“I’m serious,” she presses. “Getting Sebastian back helped, yeah. But,” she pauses, watching me carefully, “having you back? That changed something. The baby just gave him an excuse to make it happen.”
I shake my head, a small, disbelieving laugh escaping me. “I know he was seeing someone, Sofia. Don’t make it sound like he sat around pining for me. I didn’t hear a thing from him. Not a call, not a message. Nothing.”
Her lips press together. “Harriett was convenient,” she says. “If she meant anything, she’d still be around.”
“Harriett,” I repeat, the name tasting bitter in my mouth. “Of course.” Someone more his type.Someone who fits.
Sofia watches me. “Can I ask you something?” I nod, already wary. “Do you love him?”
For a split second, my chest tightens, my throat burns, and every part of me wants to say yes.
Because I do.
I love him in a way that makes no sense. In a way that hurts. But what kind of idiot falls for a man who can switch like that? Who can tear you apart and walk away like it’s nothing?
I shake my head. “No.”
Sofia doesn’t call me out on it, but she doesn’t believe me either, I can tell by her lingering look. “You keep saying he hatesyou,” she says instead. “But everything you’re telling me sounds like a man who lost control and didn’t know how to deal with it. Everything in his life changed all at once. And you know exactly how that feels . . . right?”
“That’s not fair,” I whisper, staring down at the plate.
Her expression softens slightly. “Stop acting like leaving is the only stable option,” she says. “Because running away doesn’t always fix things.”
“I’m not running away.”
She raises a brow. “Okay,” she says. “Then what are you doing?”
I open my mouth, but nothing comes out.
She leans back again, taking a sip of her drink. “Look,” she says, “I’m not saying you should stay. And I’m definitely not saying you should forgive him overnight.”
“Good,” I mutter.
“But I am saying this—don’t make decisions based on who he was at his worst when you’re standing in front of who he is now.”
She reaches for my hand. “You’re not giving him any room,” she says.
“For what?” I ask.
“To fix it,” she replies.
RAY
“She presses all your buttons,” Vinn smirks, taking a slow sip of his drink.
“Tell me about it,” I mutter, dragging a hand over my face.
“Then why bring her back?” he asks. “If she’s driving you insane.”
I exhale sharply. “She’s having my child. What was I supposed to do?”
“Swap numbers?” he shrugs. “Check in now and then? Then pay a judge for full custody when the baby’s born?”
My jaw tightens. “It crossed my mind,” I admit quietly. “Would’ve been easier.”
“Is she even well enough to look after a kid?” he presses.
I hesitate. “She can’t even fucking cook,” I mutter, more to myself than him. “I don’t know.”