Chapter 4 The Text

"This is where it ends!"

The words echoed in her head as Arabella opened her eyes.

She was in Axel's room, curled on the floor beside his bed, sunlight streaming harsh and bright through the window.

She barely remembered getting home last night-just stumbling through the empty house, collapsing in the one place that still smelled like him.

Sunlight.

Her eyes flew to the clock: 9:47 a.m.

She shot to her feet. She never slept past six. Never. Not in five years of living in this house.

Where was Ms. Shaw? The elderly housekeeper woke her every morning at 5:30 sharp with a list of chores.

Unless she'd been told not to.

The bed was empty.

Her heart lurched. She pushed to her feet, checking his bathroom, his closet. Nothing.

"He should be at school..."

Then her eyes landed on his school uniform, still hanging pristine on the back of his door.

She grabbed her phone and called his homeroom teacher.

"Oh, you didn't know?" The woman's tone shifted to sympathy. "Mr. Sterling called to inform us Axel transferred schools. I assumed you'd discussed it..."

The words barely registered. Transferred? In the middle of the session?

Arabella ended the call, her mind racing.

Adrian had taken him. Actually taken him.

She needed to see Adrian. Now.

Fifteen minutes later, she was walking through the Sterling Law Group offices, ignoring the whispers that followed her down the hallway.

Adrian might have used his power to stop the media frenzy last night, but gossip among colleagues and friends was inevitable.

"Arabella, what are you doing here?" Gavin asked politely, standing as she entered his office.

"I need to see Adrian. It's urgent," she replied, forcing a smile.

Gavin had been Adrian's assistant for almost seven years. Unlike the others, he'd never looked at her with contempt. Never whispered when she passed. Once, he'd even held the elevator door when she was carrying groceries.

Small kindnesses. But in this house, they felt like lifelines.

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Um...Mr. Sterling is inside with Ms. Smith. Let me inform him."

"They even make out on our bed beside me. What worse could happen?" she muttered, scoffing as she walked away.

Gavin sighed, shaking his head as he watched her leave with pity.

When Arabella stepped into the office, Serena's voice reached her first. "...I only did that to protect you."

Arabella watched as Adrian leaned forward, his eyes unusually gentle, the way he hadn't looked at her in years.

"I'm not angry at you, Serena. I'm glad you thought to handle her mess," he said softly.

His eyes flicked to the doorway, locking on Arabella. His jaw stiffened, but he continued. "I am doing this to punish Arabella."

The gentleness vanished. "She deserved what she got."

Serena glanced at Arabella, her expression softening.

"Oh, Arabella. You're here..."

"Where's Axel?" Arabella interrupted, her voice trembling.

Something in Adrian's expression told her it had to be about Axel.

"What did you do to him?" she demanded, though her hand shook.

Serena let out an exaggerated gasp, glancing between Adrian and Arabella. "Oh, you haven't told her?"

Arabella's eyes widened. "Tell me what?"

"Axel is currently in Asia," Adrian announced, his voice flat as he leaned back in his chair. "On his way to be enrolled in a boarding school there."

The lie tasted bitter on his tongue. How could he afford to send his child away? But Arabella didn't need to know that.

Arabella shook her head. "What? That's impossible. He's only five. No school would accept him."

Adrian rose and circled toward her, his hand buried in his pocket. "Not when that school runs an orphanage that just happened to receive a generous donation from me."

Arabella's legs weakened, and she grabbed the edge of the desk for support.

He leaned close, whispering, "You want him back living with me?"

His face was so near she could feel his breath.

"You sign the divorce papers," he added, pointing at the desk.

"No. No, that can't be right," she whispered, brows furrowed.

'Adrian loves Axel...there's no way he could do that, right? He must be trying to pull my leg.'

As if reading her thoughts, Adrian pulled out his phone and showed her a video of Axel in a different school uniform, held in the arms of one of Adrian's guards.

"Don't worry, Dad. I'll be okay here as long as it takes. Tell Mommy she doesn't have to stay because of me anymore."

The words were wooden. Rehearsed.

Arabella's resolve shattered.

Still she believed her son was too sweet to say those words.

He was doing this for Adrian. Because Adrian asked him to.

Because Adrian had convinced their five-year-old that his mother's refusal to divorce was the problem.

Not the affair. Not the abuse. Not the public humiliation.

Her.

"You turned him against me," she whispered. "You actually turned my son against me." Hot tears blurred her vision. Adrian had crossed the line.

Arabella's legs weakened, and she grabbed the edge of the desk for support.

She watched the video again. And again. Axel's small face on the screen, trying so hard to be brave. The uniform that didn't fit right.

"A child whose birth you weren't even there for!"

On the day of Axel's birth, Adrian was nursing Serena's bruised ankle in the same hospital. Five years later, he had the audacity to take that child away.

Adrian's jaw tightened, his eyes darting everywhere else but her.

"Do you think it's easy to send my child miles away?" His fist came down on the desk. Not enough to hurt, but enough to make his point.

"I tolerated you for years, letting you watch him grow!" His voice shook with rage he could barely control. "But you had to barge in, acting like a lunatic, like Serena was going to eat him up!"

He leaned in close, his voice dropping to something cold and precise. "You embarrassed me. You made my son a spectacle. You think I can let that slide?"

His eyes were ice. "You need to learn that actions have consequences. And since you keep using my son as a shield to cling to me, I decided to send him away."

"Serena sent me a text with your phone, Adrian! This is all her! Can't you see?" Her voice cracked before she steadied herself.

Adrian raised a brow, eyes shifting between Arabella and Serena. "What?"

Serena's eyes widened, filling with tears. "Arabella... how could you think I would do something like that?"

She turned to Adrian, her voice breaking. "I've tried so hard to be kind to her. To understand her condition. But this...accusing me of-"

A sob cut her off.

Arabella watched Serena's shoulders shake, her hand clutching Adrian's desk for support.

The tears were real-or looked real. The trembling voice, the wounded expression.

But Arabella had seen this performance before.

"Check your phone, Adrian! You'll see she orchestrated the whole incident," Arabella insisted, a little more confidently.

Adrian hesitated as he grabbed his phone. He had given it to Serena last night, but she...she was too innocent for that, right?

"Adrian, are you really going to listen to her?" Serena asked, her brows knitted with fury.

But Adrian didn't listen to her.

As he opened the text app, a frown crept onto his face. "What the hell is this?"