting to rip the boy away from him. 

He was about to waylay her when his rage overcame him and he decided to try to get her to accept it instead.

"When is his birthday?"

 Jason enquired. As he followed Jane into her former bedroom, he had to grab her from behind to keep her from falling while she was holding the baby. 

He was irritated because now that she had lost her youthful slenderness, he enjoyed her rich form more. She had a tight, attractive physique back then, but he had been immature because curves were what a man desired.

He didn't want to want her because she had cruelly snatched something significant from his life.

She mumbled, "A-ah."

It happens in April. Jason removed his hands from her and angrily stated, "You don't know the day your child was born?"

Before bending to place Leo in the playpen among some covers she had earlier spread out, Jason noticed her back tensing up.

He is very worn out. We must be silent. Both of us are exhausted, she said sternly.

She continued to fuss with Leo and it was clear that she was trying to ignore him.

Jason almost said something and demanded the truth. But he hadn't actually become a billionaire by accident. He always thought things through before acting, and he never trusted his gut. It was too big for him to just dive into, so he needed to consider it.

In case he decided to take action that Jane would not support, such as demanding time with his kid, joint custody, or even full custody, he didn't want her to know he knew.

It would have been better if he had kept his mouth shut and deliberated first.

He said, "Yeah, okay," and then walked out of the room.

After entering his room, he crossed his legs and reclined on his bed as he tried to process what had just gut-punched him.

He had no idea that he could be so furious with Jane because, goddamn it, he loved her. 

He hadn't despised her even after they had split up because they couldn't believe what they had accomplished together and couldn't understand how they could dedicate their lives to it.

She had been more concerned with garish appearances. He was aware that because it was a tiny town, people would denigrate them. But he hadn't been able to convince her that they didn't have to remain there.

In actuality, none of them had. After they had broken up and his heart had been hurting for so long, he had given it some thought and realized that he had been working so hard that he had never given their situation the attention it deserved.

Instead of leaving to go to work, he could have persuaded her, and they might have been able to come to an agreement.

Now that he had so much cash, he could actually pay her to agree. 

His pupils shrank. If he wanted anything, he was indeed that vicious. And now that he was 90% certain Leo was his, he was not letting go of him.

He simply wasn't sure he could overcome his rage at Jane for denying him something so crucial and for making all the decisions. 

She had not done that correctly. I knew my stepbrother well enough to realize that he was being affected by something really sinister.

 I was scared that Roxanne's remark had something to do with it. I kept swinging back and forth between believing he was aware and rationalizing that he couldn't be. I wept myself to sleep because I was driving myself bonkers.

The following morning, I lay in bed for a considerable amount of time before Leo finally got up, just listening to his gentle breathing and wondering what Jason had missed in Leo's formative years.

Although Jason was a workaholic, I had seen him around children before, and he seemed to enjoy them. I was confident Jason would be a terrific father because you don't spend half your life growing up with someone and not knowing them fairly well. a great father.

But I had thought these things a thousand times before, and each time they turned into something impossible. 

Nothing could change the fact that we were stepbrother and stepsister.