Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 91595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
He looks away like the coward he is. He takes a deep breath. “Don’t do this.”
I can’t help it; I laugh. He can’t even apologize.
He isn’t sorry.
You’re doing the right thing.
“You have some balls, Stratford.”
His eyes snap to mine. “I’ll lose my trust.”
I knew it. I fucking knew it. “I don’t care,” I say, pressing the papers into his chest. “Sign them.”
“Please, we only have a year left. I’ll give you half.”
I’m already shaking my head before he even finishes his sentence. “I don’t want anything from you. I’d rather our boys have the trust than you.”
His eyes fall shut as he pinches the bridge of his nose. He’s overflowing with distress, and I almost feel bad for him, but then I remember he has a whole other family outside of the one we built.
Fucker.
“Does she know about me?” I ask, even though I told myself not to. He only looks at me, sinking his teeth into his bottom lip, and while before, that used to turn me on, it does nothing but disgust me now. “She does.”
He nods. “She’s always known.”
I feel bile rising in my throat. “And she’s fine with a part-time father?”
He looks away, his throat working as he admits, “She knows about the trust, and I planned on asking for a divorce once the funds were released.”
I shake my head. I knew it. “Well, I set fire to that plan, huh?”
His eyes snap to mine. “Why are you doing this?”
I gawk at him, blinking. “You cheated on me. For years. You have a full-ass other family, Stratford.”
He shakes his head. “I knew he would tell you.”
I bring in my brows. “What?”
“Flint. He told you, right?”
My eyes widen, and all I feel is uncontrollable anger. “You told our son?”
Stratford takes a step back, his eyes full of confusion. “No. He walked in when I was on the phone with Summer and heard her call me Daddy.” My stomach plummets. Now I know they found out from him. “He asked me what was going on, and I told him the truth. I asked him not to tell you, but I see that didn’t work out.”
I just stare at him. “You fucking bastard!”
“It isn’t my fault—”
“This is all your fault,” I sneer, my face turning red with anger. “I’ve known for six years.”
He is speechless for a moment. “What?”
I laugh. “Yeah, Missy saw you out with your family at Disneyland when she and Skyye were there. She FaceTimed me, wanting to confront you, but I said no. That I would handle it.” I shake my head, wishing I could unsee him holding the blond woman from behind, rubbing her belly with his big hands as their two boys bounced beside them, waiting to meet Mickey. Missy wanted to murder him right there, but I talked her out of it. If my niece Skyye hadn’t been there, I don’t think my sister would have listened.
“So, I waited, and I’m glad I did because you were obviously using me.”
He shakes his head. “You’ll ruin me, Kenni, please. Just one more year. We don’t even have to live together. I’ll give you half—that’s way more than you were originally supposed to get.”
I let out a hollow laugh, my voice low and full of warning. “I owe you nothing. You broke my heart. For what? Sex?”
I notice his hands fist tightly as his nostrils flare. “No, it wasn’t the sex. It was the fact that she cares about me.”
I blink. “Stratford, I loved you.”
“No, you loved our boys.”
“Yes, I loved them too, but you were my heart.”
“I wasn’t,” he says, shaking his head. “You always chose the boys over me. It was when we were supposed to go to California for that retreat that I met Jackie. You were supposed to go with me, but the boys wanted you to go to that showcase. You chose them.”
“They were nine! They asked you to stay too, but you said the retreat was more important.”
He shakes his head. “No, they only wanted you. Everyone loves you more than me, and I was tired of it.” I stare at him in disbelief, but he’s not done. “I am so much more successful. I am smart and a lot of fun. You are nothing, yet everyone wants to be around you. Not only the boys, but my coworkers, my parents. You steal all the air out of the fucking room, and I was tired of suffocating.”
I feel like he’s knocking the air out of my lungs. This man is a fucking piece of work. “Nine years, you’ve been cheating on me,” I say, needing the truth. “And you want me to give you one more?”
“I felt trapped,” he admits, his eyes pleading with mine, and I’m utterly disgusted.
“So, cheating and starting a new family would make everyone love you?”