Chapter 5

After finishing his work for the morning, Lucas was met at the office by Brett. "I brought some fruit and toys. I'll go with you to check on Jake," Brett said. Hearing that, Lucas nodded. Before they left, his phone buzzed on the desk. The notification drew Brett's attention. He glanced over, catching a new message on Lucas' phone. "Do you miss me? Do you want to play golf this afternoon?" The message was from Julia Lowe. Brett recognized the name. She was a senior executive at one of the partner companies. Brett knew she was interested in Lucas, and Lucas knew it, too. He had used her feelings to help close a recent business deal. Brett asked, "So, are you going to meet her?" Lucas shook his head. "I have no time. Honestly, it wouldn't look right. If she insists, I'll flirt a bit and leave it at that. I'm not interested in cheating—that's not my style." They headed out together. Lucas put a cigarette between his lips and lit it as they walked. He had good looks, a wealthy background, and a charm that made him popular with women. Brett chuckled. "If other women heard what you just said, a lot of hearts would be broken." "If it wasn't for Miranda..." Lucas trailed off, but Brett understood right away. Lucas' expression darkened at the mention of Miranda. If Miranda hadn't used the child to marry him, he would still be living a bachelor's carefree life. Brett asked, "What's going on with you two?" Lucas replied, "She couldn't handle the kid, but instead of taking responsibility, she blamed everyone else and ran off. If my mom knew about this, she'd regret ever agreeing to let me marry her." "Is she still not home?" "Nope." "Aren't you going to go after her?" Lucas shot him a look. "You know her. Why waste my energy? If she could really leave, she never would've had Jake just to tie me down." Brett didn't argue. Back in school, Lucas had always been good to Miranda, who had been fearless and full of energy. Miranda had once jumped in to help a classmate who was being surrounded by a group of punks and almost ended up getting harassed. That was the first time Brett ever saw Lucas lose his temper. He broke a punk's nose and ended up with a demerit. Even with a bruised face, Lucas tried to comfort Miranda, pretending he didn't feel a thing. After everyone left, he sneaked off to the nurse's office for painkillers. From that day, wherever Miranda went, Lucas was there, watching out for her. She was so well protected that no other boys ever dared to confess their feelings to her before university. Back then, when Lucas started dating, his girlfriend didn't like how close he was to Miranda. So, Miranda quietly pulled back. Soon, Lucas cornered her in the hallway to ask why. And the moment he found out, he dumped his girlfriend without a word. He moved on to new girlfriends quickly, but every time Miranda was unhappy, he'd break things off even faster. He used to go out of his way to make her happy, but now, he found himself constantly annoyed with her. "If you can't stand each other, maybe you should just get divorced," Brett said. Normally, Lucas would grumble, "Do you think I could actually get away from her?" But today, for once, he just fell silent. He gave a cold laugh, anger flashing across his face. He tossed his cigarette aside, leaving it burning on the sidewalk. "She's gone too far this time." Brett looked puzzled, but Lucas ignored that and said, "Let's get to the hospital. Jake's there. Since Miranda's gone, I have to take care of him." Brett already knew Eva was watching over Jake at the hospital. From Lucas' Instagram post, he'd expected a cozy scene, but when they walked into the hospital room, it was chaos. A bowl of soup had shattered on the floor, broth spilled everywhere, and the bedding was dirty and tossed aside. Eva was wiping Jake down. His arm and part of his stomach were red from a burn. Eva said softly, "Jake, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to spill it." Jake's lips trembled, on the verge of tears. "I know, Eva. It's not your fault. You don't have kids, so you don't really know how to take care of me. Could you please hurry up a little? I'm cold." Brett glanced at Lucas, who looked clearly displeased. Lucas stepped forward and took the towel. "I'll do it." Jake's voice was small and shaky. "Dad..." Brett felt his heart twist just listening to him, and he knew Lucas must have felt even worse. Lucas said gently, "It's okay. I'm here." Eva looked deeply embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Mr. Holden. I just wanted to feed him some soup. I didn't think the bowl would be so hot." Lucas frowned. How