Chapter 177
1 leaned back, stunned by her words. “I.. I never knew that.”
“I know, my
dear child” she said gently. “But what’s important is how your father handled it. He realized the pain he caused and worked tirelessly to fix It. He cut off all communication with the other woman and sent her away, permanently.”
“It worked?” I askod, my voice barely above a whisper.
“It did,” Grandma said, her expression softening. “It wasn’t easy. Trust took years to rebuild, but they made it through. And when they did, their bond was stronger than ever.”
Π
I looked down at my hands, my mind swirling with thoughts. “It’s just… they didn’t get to grow old together. It’s a shame they died so young.”
Grandma’s hand came up to brush a stray tear from my cheek. “Yes, it’s a shame. But they loved each other deeply, Raina. And your father proved himself worthy of that love. Alex reminds me of him In that way.”
Her words hit me harder than expected. “You think Alex is le my dad?
Grandma smiled warmly. “I do. He’s trying, Baina. He’s showing you, not just telling you, that he’s a different man. Don’t let fear keep you from sering that.”
I swallowed hard, her words striking in. Could I really let my guard down? Could I trust Alex to be the man he claimed he wanted to be?
Grandma squeezed my hand. “It’s clear to anyone with eyes that he’s all about you and those kids now. That kind of love. It’s rare, Raina. Don’t throw it away because of what might go wrong
I nodded slowly, words failing me. She appeared to understand and gave my hand one last squeeze before standing up.
“Think about it,child,” she said gently. “I’ll leave you to your thoughts.”
I watched her go out of the room, her words still in my mind. The silence was very heavy, the air pushing down on top of me, making me want to make a
choice.
I turned back to my dressing table, staring at my reflection. My cheeks were still flushed, my eyes wide with the weight of everything Grandma had said.
It was time to let Alex in again.
But how?
I sat on the edge of my bed, phone in hand, staring at the screen for what felt like an eternity before finally dialing Alex’s number. My heart leapt into my throat when he picked up after the second ring
“Hey, beautiful,” he greeted, his voice smooth and warm, like boney drizzled over my chaotic thoughts.
“Hi,” I replied softly, a smile tugging at my lips despite myself
“How are you? Have you missed me yet?” he said in a mocking tone, but I could nearly hear the grin
I rolled my eyes–although he wasn’t there to see it. “The lads miss you,” I said in evasion.
He laughed. “And their mon?”
My face flushed, and I stumbled, not quite coming up with anything worthy. “I’m fine. Just keeping busy,” I found the words and the voice softer than norinal
We fell into a rhythm of sinall talk, discussing the kids, Grandma, and what I’d been up to. It felt normal Comforting, even. But then Alex steered the conversation into unfamiliar waters.
“About the hotel room,” he began, his tone shifting slightly. “We still haven’t found anything. It was left exactly the way it was, but there’s nothing there to go on.”
I frowned. “That’s frustrating,” admitted. “It feels like we’re always one step behind”
,” he agreed, though his voice hinted at something more. “But we’ll figure it out. We always do.”
There
was a pause, a weight in the air as if he were gathering his thoughts. Then, his voice softened. “Now that we’ve got that out of the way, can we tal about us?”
Ifcopo, my
by heart hammering in my chest. “Us?” I repeated, stalling for time.
“Yeah,” he said, his tone earnest. “Haina, I need to know. Is there hope for me? Or do I need to step up my game even more? Just tell me what you need.”
My face flushed as a mix of emotions swirled within me. “Alex now isn’t the right time,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady.
Chapter 178
FAITH
He knew, Dominic knew everything concerning my past, the trauma weighing on me like a shadow, the scars I carried beneath the surface. He knew how long it took for me to heal, to claw my way out of that pit called depression. Yet he went ahead and did exactly the same thing to me.
I glanced over at Caleb, who was talking to himself softly while holding the edges of the small foy in his hand. He didn’t have any idea how close we were to walking out that door and leaving his father.
1 swallowed hard, forcing back the lump in my throat. I had convinced myself that Dom was different. Different from every other man I had ever encountered. Even different from Alex. But no, he turned out to be just like them. Worse, he turned out to be exactly like my father.
He had cheated on me, betrayed me, and now his lover was here. In our home. Pregnant.
My fingers closed tighter over the phone as I pressed it closer to my ear. “I need the papers, Matthew,” I said, working to keep my voice level when at tornado was tearing its way through me.
“Mrs. Graham, are you certain? Divorce is
“Yes,” I cut him off, my voice razor–sharp now. “Quite sure. I have to get out. I’ll send the details over, but I need you to begin drawing them up.”
There was a pause
a pause on the other end. “Alright. I’ll get to work on it. Anything else you need, just let me know.”
“Thanks,” I whispered before hanging up
I dropped the phone into my lap and stared blankly at the screen. The weight of my choice settled heavy on top of me, but I didn’t have any other choice.
I thought I could manage this. I thought I might be able to put up with Eliza’s presence, thought I’d be able to handle the humiliation of having her herE. But now I knew I couldn’t. Not in the way she looked at me, as if she already knew she’d won. Nor in the way she paraded her pregnancy like a trophy.
I slowly rose, my legs trembling beneath me. Caleb looked up at me with curious eyes, his toy now forgotten. “It’s just you and me now, little one,” 1 whispered, laying a gentle hand over his hair. “We’ll be olcay. We have to be.”
1 zipped up Caleb’s bag, my hands shaking as 1 fought to keep it together. Caleb was sitting on the floor by my feet, playing with one of his toys, happily ignorant of the chaos that was going on around him. I glanced over at my suitcase and then at his bag, reminding myself that I could do this.
As I reached down to pick up the bags to leave, the door swung open.
“Well, look at this,” Eliza’s voice rang out, dripping with smugness, “Packing up already? Good. It’s about time.”
I turned slowly, my jaw clenched as I met her gaze. She leaned casually against the doorframe, her hand resting on her somewhat invisible bump, that
insufferable smirk on her face.
“Dominic and I are going to need this room,” she said, her voice light and teasing, as if she’d won some sort of prize
I wasn’t going to bite. “Move,” I said flatly, clenching the handle on my suitcase.
But just as I was moving forward, she spoke again, her words cutting through me like a blade.
“Poor Caleb,” she said, her voice laced with faux sympathy. “Not even Dominic’s kid, is he? Probably just some little bastard.”
I froze, my blood boiling. Slowly, I turned to face her, my hand still gripping the suitcase. “What did you just say?”
Eliza’s smirk widened. “You heard me,” she said, her tone taunting. “You’ve been parading him around like he’s Dominic’s son, but we all know the truth, don’t we?
Before I could stop myself, iny hand flew out and brought a resounding slap across her face. The sound echoed in the room, and for a moment, Eliza stood there, stunned, her hand flying to her cheek
“How dare you,” I hissed, my voice shaking with rage. “It’s bad enough you had to drug a man, a married man, just to trap him with a pregnancy. But don’t you drag my son into this. You can be a whore if that’s what you want but not everyone is like you.”
Eliza recovered quickly enough, her smirk returning. “Oh, Faith,” she sneered, “You should’ve heard the way he moaned my name. Even in his drunken state, he knew what he was doing. He knew I was better than you
D
Comments
