CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Ward glanced up fromhis device when he heard footsteps. He was reading the business news as he did every morning in his favorite chair unless he was in the Ward Enterprises office.

He knew it wasn't Jacob. He wasn't due for another hour, plus his newly discovered son didn't have access to the Montgomery estate.

So, it would either Bella or one of the boys.

On cue, his eldest son, Knox, walked into the living room.

"Morning."

"Knox. I wasn't expecting you," Ward replied, lowering his tablet to his knee.

"Are you ever?" Knox flopped into the armchair across from him.

Ward smirked. "Only the day you were born."

Knox laughed. "Want to get some lunch? I can round up those other kids of yours."

Ward tipped his head and rubbed his unshaven jaw. "Is this a pity visit?"

He knew his son. Knox might have a tough exterior and a dominant nature like himself, but he also had strong empathy for those he loved.

"No. Fuck. It's just lunch, Dad," he replied, waving out a hand.

Liar.

Ward lifted his brows. "I see you every day at work. You want to hang out with your father on Sunday, too?"

"Maybe I'm lonely." Knox shrugged.

This time Ward barked out a laugh.

"Get out of my house. And tell your brothers I am fine—and your sister. Jacob and I will work this out in our time."

"Fine." Knox climbed to his feet. "By the way, he left Blake's function on Friday when he saw us."

Ward nodded, disappointed to hear that.

"I'm sorry. I thought me not being there would have helped," Ward said. "Give him time. This is a shock for everyone, but more so for Jacob."

Right now, he thought it best not to tell any of them that Jacob was meeting with him today. He had no idea how it would go, and the boy did deserve space and time.

The poor child had never known who his father was. Now he did, and it was someone he could never avoid because of the woman his brother chose to marry.

Though he was going through his own emotions about the whole thing, Ward was a father. Jacob's wellbeing mattered to him. It didn't matter how old his kids were; they were always little boys and girls on the inside, and he saw Jacob just the same.

Even if he had never known him as a child.

That had been taken from both of them because of Samantha. A point he had made very fucking loudly.

They had their history, and he knew why she'd done this. He took responsibility for that, but she still should've told him.

Telling him she'd planned to was not the same thing as doing it. She'd twenty-something years to tell him and Jacob and never had.

"I hate to say it, Samantha, but this feels like karma. Jacob is not going to easily forgive you for this. Nor will I."

"Always trying to hurt me, Ward," she'd retorted.

He'd crossed his arms. "I never hurt you. You hurt yourself. Your jealousy and accusations were not based on any fact, and they forced us apart time after time."

"Yes, and each time we came back together," Samantha had cried. "Until you met her."

Yes, until he'd discovered what real love was with Tina Kennedy, Bella's mom. Not only had Ward met his soulmate that day, but he'd become a stepfather.

That was when he realized he'd been wrong about not ever wanting children.

He fell in love with Bella, who was just a tiny baby, and when Tina announced she was pregnant with their first child months later, Ward had been so fucking happy.

The day Knox was born, he had cried tears of joy.

Samantha's excuse that he had never wanted children, so she kept Jacob's existence to herself, was weak. Yet, as she always had, she did what she wanted.

They couldn't turn back time, and he was too old to spend his life being angry, so he had let out a sigh and stopped arguing with her.

He doubted she would regret her decision. It had taken him years to figure it out, but Samantha was a narcissist—hence her irrational and constant need for his attention. If it wasn't on her, she lost her mind.

Well, he had zero interest in playing games with her. Through Bella, Samantha Dufort would always be in his life, so he wanted to be clear about how this was going to go now.

"Our kids are married, and we have a son. Both are adults. We will keep things civil and ensure this"—he pointed between them—"never interferes with any of their happiness. Do you hear me, Samantha?"

"I really don't think—"

"I never loved you. I will never love you," Ward said firmly. "But I love the children. Try to create any drama and you will regret it."

She had pouted.

"Now, Bella is going to give birth in the very near future. I recommend you sort things out with Jacob and work through whatever it is you think I owed you back then. We dated, we fucked, and then it ended."

The fury pouring from her eyes was palpable.

Too fucking bad.

She might be a Dufort, but he was a Montgomery. His empire and family were just as powerful as hers. He'd learned a lot about narcissism and how you couldn't give them an inch.

She had taken a son from him; he wouldn't let her create havoc in their now expanded family. To finalize his point, he strode across the room that day, kissed her cheek, then left.

He wasn't the young man he was two decades ago, charmed by her beauty. He was a father and soon-to-be grandfather.

His kids were his priority.

Today, Ward planned to give Jacob the reassurance that he had no expectations of him. How could he? The boy had been without a father all his life and now, to demand that he be his son, was unfair.

He could hope that Jacob wanted to know him, but he couldn't demand it.

"Dad," Knox said, turning at the door as he made his way out. "I know this is hard. Well, I don't, but whatever you need."

"Thank you." He dipped his head, giving Knox a warm smile.

Fuck, he was proud of his kids.

He might have built one of the largest luxury fashion brands in the world, but money and fame could disappear in an instant.

Family was forever.