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He Put Me Second
Novelix
new
Completed
"On the day Eleanor Whitmore’s will was read, the attorney reached the final page in front of the entire family. “For the postnuptial trust held under Mr. Adrian Whitmore’s name, the first-priority family beneficiaries are…” He paused and looked at me. But the names written on the page were not mine. They were Paige Avery—the woman Adrian had brought back—and her son, Noah Whitmore. Adrian was sitting beside me, filing the boy’s nails. The attorney lowered his voice. “Mr. Whitmore, would you like to confirm this? Mrs. Whitmore is not listed as a primary beneficiary.” Adrian did not look up. “Confirmed.” I looked at him. Only then did he explain, his tone flat. “Paige and Noah have only just returned to the Whitmore family. On paper, they need some security.” “You’ve been with me for years, Willa. You’re not short of anything.” In my previous life, after that list was read aloud, everyone assumed Paige and her son were the people Adrian truly meant to protect. The boy kissed Adrian’s hand and sweetly called him Dad. Before I died, Adrian held my hand and told me that the next time the trust was amended, he would put me back in first place. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the moment before the attorney closed the file. Paige looked deeply apologetic. “Willa, could you sign as Noah’s guardianship witness? He’s still so young. He doesn’t understand any of this.” Adrian looked at me, impatience already showing in his eyes. “Don’t make my grandmother’s will look ugly.” In my previous life, I signed. This time, I pushed the photocopy of our marriage certificate back in front of him. “What’s ugly about it?” “I’ll step aside. That way, you and your son can be legitimate.”"
Chapters (3)
第1章
On the day Eleanor Whitmore’s will was read, the attorney reached the final page in front of the entire family.
“For the postnuptial trust held under Mr. Adrian Whitmore’s name, the first-priority family beneficiaries are…”
He paused and looked at me.
But the names written on the page were not mine.
They were Paige Avery—the woman Adrian had brought back—and her son, Noah Whitmore.
Adrian was sitting beside me, filing the boy’s nails.
The attorney lowered his voice.
“Mr. Whitmore, would you like to confirm this? Mrs. Whitmore is not listed as a primary beneficiary.”
Adrian did not look up.
“Confirmed.”
I looked at him.
Only then did he explain, his tone flat.
“Paige and Noah have only just returned to the Whitmore family. On paper, they need some security.”
“You’ve been with me for years, Willa. You’re not short of anything.”
In my previous life, after that list was read aloud, everyone assumed Paige and her son were the people Adrian truly meant to protect.
The boy kissed Adrian’s hand and sweetly called him Dad.
Before I died, Adrian held my hand and told me that the next time the trust was amended, he would put me back in first place.
When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the moment before the attorney closed the file.
Paige looked deeply apologetic.
“Willa, could you sign as Noah’s guardianship witness? He’s still so young. He doesn’t understand any of this.”
Adrian looked at me, impatience already showing in his eyes.
“Don’t make my grandmother’s will look ugly.”
In my previous life, I signed.
This time, I pushed the photocopy of our marriage certificate back in front of him.
“What’s ugly about it?”
“I’ll step aside. That way, you and your son can be legitimate.”
…
The moment the photocopy stopped beside Adrian’s hand, the conference room went silent.
Noah still had his hand resting in Adrian’s palm.
The edges of his nails had just been filed, leaving a thin white rim.
“Daddy, blow on them.”
Adrian lowered his head and gently blew across the child’s fingers.
The motion was soft.
As if the one afraid of pain was him.
The attorney stood nearby with a pen in his hand, his voice even lower than before.
“Mrs. Whitmore, if you refuse to act as guardianship witness, the trust execution will require an additional verification process.”
This trust was part of a family arrangement Eleanor had overseen before her death. It included marital assets, so a spouse’s acknowledgment could not simply be skipped.
Only then did Adrian look up.
“She’ll sign.”
I looked at him.
“Who said that?”
His brow creased slightly.
“Willa.”
Whenever he said my name like that, it had always felt like a soft blade.
It did not cut deep at first.
But it was enough to press every word I wanted to say back down my throat.
In my previous life, he had called me the same way.
When I signed my name, Paige thanked me with red eyes.
Noah wrapped his arms around Adrian’s neck and said Daddy was the best.
Afterward, every time anyone asked about that trust, Adrian would say:
“Willa was there.”
“She agreed too.”
I flipped to the second page of the document.
The witness line was blank.
