Page 50 of A Baby Surprise For My Billionaire Boss

“It would destroy his relationship with his father.”

“It was the kindest thing you could do for him to leave that house when you did, even though it might be hard on him in the short term.”

“You’re right,” Maddie agreed. “It’s just that I care about him. It’s tough to leave him behind. All of this is very hard.”

“You’re making all the right choices,” Tess reassured her. “I know it’s hard to have faith in that, but you are. And I’ll be beside you the whole way. You’re not going to be alone.”

“Thank you, Tess,” Maddie said. “You’re a true friend.”

“Make yourself at home,” Tess told her. “I want you to stay here until you have a plan that makes you happy for the future. And until that day comes, I’ll be right with you every step of the way.”

Maddie nodded gratefully. She knew she was lucky to have people supporting her. Some expectant mothers didn’t even have that.

But she knew that she would never stop wishing Eli had been the one to stand up and do the right thing for her and for her baby.

Her child would never have a father. She would be the best mother she knew how to be, of course, and she had faith that she would do well, but even so…

She thought of the relationship she’d shared with her own father when he was alive — of all he had meant to her.

It broke her heart that her baby wasn’t going to have that.

But Eli Sinclair simply wasn’t that kind of man. He never had been, and she should never have expected him to be.

CHAPTER 19

ELI

Work had always had the ability to occupy Eli’s thoughts and to help him calm himself. But ever since Maddie’s revelation and subsequent departure, it hadn’t had the same effect on him.

He still couldn’t believe that she was gone. It seemed beyond belief that she had left so quickly — didn’t she care about Charlie? Hadn’t she thought about the situation this would put them in? She should have stayed, he thought irritably. She should have hung around until he had hired someone else. That would have been the very least she could do.

“When are we getting a new nanny?” Charlie asked.

He sounded exhausted and frustrated, which was just how Eli felt. Eli had been working from home since Maddie’s departure, and Charlie had been forced to spend his days in the house, largely in front of the television. It was for his own safety, of course, but Eli also knew his son longed to go swimming or skateboard shopping, and there was a part of him that wanted to indulge those things.

The problem was that every time he stepped away from work, he was overwhelmed by thoughts of Maddie. And every time he thought of her, he was forced to acknowledge to himself that he had treated her terribly.

He couldn’t think about it without feeling overwhelmed by shame. Maddie was pregnant — she was having his child. She had come to him to tell him about it, and he had handled it in what had to be the worst way imaginable. No wonder she had left! How could he have done that?

And yet… could he have done anything else? Eli knew that he was not a good father. He hated the knowledge, but it had been Maddie herself who’d made that clear to him. He wasn’t what his own son needed. If Fiona had still been alive, he might have been tempted to withdraw a bit from Charlie’s life — as much as it would have broken his heart to do it — because he knew his inability to be a good father was making his son’s life worse.

This baby — and Maddie — had a chance for a life that wasn’t tarnished by his presence, and they deserved that. He wasn’t going to get in the way.

Maddie had no doubt been hoping for more from him. But what Maddie wanted was to see him transform into someone new. He’d heard what she had said the day they had fought about how much time he spent at work. She believed that his priorities were out of order. She wanted to see him choose family over work. She didn’t understand how bound up together those two things were, how the only reason he worked as hard as he did was to ensure that his son would have a good life. She didn’t know what it was to be hungry and not to know where your next meal was coming from.

At the end of the day, the most important thing he could provide foranychild was financial security, and he was giving that to Charlie and to this new baby. Nothing else could possibly matter as much as that. In time, Maddie would come to see that, and she would be grateful to have it without having to attach herself to him personally.

Maybe she would marry someone else, and the kid would have a good father — a father who could actually be involved.

Eli was surprised by how much that idea pained him.

“Dad?” Charlie said.

“Hmm?”

“I asked when we’re getting a new nanny.”

“I don’t know, Charlie. As soon as we can, I guess.”

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