could she have burned Jake just by feeding him soup? Miranda never let anything like this happen. She'd rather spill the soup on herself than let Jake get even a drop on him. "It's not your fault. You're just not used to it," Lucas said. He wasn't exactly experienced, either. He quickly wiped Jake down and got him dressed, but missed a button and didn't pull up Jake's pants properly. Because of that, Jake almost tripped over the cuffs as he stood up, nearly falling off the bed. As Brett watched, he realized that without Miranda, Jake might not have grown up as healthy as he had. Without the mother, the whole family seemed like it could fall apart. Later, Lucas told Eva to go home before calling Celine to take over caring for Jake. He also had the doctor come in to check on Jake's burns. Luckily, there was no serious harm. Seeing that Jake was downcast, Brett tried to cheer him up, but Jake barely cracked a smile. "What's wrong? I thought you liked Eva. Did you change your mind after she burned you?" Jake shook his head. "No, I still like her." Eva just didn't know how to take care of him, and he didn't blame her. Honestly, none of this would have happened if Miranda hadn't left him behind. Lucas tucked him in. "Get some rest. I'll come by after work." "Okay," Jake replied. As Lucas and Brett walked out together, Lucas opened the car door and suddenly asked, "Has Miranda contacted you?" Brett was caught off guard. "Me? Why would she?" Lucas knew Miranda had probably seen the Instagram post and would try to reach out through someone else, since they'd blocked each other's numbers. Brett was the most likely choice. "Never mind. Forget it. She doesn't even care when Jack is sick. Don't even bring her up again." Brett thought that was ironic, since Lucas was the one bringing her up. After that, Lucas headed back to the office, but the more he worked, the more unsettled he felt. Miranda was just too quiet. That wasn't like her at all. He started to wonder if something had happened to her. After all, she was Jake's mother, and despite everything, Lucas didn't want anything bad to happen to her. So, he sent Hazel a message. "Is Miranda dead or something? Why is she not even checking on her son?" Hazel was on set when she read the message and almost smashed her phone in anger. Her manager, Charlotte Simmons, quickly grabbed the phone and blocked Lucas before a heated argument could break out. But that didn't stop Hazel from calling Miranda to curse out Lucas. She ranted, "What is wrong with him? Can I slap some sense into him?" Glancing at Abigail not far away, Miranda covered her phone and asked softly, "Did he send the divorce agreement back to you?" "No, not yet." "I'll deal with it when I get back. Don't fight with him. I'm at a photography exhibit with Abigail right now, so I'll call you later." "Alright." Miranda hung up and walked over to Abigail. "Miranda, are you really getting a divorce?" Abigail asked. Miranda knew Abigail had overheard her call and nodded. Abigail didn't ask for details. She had lived abroad for years and hadn't seen Miranda since the funeral at Miranda's family home. After Miranda's parents passed away, she and Abigail had rarely spoken. Abigail had been delighted that Miranda came to visit, but seeing her now only made her heart ache. The Miranda in her memory had been cheerful and thoughtful. In contrast, the woman standing before her now wore a gentle smile, but the light in her eyes was gone. Marriage had changed her so much. Abigail thought of Miranda's mother, Ramona Queen, and felt heartbroken seeing Miranda stuck in such a miserable marriage. She wanted to hop on a plane that very night and slap Lucas across the face. So, knowing Miranda was getting divorced made Abigail want to throw a party to celebrate. Abigail had been through a divorce herself. She married at 20 and left her husband at 30. After taking half of his assets, she moved to Darsland. No one cared if she went out with 18 male models in one night. She lived a carefree life and did whatever she pleased. "What about the kid? Who's getting custody?" Abigail asked. "His dad," Miranda replied. "That's actually not bad." Abigail's son lived with his father as well. "You'll be free for once." Then, she changed the topic. "The last time you visited, you gave me that photo you took. I put it up in this exhibit. Why don't you go take a look? My son's here for my birthday, too. I'm going to check on him." "Alright," Miranda said, and Abigail walked away. Later, Miranda found her photograph in the gallery without much effort, but a tall man was standing right in front of it.