Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 95816 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 479(@200wpm)___ 383(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95816 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 479(@200wpm)___ 383(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
I narrowed my eyes. “Did she tell you that she was pregnant?”
“No. But she was upset. More so than the usual ex. She said she really cared for you and she had to talk to you. What she had to say was important. I told her it wouldn’t happen. That you never went backward—only ahead. I said she needed to move on with her life. She said something about this being different, but they always did. Everyone thought they were special and what you needed. I asked her if she really wanted to be involved with someone who only cared about themselves and would never be a partner or a friend. She was quiet for a long time, and then she stood and said I was right.”
“And?” I demanded.
Katy frowned. “Nothing. At least, not at that moment. She left, then returned a short time later with a sealed envelope addressed to you. She asked me to give it to you, but then the next day, I walked into the office after dropping something off at payroll and she was back. She was searching my desk, almost frantic, asking about the letter. I had put it in your office, and the door was locked the way you liked when you were out. I opened the door and gave it to her.”
I frowned.
“She was so fidgety and upset. I offered her a beverage and to let her sit. I asked her if I could do anything to help, but she said no.”
“Did you talk about the letter?”
“I asked why she wanted it back. She said she’d been thinking and decided against further communication. That was all.”
“And you never thought to mention this to me?” I asked, irrational anger bleeding into my tone.
She frowned, sounding frustrated. “And what would you have done, Richard? Sought her out to talk to her? Listened to what I had to say even if I had figured it out? You barely tolerated me, and you blew off any opinion I ever expressed. And you never, ever contacted someone you walked away from. They were dead to you before you left them in the room behind you.”
“I suppose I’ll never know. You never gave me the choice,” I snapped.
She stood, disbelief and fury rolling off her. “Don’t you try to pin this on me. You treated her the way you treated everyone else. Every person who came into your life had an expiry date. It started ticking the second you said hello. She was one of a dozen women you left me to comfort once you were done with them. Do you think you can honestly tell me that if she’d informed you she was pregnant, you would have done anything? You cared about nothing and no one—you admit that yourself. Do you think a baby would have made a difference to you?”
“I don’t know!” I raged. “But you persuaded her not to give me a chance! And now I find out I had a daughter and she hates me because of it.” I glared at her. “I’m shocked that even though you regarded me so lowly that you got past that and married me.” I paused. “Oh, wait, it was for money, wasn’t it? Just like everyone else,” I spat.
Katy’s eyes filled with tears, and instantly, I regretted my harsh words. I reached out, but she stepped back.
Her voice shook as she spoke. “I didn’t know, and I didn’t persuade her. I was honest with her—the same way I was honest with every woman you dumped. I felt badly for them, even though they chose to see something in you that wasn’t there. I married you to help Penny. That was my reason. You practically forced me to do so. I put up with your mistreatment of me in order to make sure the person I loved was safe and comfortable.”
“I know. I didn’t mean it, Katy.” I ran a hand through my hair. “I’m upset and anxious.”
“I didn’t know she was pregnant, Richard. She never told me that, and I’d have no reason to think so. I was the one who kept your bathroom stocked with condoms, if you recall. I knew your lifestyle. She left, and I was too busy trying to cope with my own life to dwell on the conversation or your private life. I had to in order to survive you and your attitude. Work and help Penny. I felt badly for Juliet. But I had my own struggles, and she was just one of many you walked away from. If she had told me, I would have said something. I swear it.”
We stared at each other. Another thought hit my head, and I opened my mouth before I could think.
“You know me,” I said angrily. “You know the man I’ve become.” Remembering her question to Ashley the day before, I shook my head. “Or I thought you did. Yet your first question to her was about her age. Do you really think I would cheat on you, Katy? I fucking love you. My vows, my family—you—mean everything to me. I thought you trusted me. I have never given you any reason not to. Not one goddamn reason.”