Chapter 3

Claudia was pleased with Ethan.

It had been a year since she left the Faulkner family and Briarwood and moved back to Glenhallow with her daughter, Isabel Jefferson.

However, she didn't stay idle. She went on countless blind dates to find the perfect father figure for Isabel. She even went on a few dates with some of the men, but none of them met her expectations.

Nonetheless, Claudia was open to trying things out with a different type of man—specifically Ethan.

Now that they reached a deal, Claudia generously transferred ten thousand dollars into his account. "Consider this the initial payment as a show of good faith. You can drive, right? Your job starts tonight; drop me home and meet my daughter."

With that, she grabbed her purse and made to leave.

Ethan took the car keys without prompting and chivalrously offered Claudia his arm. She took it and allowed him to lead her out of the lounge.

When the elevator doors opened, Claudia was surprised to see the father-and-son duo on the other side. She stopped in her tracks as the wound she tried so hard to cover up bled anew.

She dug her nails into her palms. It took all her willpower to keep her emotions hidden.

Shawn stood before her, looking imposing in his black suit. His long legs were clad in impeccably pressed black trousers. He boasted such fine features, with a straight nose and deep-set eyes, but nothing about his stoic silhouette was warm or inviting.

In his arms was Samson, who was burning with a fever. He was on his way to the hospital when the elevator stopped at Claudia's floor.

His expression shifted slightly when he saw her. He pinned her with a deadly stare. He looked as if he wanted to burn a hole through the space between her eyes, then tear her into pieces.

Shock, guilt, and rage flickered across Shawn's face.

Samson stubbornly clung to Shawn as he peered at Claudia through bleary eyes. "Dad, am I dreaming? Or am I dead? Why do I see Mommy standing before me?"

Shawn's gaze turned icy when he saw Claudia and Ethan's linked arms. "Claudia!"

Claudia buried the stray emotions rising within her and pretended not to have heard Shawn's low, angry growl. She pulled Ethan closer and led him into the elevator without sparing another glance at Shawn and Samson.

They were as good as strangers to her.

The air around Shawn crackled with icy, angry energy. With one arm wrapped around Samson, he reached with the other and roughly grabbed Claudia's wrist. He forcefully tugged her toward him and demanded, "What the hell are you doing here, Claudia? You're supposed to be dead!"

Claudia staggered in her high heels and fell into Shawn's arms, colliding with his sculpted chest. The impact left her head spinning.

The familiar scent of sandalwood pricked her nose and brought fresh pain crashing over her. She glowered at him angrily, her face stony as she shoved him away like he was a leper. "What's wrong with you? Unhand me, mister, or I'll call the cops!"

Ethan looked stormy when he saw the altercation. A violent warning gleamed in his eyes as he growled, "Let go of her!"

Shawn met Ethan's gaze, and the tension between them thickened. They were more or less the same height and equally domineering.

However, Shawn did not see the pretty man as a threat at all. He kept his grip on Claudia and handed Samson over to his dumbfounded assistant, Lucas Ainsworth.

With his free hand, he pinched Claudia's jaw and barked a bitter laugh. The rage in his eyes belonged to a man who grieved over her death, only to learn he was tricked and that it was for nothing.

He challenged viciously, "Call the cops, huh? Go ahead, try it! I'm Shawn Faulkner, and I can manhandle my wife if I want!"

"I am not your wife, you lunatic!" Claudia spat with matching ire, her face still stony. She couldn't even look at Shawn now without wanting to retch. He was nothing but a stranger to her.

Shawn hissed, "How dare you pretend not to know me? You're quite the actress, Claudia. You pulled out all the stops to convince me and Samson that you're dead!

"In case you haven't noticed, your son is burning up with a fever right now, yet you're living your life and hanging out with some gigolo!"

He couldn't believe he fell for her lies.

Wrestling the hurt within her, Claudia didn't balk under Shawn's accusatory gaze. She willed herself not to look at Samson, who was languid with fever behind Shawn, and snapped, "I'll say this once, so listen up! You've got the wrong person! My name isn't Claudia, and I don't have a son!"

Samson was on the brink of passing out. He dared not reach for Claudia, but that didn't stop him from crying out, "Mommy! It's me, Samson! I'm hurting everywhere. Look at me!"

Claudia used to look after him whenever he was sick, tending to his every need. She used to be so heartbroken when she saw him ill that she couldn't help shedding tears.

He might be delirious with fever, but Samson was still hurt that Claudia didn't acknowledge him.

Claudia found it ironic that Samson was calling her "Mommy" now, of all times.

Her fists clenched at her sides as she fixed Shawn with a frigid look, grinding out, "You might want to teach your kid some manners, mister, before he goes around calling every stranger 'Mommy'. I certainly don't have a son like him!"

"Mommy!" Samson cried again, his voice rising into a despairing wail.

Shawn's grip tightened on her slender waist, his blood boiling as he seethed, "You call yourself a mother, Claudia? How could you abandon your son when he's sick like this? Aren't you worried you might break his heart?"

The heat from his palm was unbearable, threatening to scorch Claudia through her clothes. A bitter smile curled her lips. How rich of Shawn to accuse her of breaking Samson's heart when they broke hers repeatedly in the past!

Samson used to be her only beacon of hope in the Faulkner family. He was her life. She coddled and cared for him as if he were a little prince. She taught him to walk, speak, and write his name. She taught him the ways of life and how to love and be loved.

But what did she get in return?

Samson grew up to look down his nose at her, wielding his words like knives against her and shredding the softest parts of her into pieces. He turned out to be a replica of Shawn—cruel, unfeeling, and enamored with no one but Emilia.

A mirthless laugh escaped Claudia. "Why should I worry about breaking his heart when he isn't even my son?"

The grudges she bore against Shawn set her temper ablaze as resentment, old and new, surged within her. She didn't even hesitate as she raised her leg and kicked him in the shin with her stiletto.

A sharp pain seized Shawn as he staggered back, releasing Claudia. While off-guard, he took a punch to the gut from a stormy-faced Ethan and doubled over in pain.

Claudia stepped back and leashed her emotions as she warned, "I told you, I'm not the person you're looking for. Why not take your child to the hospital instead of wasting precious time pestering me?"

The elevator doors opened again. She grabbed Ethan by the arm and turned on her heels to leave.

Samson grew tearful as anger welled up in him. He threw a tantrum, behaving like an abandoned little beast. "No! I'm not leaving! I want Mommy! Mommy, come back! Let go of me!"

He was determined to find Claudia, refusing to believe she didn't want him anymore.

However, his fever was creeping to a dangerous 105 degrees Fahrenheit, and his fit got the better of him. One minute, he was struggling and shrieking in Lucas' arms; the next, he passed out and had a seizure.

"Mr. Samson! This is bad, Mr. Faulkner! Mr. Samson is convulsing from the fever!" Lucas cried out in alarm.

Claudia halted only for a heartbeat when she heard this, but she didn't glance backward. Instead, she squared her shoulders and kept walking until she was far away from the commotion behind her.