37 Times She Chose Him, The Last Time I Let Him Go Chapter 09

37 Times She Chose Him, The Last Time I Let Him Go Chapter 09

Grant watched the video three times.

Leo asked on screen, “If I call him Dad, will he live with us?”

Natalie smiled and adjusted his polo shirt. “Once everyone thinks we’re a family, he won’t have the heart to walk away.”

When the clip ended, veins stood out on Grant’s hands.

“Who sent this?”

James answered. “Natalie’s ex-husband. He requested modification of visitation and discovered the school’s activity footage.”

Grant called Natalie immediately.

“What does ‘stepfather’ mean on that registration form?”

She was quiet for two seconds. Then the tears started. “I didn’t want the school to look down on a single-parent family.”

“And the video?”

“I was just cheering Leo up. He wanted a dad.”

“So you told him to call me on livestream?”

Natalie’s crying stopped.

When she spoke again, her voice had turned sharp.

“Grant, you’re questioning me now? That’s rich.”

“You came every time I called.”

“I wore the matching shirt when you handed it to me. I let you hold my arm. When the host called us husband and wife, you said nothing.”

Grant’s face went gray. “I was trying to help a single mother.”

“Don’t lie to yourself.”

She laughed, cold and clear. “You love being needed. Naomi runs the household without you—she doesn’t beg, so you think she doesn’t want you. I cry once, Leo calls you Daddy, and suddenly you’re a hero.”

“You used me.”

“And you used me to push her buttons.” Her words came sharp and fast. “Every time Naomi got upset, you threw me in her face. The more she complained, the harder you defended me. You loved having two women fight over you. Now that she’s done, who do you have to blame?”

On the other end, Leo started wailing.

Natalie shouted at him, “Shut up! Your precious Grant doesn’t want you anymore.”

Grant hung up.

He turned to me, his eyes desperate. “I didn’t know she was playing me.”

“But every choice was yours.”

I slid the pen toward him. “She lied. That doesn’t change what you did to Tessa.”

Grant stared at the papers.

James placed another notice on the table. The school had issued a formal decision based on the complete footage: Natalie and Leo were required to complete family education counseling and provide Tessa with a written apology.

Grant’s deletion of the footage and delay in rescue had been documented in a formal incident report.

“Mr. Holloway, if this goes to trial, these will all be submitted.”

Grant’s shoulders drooped.

After a long silence, he picked up the pen.

Halfway through signing his name, a faded piece of paper slid out of the file. The torn drawing. The space where his face used to be was nothing but a blackened hole.

His pen hovered over that missing space. A single drop of ink spread slowly.

The door opened. Tessa’s voice came through.

“Mom, can I come in now?”

Grant looked up, and the pen rolled from his hand.