The Mistress: Her revenge [18+]

Ch. 41

SEBASTIAN AINSWORTH

The moment my father-in-law stepped out of the room, there was a silence. The kind that could almost drive you to the brink of madness. Every second felt like a tightening coil. I could feel the muscles in my neck straining, the pulse of blood thudding against my skull. Esme stood there, looking at me, but I couldn't meet her eyes right away. I wasn't sure if I could handle what I might see. The truth, her silence, everything between us—it was like an avalanche waiting to bury me alive.

"How long?" My voice barely sounded like my own— too broken. Each word scraped out like it hurt to say. "How long have you known the child isn't mine?"

She shifted, the sound of her taking in a deep breath too loud in the otherwise dead quiet of the room. "Dani confessed when she kidnapped me and Kyle," she said, and though she sounded steady, I saw her fingers twist into her shirt. There was hesitation there, fear maybe, but all I could focus on was the truth hitting me like a wrecking ball.

It was like my body couldn't decide what to feel first—shock, anger, disbelief. 

"She... confessed?" I repeated, the word barely making sense in my head. I couldn't process it. That confession—this entire time—and I was just living in a lie? A cold laugh slipped out, bitter and hollow. "Of course, she did."

I stared at the floor, shaking my head, trying to comprehend how the world I thought I knew had collapsed beneath me. "All this time... everything she's done... the baby..." I muttered. Rage threatened to boil over, and I clenched my fists, fighting against it, fighting against the urge to destroy everything around me.

And yet, the betrayal cut deeper than I could have imagined.

When I looked at her again, it wasn't just betrayal that hit me—it was a sense of loss, a bitter understanding of just how much had been taken from me. "And you didn't say anything?" I asked.

"She threatened to kill us, Sebastian." Her response was soft, almost apologetic, but it only made me feel worse. "It wasn't the right time. Besides, it hasn't even been up to twenty four hours since I regained my freedom. I've been in and out of it."

Not the right time? Was there ever a right time to be told your entire life was a fabrication? My eyes met hers, searching for something—some reason, some justification that would make this hurt less, but instead, all I saw was the widening gap between us, a chasm that maybe was always there.

Without a word, I snatched the car keys off the table, the cold metal biting into my hand like a lifeline. I needed out. Needed to breathe.

Esme didn't stop me. She stood there, watching, but she didn't make a move. Maybe she knew. Maybe she understood that there was no talking me down from this. I didn't even say goodbye. My body just moved on autopilot toward the door, the weight of the last few minutes, hours—hell, years—pushing me to the edge.

I needed to get away before I lost whatever fragile control I still had left.

________

The ride to the police station felt like an eternity, my rage suffocating the small space in the car. My knuckles were white against the steering wheel, the engine growling in response to the pressure of my foot on the gas pedal. Every thought circling in my head was Dani's betrayal, her lies... the endless façade. How could I have been so blind?

When I pulled up to the station, I didn't even bother turning off the engine properly, flinging the door open as I stormed inside. Two officers blocked my path, standing tall, but they weren't enough to stop the anger that was brewing within. I had been lied to and deceived, and there was nothing that could stop me from getting to that evil woman. I shoved past them, my single-minded focus on the woman inside that room.