For the Sake of the Secret Child by Yvonne Lindsay

Author:Yvonne Lindsay [Lindsay, Yvonne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Category, Wed At Any Price
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2010-09-03T23:00:00+00:00

The following Monday Elsa took Jasper to day care but was quite flustered when she returned back on the boat with Don and, unfortunately, a very teary grandson.“What happened?” Mia asked her the minute she heard they were both back home.

“It was awful, Mia. A wretched woman came up to me at the wharf and started to follow us, asking all sorts of questions about you and Mr. del Castillo. I didn’t even give her the time of day and eventually she disappeared but when we reached day care there were a whole swag of them there. Reporters, photographers. Poor Jasper was terrified and I have to say that the other parents and the staff weren’t happy at all.”

Mia’s heart sunk to the soles of her shoes. Were they not even able to go about their everyday lives now? As much as the money from Benedict’s stay was a lifesaver, right now she wished she’d never taken his booking. Her entire world had been turned upside down.

“We’ll just have to keep Jasper home until it dies down.”

“Dies down? What exactly is ‘it,’ Mia? Why this sudden interest in our lives again?” her mother pressed.

Mia looked into her worried eyes and realized it was past time for her to tell her mother the truth about Ben and Jasper. To her credit, her mother took the news pretty well.

“So what now? Does he expect to share custody?” Elsa asked.

“I don’t know, Mom. To be honest, I haven’t even admitted to him that he is Jasper’s dad. I’m terrified of what he’ll do if he knows for certain.”

“He has rights, you know. You can’t hide the truth from him forever.”

“I know,” Mia acknowledged with a weary sigh. “But I’m afraid of just how far he’ll try to take those rights. I can’t fight someone like him in court. He’s from a wealthy family so money is no object if he decided to go for full custody of Jas. You know what will happen. He has enough money for his lawyers to track down every single person I knew before I fell pregnant. If they’re put on a stand in the family court, they won’t exactly paint a picture of the perfect mother, will they? And then there’s our financial position. We’re only just making ends meet, here. I can’t spare the funds for a protracted legal battle—not after all we’ve done to hold on to our home.”

Her mother put one hand on Mia’s shoulder. “Sweetheart, think about what’s important here. There’s no way to keep the truth a secret forever. If this is going to turn into a battle, you have to face it head-on. You can’t hide with your head in the sand. That’s exactly what your father did, and look where that left him—where it left us. This,” she gestured to the buildings and the land beyond, “it’s all just things. If you want to keep your son, you’re going to have to be prepared to fight for him.”

“But Mom, even if we sold another parcel of land, or even the entire complex, we’d have so little to work with.

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