5

Gideon arrived home sometime after midnight. He was in a good mood. Being with Natalia always left him in high spirits. She was everything he wanted in a woman. Beautiful, adventurous, and always willing to let him take the lead. He could fuck her like a whore and she'd thank him. Thalia would never allow him to call her his little slut. All her life, she'd been treated as a princess and she expected him to do the same. Even when they were being intimate.

When he'd first slept with her, he had thought she was too rigid but since it was her first time, he didn't let it bother him. He thought with time she'd loosen up. And she had. But he still felt something was missing between them. Every time he slept with her it left him feeling hollow. As if all he'd done was give but received nothing in return. Because deep down, he always knew she was in a different league. Nothing he did would ever satisfy her.

She didn't jump up in joy the way Natalia did when he bought her a car. Or jewelry. Or just anything in general. Why would she when she had everything already? But that fucker Hale always knew what to get her. Her smile was always bigger whenever her 'best friend' gave her something compared to when her husband did. He'd long stopped competing with the asshole and accepted his fate. Thalia Ashcroft was above him.

So why hadn't he divorced her? He wanted to. In fact, he was planning on doing it. After he found something incriminating against her. Between the two of them, if he initiated a divorce without a valid reason, he'd end up on the losing end. People respected the Ashcroft name. His clients recommended their friends and family to him simply because he was Thalia's husband. Everything he had was thanks to her.

If he divorced her without a reason, the reputation he'd spent years building would go down the drain. Not just that but others would refuse to associate with him. He couldn't come off as the bad guy. Not to the world or his children. So he was waiting for the right opportunity to come along. Meanwhile, he would continue acting like the best husband in the world.

Placing the car keys on the hook beside the door, he walked towards the stairs but the light coming from the kitchen had him changing directions. He wondered if Thalia was waiting for him and then scoffed. The few times he'd felt touched thinking she was up because she couldn't sleep without him had proved him wrong. She had either been on the phone with Tanner or reviewing a case. Nothing she did was ever about him.

But Gideon was taken aback when he found his son instead of his wife.

"Hey, why are you still up?"

The seventeen-year-old looked up from the books spread out in front of him and gave Gideon a glare "I'm waiting for Mom"

"Isn't she back yet?"

"You'd think as her husband you would know that" Cameron retorted. Gideon furrowed his eyebrows at his son's tone. There were times he thought the boy hated him but he didn't know why. Up until he was five, Cam had looked up to him. But for some reason, he'd suddenly changed. Moving further into the kitchen, he asked,

"Is there a reason you're always angry with me?" Despite everything, Cameron was still his son. He didn't expect them to be friends after he divorced Thalia but they could be civilized. There was no need to always be at each other's throats.

"Where is Mom?"

"Probably at the office working on her next big case"

"And what about you? Where were you?"

It wasn't the question but how Cam put it. Gideon kept his face void of any emotion, trying not to let anything slip but inside, he was scared. Could that be the reason Cameron hated him? Because he somehow found out about his relationship with Natalia? But he'd been careful. Keeping it behind closed doors. Taking a shower before he got back and always using cash to buy her gifts instead of credit cards. How had he found out?

Impossible.

"I'm sorry but who between the two of us is the father and who is the son?"

"A straight answer would suffice. Getting defensive only makes you look suspicious"

The little bastard.

"I was out selling drugs. Does that answer satisfy you?"

"I wouldn't put it past you" Cameron murmured under his breath as he collected his stuff and left the kitchen. Shaking his head, Gideon took out his phone and called his wife. She hadn't left him any messages which was a bit concerning but he knew sometimes she got so immersed in her cases that she forgot about everything else. The phone rang but she didn't answer.

He left her a message, joking about coming home late and telling their son he was a drug dealer, and then asked her to call him when she was done. Regardless of what time it was. Then he went to sleep.

There was no message or missed call from her the next morning. He tried calling her again but her phone was off. Since he had an appointment with a famous celebrity, he made a note to call her after the surgery was over. But it slipped his mind.

Even when Norah, one of the employees showed him an earring and asked if he knew the owner, Gideon said no. But he commented about the person having the same earrings as his wife. Because he never imagined that Thalia would ever step foot in his office. She had a key but it had been years since she last went there.

That day he went home earlier, thinking to chastise Thalia for going radio silent on him. Under no circumstances should she ever suspect he wanted to divorce her. Which meant he had to keep up appearances.

Except when he got there, it wasn't Thalia but Hale waiting for him.

"Hale. Did you finally decide to release my wife? I don't like how you're overworking her"

"Where is she?"

"Tee. She didn't come in today and Pam just told me she came back last night but left when she heard you weren't home."

"What do you mean she wasn't at the office?" Gideon asked dropping his briefcase by the door and taking out his phone. His call went to voicemail. "Where is she?"

"She's your fucking wife, Thane. How could you not know where she is?"

"Fuck off. You act as if you guys don't pull all-nighters trying to crack a case. I wasn't worried because I thought she was with you"

"You fucking..." Tanner took a step back, his hands curled into fists "If anything happens to her I will end you"

"Last I checked she was my wife. What she does is none of your concern. Get the fuck out of my house"

"She had better be alright, Thane. Or I swear..." Tanner threatened before leaving.

Gideon called Jessica to check if Thalia was with her. She wasn't. Worry settled at the pit of his stomach when they couldn't find her the next morning. Cameron wanted to go to the police. Celia couldn't stop crying and Pam called everyone she knew. By midday, they were all panicking.

Until the phone in the living room rang.

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