Betrayed By Husband, Stolen By Brother In Law
Chapter 154: Ask Again

Chapter 154: Ask Again

"So, I have no choice but to ask you again..." Saira leaned forward, "Will you help me escape Sir Collins? In return, I’ll let you see our child. I’ll send you regular updates—photos, videos, whatever you need."

Adam didn’t move right away and instead simply stared at her until finally she looked away, feeling uncertain. His gaze was hard, unreadable. Then, slowly, he said, "I don’t want updates. I want to meet the child. Face to face."

Saira blinked, and something cold flickered behind her eyes. "No."

"No?" he repeated and then gave her a cold smile, "Why would I help you, Saira? I have no attachment to this child. I didn’t ask for him. I didn’t even know he existed. You lied. You hid him. Don’t expect me to suddenly care just because you say so. That picture and child could be fake for all I know."

"They are real! You have to know that, Adam! Isn’t it because you always felt that I was lying that you did not stop looking for him? Just help me escape his hold and I will let you meet him! But you can’t meet him for now, Adam. Not yet."

But Adam shrugged, simply staring at Saira,"I don’t even know if he’s mine. I would want a DNA test, you know."

Saira scoffed and looked away, shaking her head. "I never thought that telling you about our child would get me such a clinical answer and needing to provide proof. But isn’t it obvious? The picture I showed you... he has your eyes. Your ears. Even that stubborn look you always get when you’re angry."

Adam wasn’t moved. "Pictures mean nothing. You said yourself you lied about the miscarriage. You’ve hidden this child from me. I’m not taking your word for it anything else.

Saira set her wine glass down a little too hard, the liquid sloshing over the rim. "I did what I had to do! I lied to protect him."

Adam stood then. Until he had proof that this was not some other plan by Saira, he was not agreeing to anything. "Then prove it. Let me meet him."

"No." Saira said stubbornly.

"Why the hell not?" Adam asked, as stubborn as her.

"Because if I let you near him, Sir Robert will find out. And if he finds out, he’ll take him from me. From us. You have no idea what he’s capable of, Adam. I’m all that child has. I will not lose him."

"Even now, I am coming to you because I need your help. I’m scared. I don’t know who else to trust. If you help me escape, I’ll make sure you always know how he’s doing. But if you don’t—" she swallowed, and looked at him with slightly moist eyes—"then I swear, I’ll kill myself. And you’ll never find out where he is. Never."

Adam froze at that moment, "You’d use your own life—your own child—as a weapon?"

She shrugged helplessly. "I’m already trapped, Adam. I don’t have many cards left to play."

There was a beat of silence, then he growled, "I want to meet him. I don’t care what it takes. And if I help you then I want visitation rights."

Saira shook her head again, "No! Like I said, I have to take your help but the only way you get to meet him is if you marry me."

Adam stared at her like she’d lost her mind. "What?"

"You heard me, Adam. I have had to live my life away from my child for his safetly. I want to return to him but I also want to give him stability. This means that he will have a full time mother and a full time father. Not just his biological father who will visit him over the hoidays and whenever he has time. So, if you want to meet this child, you have to be his legal father too. That’s the only way I’ll let you be in his life."

Adam laughed then, but the sound had no humor as he said," Really? You really think I would marry you?"

Saira shrugged, "I’ve already given you all the options—laid them out plain and simple. One—you can walk out of here right now. Leave me as I am, at Robert Collins’ mercy. Pretend none of this happened. Pretend you never had a child. Just go back to your perfect life and forget I ever existed."

"Two—you help me escape. Just that. No strings. I’ll keep you updated about the child. I’ll send you pictures, tell you how he’s doing, what he likes, how he’s growing. And maybe... just maybe... when he’s older and it’s safe, I’ll let you meet him. Just once."

"And the third option... help me escape, divorce Melanie, and marry me. Live as a family. Just like we used to dream about when we were young."

"We already have one child, Adam. Isn’t that something? You always said you wanted three, remember? Two girls and a boy, or the other way around—you didn’t really care, as long as the house was loud and full of life. We can still have that. We can leave everything behind. For our child, for ourselves... we can start over. Somewhere far away. Somewhere quiet. You can be a manager in some local business, something low-stress. I’ll go back to teaching in a small school, like I always wanted. We’ll live in a house with a garden, maybe even a dog. A simple, loving life without lies or complications."

"All you have to do is, take me away. You just have to say yes Adam..."

"Wow. I don’t know who is more a fool. You, who thinks she can manipulate me with something like this? Or me who you think would fall for this blatant manipulation, Saira. Since you have no proof of a so called child, I think we are done here. Oh... and if this child is mine—and I’m still not convinced—you’ll prove it with a DNA test. And even then, don’t expect me to play house with you."