Billionaires Dollar Series

But I can’t bear to lie to my kid, not when it would just raise her expectations again. So I lift Haven up instead, careful not to jostle her arm. “How about we play in the treehouse instead? You can show me the new game you and Evie invented.”

She nods, mollified, but the lure of play doesn’t entirely soften my own irritation. Who knows if Lyra will even show up tomorrow? And if she doesn’t, what will I tell my girls then?

But when the next day rolls around, a black cab does indeed stop outside of my house around midday. I watch with bated breath from the window in my study.

Is it…?

It is. Lyra gets out, a navy dress wrapped snug around her tall, curvy form. Her light-brown hair falls around a face that is just as immaculately done up as I remember. She hasn’t stopped wearing her beauty as armor, it seems.

Sighing, I shut the door to my office and head down to the living room. Maria looks up when I enter, the girls playing quietly behind her. They never play quietly-another way this impending visit is impacting them.

“She’s here?” Maria asks. There’s a furrow in her brow that doesn’t surprise me at all. She’s heard the girls ask for their mom just as often as I have.

I nod. “All right, girls. Mom is here!”

Evie cheers, racing toward the front door. Haven follows more cautiously, holding her cast close to her chest.

I put a hand on the back of her head. “You okay, kiddo?”

“Yeah.” A pause. “Do you think she’ll like the purple?”

“I think she’ll love it,” I say. “Besides, you love it, which is all that really matters.”

Haven nods once, her small face determined. She shouldn’t have to wonder about her mother, but here we are, and damn if I know how to get them out of it without causing more pain.

Evie pushes the front door open and Lyra comes sweeping into the house on a pair of heels and a wind of righteousness, crouching in the hallway to hug both girls.

“Oh, my darlings,” she says. “I’ve missed you both so much.”

I cross my arms over my chest and try to stop my teeth from grinding one another into dust. I’m not entirely successful.

“Haven, my love, does your arm hurt terribly?”

Haven shakes her head. “It only hurt when I fell, and for a day afterwards.”

“I’m sure you were very brave. Did Dad take you to the hospital?”

“Yes, and Bella.”

“She’s our friend,” Evie announces. “She bakes.”

“Well, that’s nice.”

Evie tugs on her mother’s hand. “Come on, I wanna show you my room!”

“Has anything changed?”

“I have a new bed!”

I follow at a distance, listening to the kids chatter to Lyra about all the changes that have happened since they saw her last. For Evie, Lyra is practically a stranger, one who shows up every now and then but whom she doesn’t really miss. Haven’s the one with the memories, with friends who ask her questions about her parents.

Lyra stays for lunch. Maria serves it without a word of hello to my ex-wife, and Lyra doesn’t say thank you. Is the dislike mutual? Why had I been so blind before?

“I brought you gifts, things I’ve found when I’ve been traveling,” she says, pulling out things from her bag. “This one’s for you, Haven.” She pushes something that looks suspiciously like a makeup palette across the table. “To play around with and experiment.”

Haven inspects it immediately.

“Lyra,” I say quietly, “is that makeup?”

She turns to me, warmth disappearing from her eyes. “Yes, Ethan, it is. It’s just for fun.”

“She’s six.” I look over at Haven, who has turned the palette over to fiddle with the sticker on the back. Good thing she isn’t getting too attached-that thing will go in the trash the second Lyra’s left.

Lyra ignores me, pulling out an electronic tablet for Evie instead. “This one has a ton of games on it, honey.”

Evie shrieks and begins to press at the screen, her sister joining her. My face must have shown the dismay I feel-not only do they already have tablets, but I keep them on very limited screen time. These gifts are extravagant and thoughtless.

Is this what the future will be like? Lyra dancing in to town to give them expensive purses and clothes before dancing right back out of their lives again.

She notices my displeasure, because she brings it up the second we’re out of earshot of the kids.

“Don’t be so prim, Ethan. They’re just kids.”

“They’re not just kids, they’re my kids.” I cross my arms over my chest and look over at the girls. Maria meets my gaze and begins to coax the girls to go outside and play. They disappear a few moments later.

Lyra watches them go. “I miss them when I’m away,” she says softly. “It’s made me think…”

Not this.

“Well, I’m not entirely happy with the custody agreement,” she says.Please check at N/ôvel(D)rama.Org.

“You agreed to it,” I say, gritting my teeth. Our positions had been crystal-clear in the divorce negotiations. Lyra wanted my money. I wanted my kids. She’d even called me the perfect catch-that’s what she’d seen when we first met.

So when her lawyer had written out the number, the amount she wanted in order to surrender her custody claims…

Easiest deal I’d ever signed.

Lyra runs her hand through her hair, flicking it back. It feels disgusting now to think that the calculated move had once enchanted me. “Oh, I remember. But deals can be renegotiated.”

“Not this one.”

Her hand curls around my arm. “So determined, Ethan.”

“You can visit any time, but you don’t, so I can’t possibly fathom what you’d want with custody,” I say. It’s easy to guess what her lifestyle is like now, too. International travel. Parties. A fast life, the one she’d lived when I met her and the one she’d always wanted to escape back into.

“You know, I’m not a fan of your attitude,” she tells me. “You used to be fun. I remember a night in Cabo, many years ago, when-”

“I’m not going down memory lane with you.” I shake off her hand. “Come on. The girls said they wanted to show you their treehouse.”