Page 72 of Chase

“Were you with Aubrey yesterday?” I get straight to the point.

A few moments silence.

“Layla, it’s complicated..”

“Yes or no, Chase.”

“Yes, but...”

I clear my throat. “She was pregnant.” My voice still comes out croaky.

There was a moments silence before he answers.

“Who was pregnant?” He knows exactly who I’m talking about.

“Aubrey.”

He sighs, sadly. “Yes she was. We lost her, we lost.. Lilly.”

Lilly. It was a beautiful name, for what would have been a beautiful girl.

“I’m so sorry for your loss, Chase. I would have loved to hear it from you, not Aubrey. Why didn’t you want to share that part of you with me?”

“Layla, it’s not that, it’s just..”

“You didn’t tell me that your ‘open relationship’ was one sided, that you cared for her that much to be possessive of her. You also never mentioned you didn’t want any children in the future.” A few tears drip down my face.

“Aubrey visited you? Baby, I can explain everything. I’m going to come home now, okay?” he sound slightly panicked.

“No, tell me now.” I demand my voice still shaky.

“Babe, we never spoke about kids. Losing Lilly was really tough on me, and yes I said that I didn’t want to ever go through the possibility of that again. But...”

“Okay.” I sniffle, cutting him off.

“Okay? Fuck it breaks my heart to hear you cry. I’m leaving now. No running baby.” I can hear shuffling noises.

“I saw you today,” I almost whimper. I know he can hear the hurt in my voice, and the accusation.

“What, Layla?” he demands.

“I saw you fucking kissing her, Chase. I came to your office! I can’t believe I trusted you! How stupid am I?” I yell. “If you wanted her, you should have just told me, Chase, not string me a long like this!”

“Listen to me Layla, fucking listen to me a moment!” He says, his voice panicked.

“I guess I wasn’t the only woman you have slept with without a condom after all,” I say flatly. I don’t even know why I think of that.

I hang up.

Then I pack my suitcase. I stare at the huge pile of money in my drawer, the rent and bills money they never let me pay. Chase kept saying he would take it, but he never did. Screw it. I grab the money and shove it in my purse. As I’m loading up the car, Kade pulls into the driveway. He hops out and runs towards me.

“Where the fuck are you going?” He demands, looking full of concern.

“I’m leaving,” I say closing my car boot.

“What? Why the fuck are you going?”

“Maybe you should ask your brother,” I spit out.

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