Filed to story: Mia Bowen and Timothy Barrett Novel
After a short while, her phone rang. She checked it to see a name that she would never forget-Timothy.
Throughout their three-year marriage, he’d never called her once. If this were in the past, she’d be elated. But now, she no longer wanted to answer his call.
It didn’t take long for the phone to fall silent, but Mia couldn’t go back to sleep anymore. This was her first time rejecting Timothy, and she felt rather complicated about it.
Soon, she received another call from one of the maids. This time, she answered it. “Hello? What’s wrong?”
“Mrs. Barrett, where is Mr. Barrett’s favorite blue tie?”
Mia didn’t want to answer, but she couldn’t stand the thought of the maid being scolded. So, she said, “It’s at the leftmost side of the second drawer.”
In the next second, Timothy’s icy voice rang out on the other end of the line. “You’d better come back to dig that tie out for me, Mia. I don’t like having other women step into my bedroom!”
Mia sneered at how indifferent and demanding he sounded. “We’re getting a divorce, Mr. Barrett. You can have Maya find it for you!”
“You’re the one who usually handles these things. How is Maya supposed to find it?”
Mia snorted. He simply cared too much about Maya, his first love, to let her wait on someone else. Was that why he wanted her to head back there and wait on the two of them?
She wasn’t interested in going back there and seeing Maya on her bed!
“If you can’t find it, then wear something else!” Mia retorted before hanging up.
Her heart was beating quicker than usual. She never thought she would one day be cutting off Timothy’s call.
Doing it felt pretty good.
…
Once the call had ended, the maid asked Timothy hesitantly, “Would you like a different tie, Mr. Barrett?”
Timothy went over to the walk-in closet. True enough, he found it in the second drawer, even though he had searched through it earlier. It was quite a mystery to him!
Last night, Timothy’s men had tailed the helicopter for a while before losing them. Timothy didn’t know where
Mia had been taken to.
It felt like he was losing control, and that feeling annoyed him.
Once Timothy got dressed, he went to the dining room. He was greeted by a table full of fancy breakfast spread. After taking a bite, he frowned and lowered his cutlery. “This tastes bad!”
Nervous, the butler, Kaleb, explained, “Before leaving, Ms. Lane specifically said to prepare this spread for you,
Mr. Barrett. She said these were some of your favorites.”
Kaleb did have some doubts about Maya’s claims. After all, Timothy had been eating Mia’s cooking for the last three years, and she tended to make simple local food for breakfast.
Also, Kaleb assumed Maya would be moving into the house and becoming the future Mrs. Barrett, but Timothy had someone take her home last night.
Timothy tossed his cutlery aside. “I don’t like this food.”
He glanced at the empty seat beside him. In the past, he was annoyed by the sight of Mia, but now, he couldn’t get used to the lack of her presence.
What on earth was wrong with him?
Mia rubbed her rumbling stomach. She had just freshened up after getting out of bed. When she realized Patricia was still asleep, she crept out of the suite.
Dominic was sleeping in the room next door, and Mia didn’t know if he had woken up. She figured he was still
She found a diner nearby. Feeling pretty good, she took a photo and shared it on Twitter. She also added a caption. “It’s a new day. I’m going to keep walking forward without turning back!”
Soon, Laura liked Mia’s post and called her. “Mia, are you free to come over for dinner tonight? It’s been so long since I last saw you.”
Mia recalled the divorce. Sooner or later, she would’ve to inform Laura about it, so she replied, “Okay,”
After finishing breakfast, Mia went back to the hotel with the takeout she bought.
Just then, a young man walked out of the elevator and spotted Mia. He took a photo of her from behind and sent it off to Timothy at once. “Mr. Barrett, did you and your wife spend the night at the hotel?”
At the moment, Timothy was on the way to work. Due to his empty stomach, he was in a bad mood.
Checking his phone, he saw the message and photo he had received. To his shock, he found that Mia was staying at a hotel.
Was it indeed her new boyfriend who picked her up yesterday? Did he take her straight to a hotel?
