Zac's POV
My phone buzzed on the nightstand, but I ignored it. When I heard Fatima's phone start ringing right after, I knew something was up. No one calls both of us that early unless it's important—or some unnecessary drama.
Fatima groaned, barely cracking her eyes open before glancing at the screen. "What the hell does she want? It's six in the morning." She sighed and put her phone back down, rolling over.
I already had a bad feeling, but I picked up my phone and checked my missed call. Sabrina.
I let out a deep breath, already annoyed. If she was calling both of us, it could only mean one thing—she was up to something.
Sure enough, not even two minutes later, my phone rang again.
Fatima sighed, sitting up. "Just answer it before she blows us up all morning."
I hit answer and put it on speaker. "What do you want, Sabrina?"
She exhaled dramatically. "Wow, no 'good morning?'"
I rolled my eyes. "Sabrina, it's six in the morning. Either say what you need to say, or don't call me until a decent hour."
Fatima smirked beside me but stayed quiet.
Sabrina huffed. "Fine. I wanted to let you know that I've been offered a spot on a reality show, and I want Kolby to be part of it."
I immediately frowned. "Excuse me?"
Fatima scoffed, shaking her head. "You want her to be part of your reality show? You barely see her as it is."
Sabrina sucked her teeth. "Fatima, this doesn't concern you. You're not her mother. If I want her on the show, then that's between Zachary and me."
Fatima let out a dry laugh, sitting up straighter. "Oh, now you want to pull the 'I'm her mother' card? You haven't spent more than three hours with Kolby in the last four months, and now you suddenly want to parade her around on TV like you're Mom of the Year?"
"I don't have to explain myself to you," Sabrina shot back. "I gave birth to her, not you."
Fatima tilted her head, her voice dangerously calm. "You did give birth to her. But guess what? That little girl doesn't even ask for you. She asks for me. She calls me when she wants something. You wanna talk about titles, but being a mother is more than just giving birth—it's showing up, which you don't do."
Sabrina fell silent for a beat, then scoffed. "Zac, you better get your little fiancée before she oversteps."
I clenched my jaw, already fed up with her bullshit. "Sabrina, she's not overstepping—she's speaking facts."
Sabrina sucked her teeth. "So you're just gonna let her talk to me like that?"
I let out a bitter laugh. "Oh, you wanna talk about letting people talk crazy? You just told Fatima she wasn't Kolby's mother, but where the hell have you been? You pick and choose when you want to be involved, but now that cameras are around, you want to pretend like you're the perfect mom?"
Sabrina huffed. "I don't have time for this. I was just letting you know—"
"And now I'm letting you know—Kolby's not doing it," I cut her off. "Not now, not ever. You can go play 'loving mother' on camera for someone else, but you're not about to use my daughter for clout."
Sabrina let out an annoyed sigh. "I should've known y'all would be difficult about this."
Fatima smirked. "No, you should've known you weren't gonna play in our faces this early in the morning. And next time you decide to call with this kind of bullshit, wait until a reasonable hour, Sabrina."
Sabrina mumbled something under her breath before abruptly hanging up.
I sighed, tossing my phone onto the bed. "I knew she was gonna pull some dumb shit."
Fatima shook her head, still annoyed. "The audacity of that woman. She really thought we were gonna let her put Kolby on TV just to make herself look good?"
I leaned back against the headboard, rubbing my temples. "She doesn't care about Kolby—she cares about her image. She saw an opportunity, and she tried to use our daughter to make it work."
Fatima crossed her arms. "Well, she can be delusional by herself. Kolby isn't going anywhere."
I smirked, pulling her into me. "Damn right."
Fatima sighed, shaking her head. "You know what? I need coffee after this bullshit."
I laughed. "Same. But at least we handled it."
She nodded. "Yeah. And she better not call us back with more nonsense, or next time, I'm answering."
Fatima's POV
I knew she wasn't done.
Sabrina always found a way to play victim, and sure enough, not even an hour after Zac and I started our morning, she was already online spinning her sob story.
It wasn't even public knowledge yet that she had signed on to some reality show, but because it's Sabrina we're talking about, she made sure to start stirring the pot before anyone could even question her.
I was sitting on the couch, sipping my coffee, when I heard Zac mutter, "Ain't no way," from across the room.
I glanced up from my phone. "What now?"
He turned his screen toward me, and there it was—an old picture of Kolby, one from over a year ago, with a caption that made my blood pressure spike.
"I miss my baby girl so much. It's heartbreaking to have to fight just to spend time with my own child. But when her father and his 'mistress' want to keep her from me, what can I do? I just pray she knows how much I love her, no matter what they say."
I blinked, inhaling deeply before setting my coffee down. "Oh, she really wants to play today."
Zac let out a bitter laugh, shaking his head. "She got me fucked up. 'Mistress?'"
I rolled my eyes, grabbing my phone to read through the comments. Just like I expected, people were already eating it up.
"That's terrible! Why would they keep her away from her own mom?"
"Sabrina, you're such a strong mother. Keep fighting!"
"Not him choosing his little side piece over the mother of his child."
I scoffed. "Oh, she's good. Real good."
Zac ran a hand over his face. "She doesn't even see Kolby! She ain't asked for her, ain't checked for her, and now suddenly she misses her?"
I shook my head, locking my phone. "She don't miss Kolby. She misses looking like a mother. Big difference."
Zac exhaled sharply, pacing the living room. "You know what pisses me off the most? She knows people don't know the truth, and she's banking on them believing her."
I nodded, leaning back against the couch. "And let's be real—she doesn't even want Kolby full-time. She just wants her long enough to snap a picture and make it look like she's been the one raising her."
Zac clenched his jaw, his nostrils flaring. "I ain't even gonna go back and forth with her. I'm calling my lawyer."
I smirked. "Good. 'Cause if you didn't, I was gonna handle it myself, and you know my version of 'handling it' doesn't involve lawyers."
Zac chuckled despite his frustration, sitting beside me. "I know, baby. That's why I'm handling it before you end up on The Shade Room."
I sighed, shaking my head. "She can post all the fake tears she wants. At the end of the day, the truth is Kolby is right where she belongs—with us. And no Instagram post is gonna change that."
Zac pulled me into him, pressing a kiss to my forehead. "Damn right."
Sabrina could try all she wanted, but the facts remained the same—Kolby was ours, and no reality show storyline was gonna rewrite that.
