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Chapter 13
“Jonas,” I called out to him softly. “Want to go out for dinner?”
He raised his head, his gaze sad. “Daddy, I miss Mommy and Xavier.”
I walked over, sat beside him, and gently placed my arm around his shoulders. “How about this? Tomorrow’s the weekend. We’ll go visit Mommy and Xavier. What do you say?”
Jonas nodded but remained listless. A pang shot through my heart as I looked at him. I knew getting a divorce would hurt the kids greatly, but I didn’t expect it to be this bad.
At that moment, my phone rang. It was a call from Yvonne.
“Hi,” I picked up the phone and answered in a calm voice.
Yvonne sounded somewhat impatient. “Cole, Xavier says he wants to see Jonas. Bring him over right now, will you?”
I frowned. “Right now? We’ve just settled in. Jonas is still adjusting-”
She cut me off, “Cole stop bein
so selfish, alright? You’ve already taken Jonas away. Are you
not even going to let them meet?”
Taking a deep breath, I smothered my anger. “Okay, I’ll bring him over right now.”
I hung up and turned to Jonas while forcing out a smile. “Jonas, how about we go see Mommy and Xavier right now?”
Jonas‘ eyes lit up, and he hurriedly nodded.
Half an hour later, we arrived at Yvonne’s house. As soon as the door opened, Xavier darted out. However, he rushed right past me to hug Jonas.
“Jonas, you’re finally here!” Xavier exclaimed. “Jared brought so many fun toys. Let’s go inside and play!”
Standing at the entrance, I watched the two kids dash inside, feeling a little upset.
Yvonne walked over and shot me a cold look.
“Come in,” she said. “Jonas will have to go back with you later, after all.”
I followed her into the living room to see Jared sitting on the couch. He was beaming as he watched the two kids play. When he looked up and noticed me, his smile dimmed slightly.
“Mr. Joplin.” He stood up and extended his hand. ‘Good to see you.”
I shook his hand calmly without saying anything
Noticing our interaction, Xavier suddenly ran over and grabbed Jared’s hand.
He said cutely, “Jared, you promised to teach me how to play the guitar. Can we start now?”
Jared stroked his head dotingly. “Alright. But we have to get your dad’s permission first.”
Xavier pouted and looked at me with annoyance. Daddy, just leave me alone, alright? You only care about Jonas anyway.”
They were both my children. How could I not care about him?
You can’t
His words pierced my heart. I was about to speak when Yvonne chimed in. “Xavier, you speak to your dad like that.”
She turned to me, yet her tone was not at all amiable. “Cole, just let Xavier learn from Jared. Children should have hobbies. You just make them study all day. What good is that?”
I forced myself to stay calm. “Yvonne, can we talk? Alone?”
Yvonne furrowed her brows but still followed me to the balcony..
Once we stood still, she said, “Make it quick. I have a video conference soon.”
Looking at her cold expression, I suddenly felt exhausted. “Do we have to be this way? Can’t we get along for the children’s sake?”
She scoffed. “Cole, don’t be such a hypocrite. You wanted a divorce, and now, you’re saying this?”