Did this mean that Mia had already been seeing another man before the start of the divorce proceedings?
Timothy’s expression soured. He couldn’t bear to think that Mia had sex with another man last night. For some reason, that thought made him seethe with rage.
Something made him check Mia’s Twitter. He spotted the tweet she sent out a few minutes ago. “It’s a new day. I’m going to keep walking forward without turning back!”
Timothy sneered. Mia had indeed gotten herself a new man!
He looked at his assistant, Heath Lange, and said, “Cut off payments to the hospital.”
Startled, Heath asked, “Mr. Barrett, are you cutting off payments for Mrs. Barrett’s uncle’s medical bills to force her to come back?”
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Timothy’s expression was a little stiff as he shot back, “You talk too much as an assistant.”
Heath kept quiet, but he was still puzzled.
He recalled the divorce agreement Timothy had asked him to prepare. It clearly stated that Timothy would continue to handle James’ medical bills.
Why had Timothy suddenly changed his mind?
Men were hard to understand.
“Just do as I say,” Timothy ordered icily.
He thought he must have been too kind toward Mia all along. That was why she had the audacity to cheat on him!
Mia, who had just returned to the hotel, sneezed. She wondered if someone had been cursing her out.
When she went back to the room with breakfast in hand, she found that Dominic was there as well. The table was also laden with an exquisite breakfast spread with all kinds of food imaginable.
Mia glanced between the simple breakfast she had bought and the feast on the table.
Feeling a little embarrassed, she said, “I couldn’t sleep, so I went out and had my breakfast. I bought some for you guys as well since the food in this hotel is quite expensive.”
“This is a complimentary breakfast. I know someone in the hotel.”
Dominic came up with an excuse as an explanation. He’d been so focused on ordering breakfast that he forgot about the identity he’d assumed in front of her and nearly exposed himself.
Mia didn’t get suspicious. After setting down the bagels she bought, she left to tell Patricia breakfast was ready.
Dominic took the bagels and secretly snapped a photo of them. Then, he sent it to the family group chat named “One Big Happy Family”. “Mia bought breakfast for me. What a great day it is.”
Nathan: You’re shameless. How can you get Mia to spend money on you?
Connor: I agree. You’re so shameless… Unless Mia buys me breakfast, too.
Dominic’s wife, Eva Delgado, also sent a message. “There’s still an hour before our flight lands. Your three younger cousins are also on the same flight. Don’t let them snatch Mia away.”
After thinking about it, Dominic shared his thoughts with the others in the group chat. He didn’t want his younger brothers to let the cat out of the bag either. Claude, Jason, and Liam had to be informed as well.
When Mia had gone missing, Claude, Jason, and Liam started distancing themselves from Dominic, Nathan,
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Now that they had found Mia again, Dominic hoped that the six male cousins could mend their relationship with each other.
Soon, Mia led Patricia over to the table.
When Patricia saw the food, her heart ached at the thought of how much money had been spent.
Mia quickly explained, “The food was free. With how expensive the rates are at this hotel, it’s only reasonable that they give a ton of complimentary food.”
Patricia didn’t doubt Mia’s explanation.
Just then, Dominic’s phone rang. The name on the screen was Maya.
Dominic felt a little guilty as he quickly rejected the call.
After losing Mia back then, they spent years searching for her. The final clue had led them to an orphanage, but all they found was a young girl the same age as Mia.
The other children who had been kidnapped had all been claimed by their families. Mia was the only one whose whereabouts were unknown, and there was one other young girl who hadn’t been taken home yet.
For the sake of appeasing their grandmother, who was a little mentally unstable, they had to take the young girl back to the Lane family. She became their younger sister’s replacement so that her presence would comfort their aging grandmother.
Due to that, their relationship with Claude, Jason, and Liam grew distant.
Now that Mia, his biological younger sister, had been found, Dominic felt awkward. He dared not tell Maya as he feared she would get mad at him for this. She was already not that close to him, to begin with!