On the beneficiary line, Paige Avery and Noah Whitmore were written side by side.
I picked up the pen.
Adrian’s expression eased a little.
The next second, I wrote a sentence in the blank space.
Spouse present. Refuses to sign as guardianship witness.
Adrian’s face cooled at once.
“Willa James!”
I did not look at him. I asked the attorney directly:
“If that note is included, can the process still continue?”
The attorney glanced at Adrian and did not answer immediately.
Adrian reached out and pressed his hand over the paper.
His knuckles turned white, one by one.
“Do you have to do this today?”
I looked at his hand.
“This is my right to informed consent.”
“You never used to fight over things like this.”
“No one used to ask me to sign something like this.”
I pulled the document out from under his hand.
“If I’m not the first beneficiary, I need a record of that.”
Adrian stared at me.
His gaze was very cold.
But Noah suddenly tugged at his sleeve.
“Daddy, will I still get to live in the big house?”
Noah had been back with the Whitmores for less than half a month.
Adrian had said Eleanor had met him once while she was ill, had nodded her approval, and had asked that the child use the Whitmore name for now so he would not have to answer awkward questions in public.
Paige’s face went pale.
“Noah, don’t say that.”
Adrian’s patience was almost instantly pulled away by the child.
He lifted Noah onto his lap.
“You will.”
“Will Daddy be there too?”
“Yes.”
He answered too smoothly.
Without even a second’s pause.
The attorney cleared his throat.
“Since Mrs. Whitmore is requesting that the note be added, we can only seal the file for now.”
Adrian stood.
As he passed me, he reached for the shawl on the back of my chair out of habit.
I shifted aside and pulled it into my own hands.
His hand closed on empty air.
Adrian paused.
“Don’t be stubborn in front of outsiders.”
He lowered his voice.
“We’ll talk at home tonight.”
At the door, Noah called, “Daddy, one of my nails still has a sharp part.”
Adrian withdrew his hand.
“I’m coming.”
He walked away quickly.
The shawl was clenched in my hand, its fabric wrinkled into a tight knot.
In that moment, I finally understood.
Some things he gave me so naturally.
And when he took them back, he never hesitated.
第2章
The next morning, Adrian had someone deliver a black velvet box.
Inside was a pearl necklace.
A card was tucked beneath it.
For what I owe you.
I stared at the word owe for a very long time.
Today was our wedding anniversary.
Six years ago, Eleanor herself had fastened an antique St. Christopher medal around my neck.
She had said:
“Once you step into the Whitmore family, someone should be watching over you.”
Later, when Eleanor became seriously ill, I was afraid the medal would be scratched or damaged, so I put it away in the innermost drawer of our bedroom.
But that morning, Noah ran downstairs wearing it.
The fine chain hung against his small chest, and the silver-edged medal had been polished bright by his fingers.
“Mom, look. Daddy said this will keep me from being sent away.”
Paige’s face changed.
“Noah, don’t say things like that.”
Adrian came out of the study with his phone still in his hand.
I looked at him.
“You went through my drawer?”
He ended the call.
“Noah had a nightmare last night.”
“So?”
“It was the only thing in the house that made sense.”
I walked toward them.
Noah ducked behind Adrian.
Adrian raised a hand and blocked me.
It was a small gesture.
But it landed exactly between me and the child.
“He’ll wear it for a couple of days, then give it back.”
“When you took it, did you see the rest of my things in that drawer?”
He froze briefly.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m asking if you saw them.”
Adrian frowned.
“Willa, it’s just a medal.”
Paige hurriedly reached for the chain.
“Give it back to Willa.”
Noah burst into tears.
“But Daddy said it was mine!”
Adrian’s voice sank.
“Let him wear it for now.”
Paige’s hand stopped in midair.
I said nothing more.
That evening, Adrian booked a restaurant.
When I arrived, there was a cake on the table.
The icing read:
Welcome Home, Noah.
Noah sat beside Adrian, digging into the frosting with a small fork.
When Paige saw me, she immediately stood.
“Willa, I didn’t know today was your anniversary.”
Adrian pulled out a chair for me.
“It wouldn’t matter even if you did.”
I looked up at him.
He pushed the necklace box toward me.
“Anniversaries come every year. Noah officially moving into the Whitmore house happens only once.”
Noah handed the first slice of cake to Adrian.
“Daddy, you eat.”
Adrian accepted it.
The second slice went to Paige.
