Chapter 19: Confrontation

“I’m so sorry,” Gwen said to the man. “My son is not feeling well, so I have to go now.”
The guy looked intrigued and surprised, like he didn’t believe that she was a mother.
“It's okay. Maybe a next time, right?” he said with a smile, and Gwen felt terrible. He seemed to be so kind.
“Is Cody okay?” Stephanie asked after they had left the bar and called a cab.
“Yeah, Finn said he took some medicine, but he wants to see me. He probably ate something he shouldn’t have,” Gwen explained, already seeing ahead. Cody couldn’t eat too much sugar, it always gave him stomachache.
Gwen had texted Finn to tell him that she wasn’t home, but was going there immediately. When the cab stopped in front of Stephanie’s house, Finn was already there, waiting with Cody at the door.
“Mommy!” Cody came running towards her as soon as she left the car. Gwen made a huge effort to lift him and take him in her arms, since Cody was getting heavier with time.
“What happened, baby? Did you eat something bad?” she asked, analyzing Cody to see if he looked okay.
“Yeah,” he said, looking down, ashamed. “I asked daddy to buy me ice cream, but I ate too much,” Cody explained.
Gwen caressed his cheek, looking from him to Finn. That’s when she saw how devastated he seemed. But he was also looking at her with curiosity.
“I'm really sorry, Gwen. I didn’t know…” he started to apologize, and Gwen felt sorry for him.
“It's okay, Finn. That happens all the time. Cody can’t eat too much sugar and he knows it, but every time he has a chance, he does it anyway and regrets later, right?” she said, poking Cody’s belly gently.
“I won’t do this again, mommy,” Cody said, sticking his head on Gwen’s neck and hiding his face.
Finn was still looking at both of them with an ambiguous look in his eyes. Even though Gwen had said that this happened frequently, Finn couldn’t stop but panic when he saw his son in pain.
When Cody told him that he wasn’t feeling well, Finn called his family doctor immediately and asked what medicine he could give to the little boy, to which the doctor advised properly.
But Cody still wanted to be with his mother, and Finn could totally understand that. He needed someone he trusted completely so he could feel safe, to comfort him, and there was no one better than his mother.
But at the same time, while he waited for Gwen to arrive, he wondered where the hell she was. She didn’t mention anything about going out.
What if she was seeing someone? Should he investigate that? Or should he ask her? Knowing her like he did, she would probably tell him that it was none of his business.
They were still acting coldly towards each other. Especially Gwen. And Finn was still confused about what happened exactly. Why did Gwen act so weird in front of his mother? As far as he was concerned, they’ve never met before. Not even when he was dating Gwen. And Gwen wasn’t the type of person that was rude with someone without a reason.
He also couldn’t stop but think that Gwen was only there because of his idea to throw a party to introduce Cody. Maybe she thought he was been selfish, but he was only thinking about the future. If someone discovered that he had a son with Gwen, which was certain to happen, the press wouldn’t leave her alone. That was only going to make them more curious about her life, so Finn wanted to end that soon.
“Well, I’m gonna go then. Let me know if you need me for anything,” Finn said goodbye and left, without even waiting for a reply.
He was clearly upset. The situation really made him disappointed in himself. He freaked out the first time the kid got sick in front of him. What if he was never able to be a real father to Cody?
He should be the one providing for both of them, and teaching Cody how to be a true gentleman. Gwen had done an amazing job raising him alone. He was polite, kind, caring, everything someone would want their kid to be. Feeling the frantic beating of his chest, Finn knew that his role was still undefined.
The next day, after leaving Cody at school, Gwen had to go to work. Not that she wanted to, knowing everything she would have to face, but she didn’t really have a choice. She had accepted to work at Finn’s company and now was too late to back down.
She had a fake hope that at least under Finn’s nose, everyone would stay quiet. She could learn how to ignore the stares, but she still hadn’t learned how to be deaf on purpose and, ever since she arrived that morning, it was getting harder to ignore the whispers and laughter every time she passed by someone.
Some time after lunch, Gwen took the elevator and went towards Melanie's desk, since she had to deliver some documents at Finn’s office.
But before she could reach that - because she was too distracted thinking of everything that had happened lately - she bumped into someone by accident. She remembered seeing the man around. Was he from the IT department? She wasn’t sure.
He didn’t seem very friendly though.
“I'm so sorry. I was a bit distracted,” she apologized, squatting down to gather the papers that flew with the crash.
“You should pay more attention to what you do. At least try harder to prove that you’re here because of some talent, and not because of nepotism,” the man continued, spitting those harsh words out of nowhere.
She got up immediately after hearing that, not bothering to gather the rest of the documents.
“Excuse me? What did you just say?” she asked, unsure if she had heard correctly.
“That's right. That’s what everyone is saying about you. At least I have the guts to say it out loud. It’s clear that you’re here only because you’re the mother of Mr. Lane’s son,” the man sneered, looking down upon Gwen.
“You-” Gwen started to feel the anger heat her face, but she wasn’t able to say anything, because suddenly the guy who was insulting her widened his eyes, looking very scared at something behind her.
“Having the guts to say something is not always a good thing,” a sexy, hoarse voice echoed in the hallway. “I already said I wouldn’t tolerate such behavior inside my company, so you can go to the HR and tell them that you just got fired.”