Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 79211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
I look away and swipe at my eyes. “The only time I ever left home was to see her. To bring her money when I could.”
He slumps back into his chair. “Fuck.”
That could mean a lot of different things. I exhale. “Yeah.”
He shakes his head and doesn’t speak for long minutes. “I should’ve asked you and not jumped to conclusions. God, I’m a dick.”
“You said it, not me,” I mutter. “How did you find out? Aria? She hacked into medical records, I bet. Have her check my dates. They’ll all match. Every last one of them.”
I can still see her perfect little swaddled body, lying in my arms while I sat in the hospital bed and wept. My breasts ached, my body was tired from labor, and all I could do was hold her and cry because I had to give her away, and I’ll never forgive my family for that.
I relive every damn moment in vivid detail, and I hate him for it.
“I had her after twelve hours of hard labor,” I say, my voice hoarse. “I got to hold her once before they took her away. I gave her up voluntarily to foster care under a fake name. Then I went back home to my family, who didn’t know, or did an excellent job of pretending like nothing ever happened. But I knew. I followed the family that took her right here to The Cove.”
“And your family hid the assault because if anyone else knew, you weren’t marriageable. Jesus. I fucking hate your family, Harper.”
His voice is softer now, as if he’s almost repenting for what he did. What he accused me of. He stands and reaches for me, but I push him away.
“Yeah. As soon as my brother saw an in with your family, he took it. My family doesn’t have any money. You’ll see soon enough. All you needed was a wife, so I fit that bill.”
He scowls and shakes his head. “I’m sorry.”
I hang my head low. “So am I. I couldn’t tell you right away. What if you didn’t want to marry me because of it? What then?”
I shake my head and wipe my eyes again. “I had to get married, it was my only chance.”
He sits on the edge of the bed. “I want to kick my own ass for accusing you.”
I don’t respond because I still half wish he could, too.
We sit in silence for long minutes until finally he speaks, looking weary and repentant.
“We’re married now. And I told you what my family needed. Do you remember?”
“You need to strengthen your ties and bonds, yes. Wives, children…”
I pause, my voice trembling.
Children.
I don’t know what he’s going to do now. If he takes me away from her —
“No one said biological children, did they?” he says in a soft voice. “You’ve promoted me, Princess.”
I shake my head. “What?”
“You had a baby before Aria did. Look at you, one-upping the pakhan and his wife.”
I don’t smile, though, I can’t. I’m still too wound up, still too shaky.
“Aleks —”
“Tell me about her. I want to know everything.” My heart opens a little. I think I might even forgive him.
I shift on the bed to sit next to him, and take a deep breath. “She’s two years old. She has these little pigtails. She looks a lot like me. A mini-me, really. She loves stories and coloring, dogs and cats, and loves to go outside for walks or to the playground. She’s sweet and sassy and…” My voice catches. “She’s perfect.”
“And your parents don’t know about her.”
I shake my head. “I’ve kept her hidden from them and if they suspected anything, they quickly feigned ignorance because it doesn’t align with their personal narrative about their family.”
His eyebrows rise but he just sits on the bed and shakes his head.
“You know there are ways of finding out the identity of the father,” he finally says, his eyes boring into mine. He knows as well as I do that doing so means delving into a history I don’t want to relive, but it might be the only way.
“Makes sense you’d find a way.”
He nods. “And your family will pay for this, Harper.”
I tilt my head. “For hiding the baby?”
“Jesus, for not supporting you. For not doing everything they could for you. It’s not like you got knocked up by some high school boyfriend in the back of his dad’s car, but even if you did, you didn’t deserve how they treated you.” He hangs his head. “And I’m sorry. I really am.”
I get up and march around the room, my heart pounding a crazy beat in my chest. Outside the window, the moon is rising, beams of moonlight glowing on the grass. A shadow crosses his features, and he pats his lap. “Come here.”
I walk to him, unsure of what he’ll do, but the apology is a good first step.