Chapter 18
Nadine was just as baffled as Avery was over Brad’s refusal to sign the divorce papers.
She shook her head as disappointment flickered past her face. “I don’t know, either. I mean, you’d think he’d want to sign those papers immediately after I’ve so generously given up my place for Jean.
“Maybe it’s his pride that kept him from signing those papers. I probably bruised his ego when I suggested that we divorce.
“He might not be so reluctant if he’d been the one to bring up the matter first.”
As Nadine recalled the way Brad had reacted when she told him they should get a divorce, her conjectures about his pride getting in the way made a lot of sense.
She said firmly, “That must be it. A successful man like him would never let me make decisions like that. He’d rather be the one initiating divorce than have it handed to him.
“Looking back, I should have talked to him about it and made him think it was his idea to get a divorce.”
Nadine took her clothes out of the suitcase and began to hang them up in the closet.
Avery walked over to her and helped her with the unpacking, but she did not agree with Nadine’s guess. “I don’t think it’s as simple as his pride getting in his way, babe.
“Think about it: if he’d wanted to divorce you, he could have given you those papers to sign the moment Jean came back into the picture. He wouldn’t have waited and allowed you to embarrass him like that.”
Nadine was even more confused.
The Hamilton family had never experienced anything as scandalous as a divorce. Adam wouldn’t allow it.
When Tristan Hamilton, a member of the Hamiltons‘ branch family, divorced his wife, Adam banished him from the family and refused to let him come home.
Could that be the reason why Brad did not want to divorce Nadine?
“Oh, let’s talk about something else,” Nadine said. “I’ve already signed those papers, so can we just pretend I’ve divorced him and move on from this?
“Also, I’ll talk to Mr. Hamilton Senior about getting full custody of Sean.”
Avery clicked her tongue. “Give it up, babe. Sean is in the Hamiltons‘ family register. Mr. Hamilton Senior sees him as Brad’s son even if he isn’t Brad’s biological child.
“The old man isn’t going to let you take Sean away that easily. Do you really want the truth of Sean’s identity to come out?”
Nadine fell silent at the mention of this. She didn’t make it a habit to let others into her private life, much less Sean’s.
He was the most important part of her life, and she would never do anything that could hurt his best
Chapte
Interests.
If exposing the truth of Sear’s identity was the only way for Adam to agree to her getting a divorce, she would rather things continue as they were.
She could not risk letting Sean get hurt, even if it meant having to put up with Brad giving her the cold shoulder or tolerating his contempt for her.
There were some things she would just have to get over on her own.
After helping Nadine hang up her clothes, Avery laid the sheets over the bed and said, “You and Sean can stay in this room. We can go shopping downstairs if you need anything else.”
It wasn’t Avery’s place to comment on Nadine and Brad’s messy affair. The only thing she could do was give Nadine the emotional support she needed and cheer her up.
Nadine shook her head. “I don’t think we need to go shopping for now. What I do need is a job to sustain Sean and myself.”
She had not v
worked at all since marrying Brad and assuming the role of a full–time housewife and mother. Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.
If she was going to make ends meet for herself and Sean after the divorce, she would need a job.
Avery ignored the part where Nadine said she didn’t need to go shopping for anything.
She grabbed her keys and put on her shoes, linking arms with Nadine as she said, “As important as job- hunting is, buying essentials is an even more pressing matter.
“Let’s go shopping for those before we find you a job. Besides, it’s not like you can find work as soon as you start searching. You need time for that.”
Without waiting for Nadines’s response, Avery half–dragged her to the supermarket.
Nadine was in her second year of university when she found out she was pregnant with Sean.
She had only just turned 20 then, and because she became a full–time housewife after graduation, she had no real professional experience to speak of.
When Nadine saw the crowded supermarket, she felt like she was stepping into a different world.
She had been away from society for far too long.
For the last five years, her life had been centered on pleasing Brad and his family and training herself in hopes of winning their approval.
She had never seen or experienced the world in its fullness.