Page 41 of Plus-Size Pregnant Mate

"And I wanted to do that with you!" she snapped back quickly. "Everything I wanted was with you! I wanted to travel the world with you! I wanted to get married to you! I wanted to fucking have children with you! Everything I wanted, Owen, was with you! God, do you have any idea how much you hurt me? Do you have any idea what dark hole I went into? And how long it took me to get out! And to find out you didn't even cheat!"

I couldn't help but wince. She inhaled through her nose, and her nostrils flared. Her jaw clenched together, and she turned, pacing some more. She shook her head. "I can't believe you! After all these years, you never even cheated."

"Isn't that good?"

"No," she said, turning back again. "You still lied to me. God, Owen, do you realize I've known you for twelve years? We were dating for almost six, and you just threw it away because of my father? Because he said, he was going tomove us.

I frowned. "You act like he wouldn't have….look at where we stand, Ashley.You follow your folks…we are here because of them.”.

She fell silent for a moment.

I licked my lips. "Your father made a threat, and maybe he would have gone through with it back then, but he sold your hand in marriage now, so I don't really think he was lying back then."

She shook her head. "You should have told me."

"Okay, and if I had told you? What would you have done? What would you have preferred I done? I know your folks can’t make you do anything, but you have given them so much, what would have stopped you from saying yes? Your mother was dying, and I know you would have wanted to be there for everything."

“I had you!” she screamed.

“We were dating in secret, Ashley! Your parents were never going to let us be together. They made it their lifelong mission to pull us apart.”

Her face paled, and I watched as tears built in her eyes. "You should have fought for us. I had fought for us every night since night, and I did because of how much I loved you. I did it because you made me feel safe, and I felt like I was wanted.."

"I am fighting. That's all I've ever done."

She shook her head as tears started to break free. "No, you gave up on us. Instead of fighting, you tucked your tail, and you ran."

"I didn't." I took a few steps towards her. "I'm here fighting, Ashley. Please…I made a mistake losing you before, butI'm not losing you again. I'm here. I'm trying to make this work, so please give me a chance."

She pulled away, shaking her head. She started to cry a little harder, going around the couch and hurrying for the door.

I moved to go after her, but the door slammed shut before I even made it around the couch. I stopped, feeling like everything was falling apart.

Chapter 21 - Ashley

As I pushed the glass doors open to step outside, I took a large breath of air in. I felt like I was suffocating and couldn't catch my breath. My mind was swimming with the new information, and I couldn't process it.

He'd faked it? This entire time, I'd thought he'd cheated and was with another woman, and it had all just been a large lie. All these years, I'd questioned what I'd done wrong and how this other woman caught his attention when nothing happened.

I turned, placing my hands on the building and taking long, deep breaths. I closed my eyes, hearing Owen's words over and over in my head.

I didn't actually cheat…I just made it look like I did.

I was so angry—furious that he hid it from me and angry that my father lied to me. When I asked him if he knew anything, he said no. He told me it was for the better and that Owen was garbage.

But he wasn't. Owen had stood by my side through everything, and even now…he still was here.

I wiped my eyes as I realized that as angry as I was and as much as I wanted to hate him, I couldn't. I loved Owen, and he clearly loved me. He was trying to fix a mistake that he had made.

It was a giant mistake, and I wasn't moving on from it anytime soon, but I understood.

I pushed off the wall and turned. As mad as I was, Owen had been thinking about me. He made that decision, wanting me to be happy. It was the wrong choice, but he'd made it because he loved me.

We had a lot of things to figure out, starting with us being able to trust each other again. But if we tried, we could make this work. It was clear he wanted to, and I did as well.

I was about to go inside when I heard a car pulling up. I turned and spotted my father's vehicle pulling up. Anger built up in my stomach, and I wanted to scream.

He was the reason everything fell apart and to lie to me and say he knew nothing about it. I was tired of them constantly putting everything else above my needs.

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