Page 105 of The Marriage Agreement (Agreement)

“Yes?”

“Dele is pregnant,” I say, fighting back the tears of joy I’ve been keeping in since she told me.

“Congratulations, son. Go and deal with Lily and return home to care for Dele.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

“You got this, Luke.”

“Bye, Dad.” I hang up.

I pull up at the police station to find Bruce waiting. We go in to find Daniel already inside with his stern ‘don’t mess with me’ face. It seems he has pulled some strings because Lily is seated with her lawyer and the state attorney. I sit and turn a scowl toward her. She must be in some kind of crazy realm because she’s smiling at me.

“Luke, please, I love you,” is the first thing she says. I furrow my brow at her words; she has no idea how much control I’m holding in, resisting the urge to attack her right now.

“Don’t speak to my client,” Daniel says in a stern, commanding tone. She shrivels. Bruce is standing and leaning by the wall. Daniel pushes papers toward the lawyer. The lawyer flips through them and turns to us.

“You can’t be serious about this. Seven years in prison?”

“That’s generous,” Daniel says.

“Come on, she lost her way, and she has no priors,” she asserts. A sad chuckle escapes me—if only she knew the extent of anger I’m taming.

“So, you say. We have enough to show all the atrocities she’s committed in the past and gotten away with, and I believe the ASA is ready to go to trial, but we don’t want a trial. We don’twant to put Mrs. Blythe through any more trauma of reliving the attack by your client.”

“I didn’t touch her; she stole Luke from me,” Lily blurts out with an eye roll. She must think this act is going to get swept under the rug, but not this time.

“Her busted lips and the bruises on her face says otherwise. She may not have a visible mark on her head after you cowardly hit her from behind, but I’m sure we will find it in the hospital cameras. You should have tried facing her instead of being a coward,” I reply sternly. “We have the recording of you saying you were going to make her disappear. I warned you to stay away from my wife. Be thankful that prison is all you’re getting. Imagine if you had to disappear like you were going to do to my wife. Take the deal and don’t make Dele go through the trauma. If you keep fighting this and make her go through it, once I’m done with you, your father is next for every atrocity of yours that he has covered up.” Daniel puts a firm hold on my hand. I get up in anger and move close to Bruce.

“Give us a minute,” her lawyer says to Daniel. I stand, trying to control my anger. What I want is for her to disappear into a dark abyss.

“My client will take the deal, but she wants to speak with Mr. Blythe alone,” the lawyer says in a shaky tone. Even she knows it’s a risky request.

“No!” I blurt out. “I do not want to speak with you alone.” I take my seat and lean in. “I never want to speak with you again after today. You and I have nothing to discuss.” She starts to cry.

“We had something, Luke.” I scoff at her words. I get back up and head to the door, turning to her.

“We never had anything, and that was always your problem. You kept thinking we had something when all we were wasnothing. My wife is pregnant, and you better pray that what you did doesn’t cause her to lose the pregnancy, because if she does,prison can’t save you from my wrath.” I open the door, and walk out with Bruce by my side. We leave Daniel to deal with the legal aspect. Bruce knows how upset I am. Once we get outside and I inhale some air—

“Congratulations,” he says. I exhale, a load of regret for ever dating Lily.

“Thank you. I just hope what fucking Lily did doesn’t affect her in any way.”

“Dele will recover because your love for each other is so strong,” he states.

“You head home to Dele. I’ll wait for Daniel.”

“Thanks, bro.”

“Can we all meet tomorrow at ‘the corner’?”

“I’ll see how Dele feels. Right now, she’s in this space between okay and reliving the experience of her worst nightmares.” He nods. Martin pulls up, and I head home.

On the drive, I realize we still don’t have the man on the phone or Dr. Beiz. We need these kidnappers teed up. I need to know who that man is, otherwise Dele still isn’t safe, and that worries me.

Chapter 70

LUKE

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