The Return of the Desired Heir

Chapter 3

Neal looked at Cathy, confused by her sudden outburst.

She was the one who had forced him to leave the Nelson family—wasn't this exactly what she wanted? And he had agreed without hesitation.

What’s more, the price was negligible. Three thousand dollars meant nothing to the Nelson family—just feeding their dogs cost over ten grand a month.

With a shrug, Neal spoke calmly, “Since we’ve reached an agreement, go ahead and prepare the divorce papers. I’ll sign them right now.”

Cathy shot him a cold glance. “Divorce papers, huh? Fine. Just wait.”

With resentment written all over her face, she stormed off to her room.

Neal turned toward the bathroom, ready to dry his hair.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Almost immediately, the door bell sounded two more times. Neal turned to look at the door with a frown. “Who could that be?” He mouthed as he forced himself up from the seat. Before he reached the door, the person at the door jabbed the doorbell multiple times again. 

More importantly, who was so impatient? It has just been a few seconds since the first bell rang! Neal thought, pissed. The chime the doorbell activated was worsening his headache.

Neal opened the door and came face to face with a man. He was good-looking, no doubt and he knew it.

With his chin high up in the air, he tucked his hands in his pockets and stepped into the house, completely ignoring Neal.

The man had on sunglasses and Neal couldn't help but wonder if the man was blind or he simply ignored him?

On stepping inside, the man removed his sunglasses and looked around the house with a keen eye, taking in all that there was in the room. 

Then he pointed at the sofa, “I'd replace that," then at the curtain and carpet and he repeated the same words.

The man felt eyes on him. He turned to see Neal still standing there in a daze as he looked at him. Weren't doormen supposed to scurry off after opening the door, or better, offer to clean his shoe or hang his jacket?

But on a longer look, he could tell that he wasn't just a doorman. Maybe just an instinct.

Yet, he pulled his brows down and ordered him, “Stop daydreaming and make me a cup of coffee." 

Judging by the audacity the man had to step into the house and declare that he'd change things and also ask him to make a cup of coffee, Neal came to a conclusion very fast but he still needed to confirm things. 

"Are you Moise?” He demanded.

The man dusted at the right lapel of his blazer jacket, taking his time to answer Neal's question. "Yes, I am," he finally answered, a complacent smile on his lips.

So, this was him. Neal's eyes took in the man from his head down to his black shiny shoes. This was Cathy's so-called husband. The coward who left his partner when she needed him the most.

With a smug smirk in place, Moise hung his sunglasses in the pocket of his jacket. He tucked his hands in his pocket in that self efficacy way again. Then, he walked up to Neal.

“You're the one, aren't you?” He began, his words laced with contempt. He met Neal's gaze. Neal briefly wondered if the eye contact was supposed to unsettle him. “Cathy's husband, right?” He chuckled. “Divorce Cathy at once,” he said in a voice Neal presumed he thought sounded deadly. "Divorce her because I'm the man Cathy wants.”

Neal met his gaze head on, unmoved. “Why then did you take to your heels when Cathy was in a coma?" Neal simply asked.

Immediately, Moise’s pompous demeanor vanished. His brows pulled down so much that his forehead became heavily creased. Like a child, his anger was all over his face. "Don't say what you don't know!” He sputtered. He opened his mouth to say more when Cathy walked in.

Her gaze had been on the papers in her hands so she hadn't seen the two men facing each other.

When she looked up, Moise had stepped away from Neal. Her gaze immediately riveted to Moise and she seemed to freeze, taking him in as if wanting to make sure that he was really there. Then her eyes lit up, a big smile curling on her lips.

“Moise!”

Moise’ smile widened. 

This Moise man, he irritated Neal. He felt his natural cool get disrupted by his presence and even more by Cathy's smile when she looked at him. But he kept himself in check and just observed.

At first, all that Cathy saw was Moise, tall and even more dashing than she remembered him. She was so happy to see him that she almost didn't know what to do with herself. Should she hug him? 

Suddenly, she felt another presence. Then she realized that Neal was also there with Moise, a few feet from her. Neal was looking at her, in that piercing way he always did, his usual composed sang-froid aura surrounding him; his eyes locked onto hers, piercing, intense, yet his face remained impassive, a foolproof mask of calm control.

She cleared her throat as though to get someone's attention, but she already had the full attention of both men in the room. 

“Here,” Cathy said in the same frosty voice that somewhat still sounded foreign to Neal. "These are the divorce papers. You just have to sign.”

Neal was stunned. He stared at the papers. How did she get the divorce papers prepared so fast? She didn't even go out. Unless… 

She's had them before now.

That hurt Neal even more. Had she been planning to ask him for a divorce all along? She must have seen today as the perfect day to tell him about it.

Cathy mistook Neal's hesitation to take the papers from her and she began to ramble, “I never had any physical relationship with Moise before I signed the papers, so technically I didn’t cheat,” she gestured toward Moise. "And as you can see, I'm just seeing him after a long while.”

“Darling, you don't need to explain all of these,” Moise said as he moved closer to Cathy and rested his palm on the small of her back. "All that matters now is that you've presented the divorce papers to him and he will sign them.” Moise passed Neal a syrupy smile.

Then he straightened his posture and gave Neal a sorry look. “Look, I never meant to break up your marriage with Cathy, but…” he shook his head and shrugged. “Our fates have been woven together right from the beginning of time.”

Neal almost scoffed. The nerve he had to pretend to be remorseful. He was bad at it. Neal instead ignored him, took the papers from Cathy and signed them without an atom of hesitation.