Page 76 of My Forbidden Boss

Worse than that, I hurt David. I watched the shock wash across his face and never leave. At first, he thought Andrea was joking. The more she spoke, the more the light dulled from his eyes. To him, I was a stranger. The next woman to use him for the success he built for himself. Success that should be applauded. Congratulated. Instead, used it against him.

An unforgivable sin that will forever scar my soul.

I should have told him what Max made me do. I should have come clean sooner. Saved us both this agony. The love he offered is never given to people like me. I rose above my station. Breathed the light, fresh air. Tasted what life could be like before it dragged me under again.

Fairy tales might be written about the poor, but I’m no Cinderella. I’ll forever be in the ash and the cinders. There is no fairy god-mother. No prince. But there is ugliness. And it’s all mine.

“Why are you so sad, sweetie?” Mom says.

“Not sad. Just a little tired,” I say.

We can afford coffee and milk for a week or so. I saved the money I earned from Blue Sky, although I should probably pay it back. But if it means Mom will have meat this week, I don’t think I can.

“Tomorrow I’ll go back to Bob’s Burgers and see if I can pick up a few shifts,” I say.

“Why don’t you go back to New York? Find another job,” Mom says.

Her hand clenches the frame of the wheelie walker before she drops it back into her lap.

“New York isn’t for me,” I say.

“But you sounded so happy there,” Mom says.

The crack of her voice on the last word does it for me. I jump up as though the sofa grew teeth and head into our kitchen nook. “How about some dinner?” I’d bought some salad rolls from the town bakery.

I came straight home from Blue Sky. Bypassed the apartment and my second-hand clothes. Wanted to get out of New York as quickly as I could. I realized half way home David had my phone, but who was I going to call? Maddy I could see every day and I didn’t care if I never spoke to my sperm donor again in my life.

I unwrap the rolls and put them on plates. Coffee and rolls. They’re a treat for us, but I’ll have to make sure Mom doesn’t do without. If I can pick up a few extra shifts above my normal hours, I’ll buy her the food she needs.

Mom takes the plate and holds my gaze. “There’s something you’re not telling me.”

She’s always too perceptive. There’s not much I can hide, but on this, she’ll forever be in the dark. I’ll make it as pitch black as I can. “It’s a long train ride from the city and I was run off my feet. I’ll be better tomorrow.”

But I won’t. I’ll be a shriveled husk, all curled up and crinkled on the inside, never to be ironed out again. I bite into my roll before I have to answer Mom, glad the bread is only slightly soggy when there’s a heavy knock at the door.

I glance at Mom. “Did you invite anyone over?”

Our neighbors are in their own little slice of hell in the next apartment a few feet away, but we keep to ourselves. We don’t get visitors. I don’t want them, because Mom is a frail target, easily taken advantage of.

She shakes her head, her face pale. She’s afraid of most of our neighbors, who tuck up nice and safe in their apartments like we do. “Maddy went home hours ago. She doesn’t come back at night.”

I don’t blame her. It’s not safe here at night, and daylight only gives a false sense of security.

“Who is it?” I call out. Urgent knocking is my answer.

I set my plate on the sofa and make sure the chain is hooked into the lock before I stand and force my legs the three steps they take to the door.

“Who’s out there?” I call.

There are more knocks, but they’re softer. It gives me the courage to crack open the door the length of the chain and when I do the world stops turning. Ice douses the heat encasing my skin as I stare up at my harbinger of doom.

David looks down at me, soulful dark eyes gleaming. My heart cries out because they stab through it, bleeding it dry. The stupid organ fights to pump and all it brings is pain so intense I fold my fist across my chest.

“Adeline,” he says. The words sound relieved, but I don’t trust my ears. There will be no relief. There will be no forgiveness. I want a door to another world to open magically so I can bolt through it and never go back. It won’t. The only magic I found was in David’s arms and that will never be again.

“How did you find me?” I blurt. Why did he even bother to search for me?

“Can I come in?” David says.

---