Pregnant And Divorced: The Prodigy's Return

Julian Carlisle had a two-year-old illegitimate son.

Kathryn Price stared at the glowing screen of her phone in the freezing, dimly lit mourning hall. It was the height of summer, yet she felt as if she had been plunged into an ice pit.

The video was sent by Chloe Sterling, Julian's "official" public girlfriend and the untouchable white moonlight of his heart.

In the shaky footage, Julian was sitting on a sunlit park bench, holding a little boy. Chloe sat beside them, her coy laughter echoing in the background. They looked exactly like a picture-perfect family, their happiness practically bleeding through the screen.

Julian's face, usually a mask of cold, flawless indifference when he was with Kathryn, was now entirely softened. He was smiling at the boy-a look of pure, unadulterated devotion that Kathryn had never once seen in their three years of marriage.

And the boy... he had the exact same ice-blue eyes and sharp jawline as Julian.

Kathryn's hands trembled violently. Just as she pressed her thumb down to save the video, the screen flashed.

Message Recalled.

Before Kathryn's numb brain could process it, another image popped up. A DNA Paternity Test Report. The bold letters at the bottom screamed at her: The probability of paternity between Julian Carlisle and Leo Sterling is 99.999%.

So, they really were father and son.

Then, another message from Chloe popped up: "Oops, sent to the wrong person. Please don't tell Julian I bothered you, Kathryn!"

A second later-Message Recalled.

Kathryn's lips twitched in a bitter, mocking smile. She didn't understand why Chloe was playing these pathetic psychological games, but the nausea churning in her stomach was real.

She knelt before her mother's portrait, her heart entirely hollowed out.

She and Julian had been married for three years. It was a well-hidden secret. He had only started sharing a bed with her this past month. How utterly laughable that his son with another woman was already running around.

No wonder Julian flatly refused to attend her mother's funeral, citing a "critical business acquisition." So, his "critical business" was playing the doting father in the park. Even after a month of their intense, breathless nights together, she meant absolutely nothing to him.

Fine, Kathryn thought, her heart turning to ash. With Mom gone, this grotesque transaction of a marriage is finally over.

Her legs were completely numb. As she tried to stand, her vision went black, and she stumbled forward.

Before she could hit the cold floor, a strong, muscular arm wrapped tightly around her waist, pulling her flush against a firm chest.

"Careful."

Kathryn lifted her tear-stained eyes and met a gaze she hadn't seen in three years. "Alistair? You're... you're okay?"

Her step-brother, Alistair Montgomery, looked down at her, his dark eyes swirling with complex, heavy emotions. "Did you wish I wasn't?"

His grip on her waist tightened, almost possessively. "Why didn't you wait for me, Katie? I told you when I was eighteen that I was going to marry you."

Kathryn pushed against his chest, stepping back. "I'm already married. And I've never thought of you as anything but a brother."

Alistair's jaw clenched, a flash of anger crossing his handsome face. "Julian Carlisle has never publicly acknowledged you. Why are you hanging yourself on a dead tree?"

Kathryn looked up, mildly shocked. "How did you know I married him?"

Their marriage was strictly under the radar.

"Mom's medical bills over the past three years cost over ten million. You didn't have that kind of money," Alistair said, his voice dropping an octave. "And she was staying in a private hospital funded by Carlisle Investments. Do you really think I couldn't guess?"

Kathryn let out a long, exhausted sigh. "It's true. I sold myself to him for the money."

Hearing her admit it, a twisted glint of satisfaction flashed in Alistair's eyes. "If you want a divorce, I have the best lawyers. Three years ago, you secretly injected three million into my dying company. I've turned it around, Katie. You don't have to suffer under him anymore."

Alistair was the son her mother's second husband had brought into the family. He had protected her fiercely since childhood and confessed his feelings more than once, but to her, he was just family.

Kathryn nodded, her voice eerily calm. "Okay. Have your lawyers draft the papers. If he agrees, we part peacefully. If not, I'll see him in court."

Alistair stayed by her side, acting as her pillar through the rest of the grueling funeral rites.

Just as the burial was concluding, her elderly Grandmother approached, leaning heavily on her cane.

She grabbed Kathryn's cold hand, her eyes pleading. "Katie, you must call your husband. You are a married woman now; it's an absolute disgrace if he doesn't show his face at his mother-in-law's funeral. Call him. Please, even if Nana has to beg you."

Kathryn stood frozen, staring at the phone in her hand.