By the time the third slice was pushed in front of me, frosting was already smeared along the edge of the plate.
Adrian glanced at it.
“Willa doesn’t like sweets.”
“Then what does Willa eat?” Noah asked.
Adrian called over the server.
“Bring her a hot soup.”
He remembered.
My stomach was weak, and rich sweets always made me uncomfortable.
But he also remembered what day it was.
What truly chills a person is never just being forgotten.
After dinner, Adrian walked me to the car.
“I’ll give the medal back in a few days.”
I asked, “So the necklace is compensation too?”
He looked down at me.
“Are you starting again?”
“I only asked a question.”
“A child has just come home, and you wanted me to take something off his neck in front of everyone?”
His tone softened, half coaxing, half holding back anger.
“Willa, I already had dinner with you tonight.”
I looked at him.
“You call that having dinner with me?”
He paused.
“You never used to make things sound so ugly.”
I got into the car.
Before the door closed, he added:
“You’ve always been reasonable. Don’t make this hard for me.”
The door shut.
His words fell through the glass, colder than the night wind.
第3章
On the day of Eleanor’s memorial service, the Whitmore family gathered at the private family chapel.
At six in the morning, the house manager brought me the guest acknowledgment list.
“Mrs. Whitmore, would you still like to review the guest list as usual?”
I had just opened the first page when I saw that the order of the main memorial candles had been changed.
The first name was Adrian Whitmore.
The second was Paige Avery.
The third was Noah Whitmore.
My name had been moved behind the general family acknowledgments.
The house manager lowered his head.
“Mr. Whitmore said Noah is young, and since Mrs. Whitmore met him before she passed, he wanted the boy to light the first candle.”
I closed the list.
“Where is Adrian?”
“In the back garden.”
In the back garden, Adrian was crouching as he straightened Noah’s little black suit.
A white flower was pinned to the boy’s lapel.
Paige stood beside them, holding a candle.
Noah tugged at his collar.
“Daddy, this is tight.”
Adrian loosened it half an inch.
“Bear with it for a little while.”
I walked over.
Paige saw me first, her expression turning uneasy.
“Willa, I told Adrian that Noah and I could stand at the back.”
Adrian stood and looked at me.
“You’ll handle the acknowledgments later.”
I looked back at him.
“Who did you give the first candle to?”
He was silent for a moment.
“Grandmother met Noah. She liked children.”
“She liked children, so he gets to stand ahead of me?”
Adrian’s brows drew tight.
“Willa, today is her memorial.”
“So you do know that?”
I closed the list.
“I almost thought the Whitmore family had changed its name to Avery today.”
Paige’s face went white.
Adrian’s expression darkened.
“Do you have to sound so sharp?”
I looked at him.
“Are your actions not sharp?”
Noah suddenly wrapped his arms around Adrian’s leg.
“Daddy, I’m scared.”
Adrian’s hand landed immediately on the child’s back.
“I’ll be with you.”
“What about Mommy?”
“She’ll be with you too.”
Then the child looked at me.
“Will Willa be with us too?”
The wind was strong at the chapel entrance.
The guest list in my hand flipped open.
Adrian walked over and pressed his palm on the pages.
“You’re the only one who can keep the reception under control.”
I moved his hand away from the list.
“You gave the candle to someone else, and now you want me to stand at the door and protect your reputation?”
He said nothing.
I handed the list to the house manager.
“Don’t ask me to review it today.”
The house manager froze.
Adrian stared at me.
“Willa.”
“Handle it yourself.”
When the memorial began, Noah held the first candle and stood in front of Adrian.
Paige stood on Adrian’s right.
I stood outside the chapel and watched the three of them walk toward Eleanor’s portrait.
Someone whispered:
“She looks more like Mrs. Whitmore, doesn’t she?”
The person beside them quickly hushed them.
“Don’t say that.”
I heard it.
Adrian heard it too.
He turned back and looked at me, warning in his eyes.
As if merely failing to smile on command meant I had caused him more trouble.
After the service, he came over and stopped me.
“I’ll take you to the cemetery alone tonight.”
“No need.”
“How many more days are you going to keep this up?”
I looked up at him.
“Adrian, when you let Paige’s son light the first candle, you should have known I would never hand you the second.”
His face changed instantly.
Behind him, Noah called, “Daddy, my hands are cold.”
Adrian hesitated for only a moment before turning back and wrapping the child’s hands in his.
I did not even slow down.
