"Do I have to go!?" Zara whined as she looked at Susie. The Scottish woman glared at her stepdaughter.
"Zara Brooklyn Wolff." The singer cringed as she heard her full name.
"I know that things are not exactly sweet between you and Max right now but for the sake of your child please just go to the party. You don't even have to talk to him, just be there. Please." The older blonde was adamant on Zara and Max building a healthy co-parenting relationship. And that included accompanying her daughter to Max's birthday party.
"Fine! But the second that Emilia falls asleep I'm leaving." She declared.
"That's going to be a bit hard since the party is on a yacht, which has been booked out for the whole day." All she received in response was a groan.
This was the last thing Zara wanted to hear after a long flight. All she wanted was her bed and to relax. But her lawyers had demanded that she haul ass back to Monaco to sign the final custody agreement. And after much argument she had gotten on the plane with her daughter and returned to the tax-free city. Now she had to try survive the week without killing someone. Specifically Max.
𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐨
Max paced in front of his sister as they waited for a specific message. He'd asked his mom and Susie to convince Zara to attend his birthday celebrations.
A loud ping resonated through the room as Victoria scrambled for her phone on the table.
"They did it! So now you need to make sure that you don't mess this up. You need to shave a bit, and please wear something good. You know what, I'll pick out an outfit for you." The Dutchman was still stunned that she'd agreed to the invitation.
"I know, this is my last chance at getting my family back."
He was really scared of messing things up again. He had until the end of his birthday to convince Zara to come back and to not sign those papers which would rip his family apart.
30 𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 2021
The atmosphere on the yacht proved to be less awkward than what the blonde had expected. The Verstappens and their friends had welcomed her back with open arms, and Emilia was very excited to see familiar faces especially her dad, who she had rarely let go of since he'd taken her into his arms earlier.
Sophie found Zara in the kitchen, retrieving a teething toy for her daughter. She took this opportunity to talk to her alone.
"Zara honey can I have a word?" The younger woman froze as she heard the familiar voice. She finally nodded to indicate that she was listening even though she refused to turn around and look at her.
"I know how difficult this whole thing is. I had to do this with two preteens, I can't imagine how it feels with a baby and a hectic career. And I know that this decision is not easy to make, and the others will probably never understand that. But I also know that you are still angry at Max for what he said and did. And you can't let that cloud your judgment. So please just hold off on signing those papers until you are sure that what you are agreeing to will benefit your child more than your vendetta against my son. " Zara was shocked. A part of her was angry that she would ever accuse her of using Emilia to get back at Max but then she realised that everything had been done in such a short period of time, meaning that she barely allowed herself to get over the situation before she began the process.
"I don't know what to do Sophie. On one hand if I go through with this now, I can regret it in a year or two. But if I slow down the process I'd be opening the door to reconciling with Max. And I can't do that."
"Why not?"
"Because I feel like I have fallen out of love with him. During this time I've literally continued living my life as if nothing has changed. I can still sleep, I don't wait for him to call and I've been doing just fine without him." Sophie sighed as she realised that this is deeper than she thought.
"I hear you. But did you ever consider that might be due to the nature of your relationship with him. You're used to him traveling around the world while you stay at home, that's why you can sleep without him. You guys are both always busy, so you rarely get to call or text each other until later on in the day. And in case you haven't noticed, you're doing so well because you have such a good support group and healthy coping mechanisms. And not a lot of people your age can say that they have that. And if you take your time and think it through, then you'll know exactly what you have to do. " With that she took the teething toy and made her way back to the deck, leaving Zara with her thoughts.
Pulling her phone out of her pockets she typed out an email to her lawyer, William. Her finger hovered over the send icon until she finally took a deep breath and pressed it.
Now she had to wait for the mess that would be the aftermath.
𝐳𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
A/N
Short chapter but it's mostly a filler for what's about to happen. I really want to give this book a happy ending but I'm literally going towards an unhappy one, so bare with me as I try to steer it in another direction.
Anyways stay hydrated, eat some watermelon and it's qualy-day BISHES!
Love you all, A 💕💕
P. S Please comment, it helps me know what you guys are thinking and get an idea of how you want the book to go.
