The Heart Left Behind (Cole and Yvonne) novel Chapter 305

"You're so protective of him, aren't you?" I said, recalling all the times in the past I had protected Yvonne.

Back then, she never defended me in front of others like this. Our marriage had always seemed like just a task to her. Now, her task was finally over.

I didn't want to dwell on that. My gaze swept past her and landed on Jared.

"What's going on? Do I need to report to you both for taking my own son back?"

Why should I even have to pay a termination fee? Wasn't it only natural that my son should work at my company?

Jared pulled a document from his drawer. "This is the contract we signed. If you refuse to compensate, we can go through legal procedures. And also…"

He paused, then turned toward Yvonne and apologized, "I'm sorry, Yvonne. I did something without your permission. I…"

He deliberately stopped for some suspense, but my patience was running thin.

"Hurry up," I snapped. "Stop dragging it out."

"I adopted Xavier without your consent."

Hearing this, both Yvonne and I widened our eyes.

"What did you say? You adopted Xavier?" she blurted out, seemingly just as surprised as I was.

Jared produced the adoption papers and said, "I had a friend help me with it. You were worried that Cole would take the child away from you, so I took care of the adoption process in advance."

He turned toward me and continued firmly, "Cole, you might be powerful and influential, but you can't disregard the law."

"An adoption contract?" I sneered, taking the document from him.

Jared frowned. Without consulting Yvonne, he immediately replied, "Xavier is worth far more than that. Plus, he's Yvonne's child. You can't just take him away from his mother."

"What's the point of having a mother like her?" I sneered, looking at him with disdain. "I have dozens of cases like yours in my company."

I couldn't be bothered to say more. Turning toward Murphy, I said, "Take the contract out for them."

Nonetheless, I was somewhat impressed that Jared was bold enough to use the law to keep me in check.

"You said that I can't disregard the law, fine," I began. "But you've been exploiting Xavier by making him work and not letting him attend school."

Smiling at Yvonne, I continued, "I must take him back for the sake of his future."

As Murphy brandished a legal notice at them, I said, "You've deprived Xavier of his right to education. Although children in the entertainment industry aren't technically considered child labor, the intense work schedule is unreasonable. I can sue you for that."