" No , " I answer her . " They're mine ," " This can go one of two ways , " she says placing a white file on my desk . " You can tell me . I'm not going to be as upset as him , sweetheart . I'm a mother of six . Knight is my oldest . We can set up a system that gives us access to my grandkids and we move forward . Or , " she sighs . " I will take them from you and believe me when I say , I am very good at my job . I've been protecting kids since I was twenty - seven years old . " And I don't want to do that , Phoebe . Not to you and not to them , but if they share my son's blood you are going to need us . You're a very rich and very powerful girl , but you " re new here . Everything you have can be taken away . Until all you have left is us . Because of your profile and Knightly's all of this will get very ugly , very fast , " I wipe my tears away because I knew the moment this tiny brown Latina woman introduced herself as his mother , I was fucked . Brown girls don't fuck around . We've clawed our way out of the oppression and stigma of our race to get to where we are in a place designed for the white man . Her threats aren't empty . That much I know . " This is the last time I am going to ask . Are they my son's children ? " she holds my gaze . She's completely unfazed . This could get ugly . The media will fucking swarm me like killer bees . My babies wouldn't survive that . They're so protected and gentle . I've made sure to give them everything I was denied my entire life . I worked so hard for them and the last thing they need is for my stubbornness to fuck them up more than this entire ordeal already will . " Yes , " I choke out and with that one word , I've betrayed every promise I made when I found out I was pregnant . She lets out a heavy sigh of relief . " Please , don't do this ," I shake my head . " This was my choice and if he were to take that out on me , that's fine . But not them , " She comes around the desk and wipes my face . " He would never hurt you , " she wraps her arms around me . I can't remember the last time someone held me like this and I'm not built for affection . I start crying because I don't believe her . Just because I got rid of my affliction with the music doesn't mean that I didn't see what he was up to . The broken engagement that destroyed his ex's career . The women , the drugs , the scandals . I've always known I made the right choice by keeping this from him . They were safe . We were safe from him . " Then tell him to pretend this never happened ," I pull away from her . She looks up at me wounded . " I don't want him near my kids . They don't need someone like him in their lives , " 1/3 " You don't know anything about my son ," she says tightly . " I don't know what rock you've been living under , Mrs. Blake , but I have a pretty picture of all the shit he's done since I last seen him . I know the family he destroyed when he left Hailey Roden . My kids don't need that . " They don't need a coke - snorting , womanizing , drunk setting an example for their futures . I've worked too fucking hard to give them the life only one percent of our population knows and I will rather die than let him ruin their chances , " " Hailey wasn't the person my son thought she was , " " I don't need an explanation . I don't want one . Whatever she did , what he did in the end was much worse , " " Knightly is- " " Please , " I stop her . I lift the file she placed on my desk and try to hand it back to her . Take this and leave us alone , " " That's not going to happen , " she shakes her head . " We both know that . I will not stop fighting for my family because you read a couple of articles written by people who don t know what the fuck they're talking about . You should know that better than most . He s not the only one with secrets , " " What the fuck is that supposed to mean ? " I scoff . She goes around the desk to take her purse from the couch . " I'm going to give you until the end of the week to come to your senses . I will make a second appointment for Monday morning . You will have these documents filled out and we will address this calmly . Okay ? " she takes a deep breath and looks me over before letting it out . " I really hope you reconsider , Phoebe . Believe me when I say , in a few months . You're going to need him ," With that , she leaves . I fall into my chair and finally break . This is how Cevin finds me . He shuts the door and runs over to me . " Hey , hey . What's going on ? " he asks . " I fucked up ," I try to calm myself but I can't . " I should have taken my chances in Italy , " When I moved back here , I didn't think about him . I firmly believed I was never going to see him again . We were safe and now we're not . What the fuck am I supposed to do now ? How do I fix this , implicating my babies ? When the media gets word about this , everything is going to fall apart . I could lose my job for a scandal like this . " Why was Knightly Blake here ? " he asks softly . " I can't help you unless you tell me what ' s going on , Phoebs , " " Knight is their father , " I whisper . His face softens . " Oh , shit " he whispers back . " Oh , fuck . That guy is the twins ' father . How did that even- " he pauses . " You're human , right ? " 2/3 H " What ? What kind of question is that ? What else would I be ? " " I mean you're not crazy like them , " he clarifies . " That little Mexican woman that came in with him , she's the best lawyer in the music industry . She's vicious as fuck . I love you and respect the fuck out of you for how far you've brought us , but Mama , you don't have the stomach to go up against these people . What did she say to you ? " " She said I either let them in calmly or she's going to kick in the front door " Yeah , that's their style ," he sighs . " She gave me this , " I open the file to find she set up a paternity test along with what looks like a contract . He takes it and starts to read through it . " Okay , it looks like a pretty basic shared custody agreement ," he says . " And he would like to pay you child support for the five years you did this on your own , " " I don't want his money , " I roll my eyes . " You sure ? " " He's not going to buy my kids , " " I don't know , Phoebs . Six million is a lot of fucking money . Three a piece , " " What ? " I tear my eyes off the paternity test appointment for tonight to look at him . " That's how much he's giving them , " he laughs . " I am completely and utterly fucked , aren't I ? " " I mean you guys didn't just make one super cute baby . You made two . Fucked is the whole reason why you're in this mess , " he laughs . My jaw all but hits the desk . " Cev , " I throw my pen at him . He snatches it from thin air and laughs . He's always been like that . Quick reflexes . " I am going to dismiss that because I know how stressful this can be . I had a similar situation with my Al- with my wanted his money . I think you should talk to him properly . Calmly . That last thing your want is to piss off an al- an asshole who is , you know . A rockstar , " former boss . Only fe didn't want the kids . She " This isn't about him or me . It's about the twins . What's best for them . I mean you've seen all the shit he's involved in . What he did to Hailey Roden . How is that acceptable for them ? You've met my kids . They've never known anything truly bad , " I know . But he's here now and from the looks of it , he's not going anywhere . I suggest doing this the easy way , Phoebe . For you and the twins . Think of how hard this is . going to be on them , " [ Subscribe 12 Likes 3/3