Page 18 of My Ruthless Alpha

As difficult as it was even to conceive the idea, the following realization sat heavily on my conscience, and while a part of me wanted to be angry that it was withheld from me, I couldn’t be. Not while knowing Faye had dealt with it on her own. All the while, I was ignorant of the fact that she was carrying my child.

She had to handle the pregnancy, the birth, and the first few years of Margo’s life all by herself. She didn’t have me there to help her, provide for her, or offer her my support. I wasn’t there to take half the load.

Instead, I was off living my own life, and I missed it—those early years.

While Faye seemed to brace herself for an explosion from me, I didn’t have one. Instead, I took a small step closer and looked at her with all the sincerity I possessed.

Margo was my child…our child. Faye had been mine once, and even if I ruined things between us beyond repair, I still cared for her. I still wanted to be there for her and make up for everything I fumbled about before.

Knowing I was a father shook up something within me, and that sense of duty and protectiveness seemed to bloom in my chest.

I may have missed that time, but I didn’t want to be absent moving forward. I couldn’t let that happen.

Blinking back at her while I tried to work through my disbelief, I let go of a huffed breath that bordered on a humorless chuckle. “Margo’s my daughter. Our daughter…”

Closing her eyes to keep herself together, Faye nodded.

“When did you find out?” I asked gently, almost afraid speaking too loud might shatter the moment full of revelations.

She swallowed hard, still hardly able to look me in the eyes. “A few weeks after you left. By the time I found out, you were long gone…I didn’t know where to find you.”

Despite knowing that already, it stung again to hear it. But I couldn’t block out the pressing questions seemingly trapped inside my head.

“If you could’ve reached me when you found out…would you have told me?”

Even if it seemed to trouble her to consider it, she nodded. “I would’ve been apprehensive, but yes. I would’ve. It wasn’t something I wanted to keep from you.”

Her words were a relief, at least. Knowing that she didn’t intentionally stop me from finding out about the pregnancy. It had been entirely my fault for leaving and not giving her the chance to find out before I decided to defect. I couldn’t blame her for that.

Nodding, I took in her features and how she gradually allowed herself to look at me. How that fear of hers shifted into disbelief more than anything else.

“You’re…not mad that you didn’t know?”

“I’m sad that I missed out on everything, and I’m angry with myself for making you face all of those firsts on your own, but no…I’m not mad at you,” I answered honestly, only feeling more reaffirmed in my previous stance.

She held my gaze then like she was pleasantly surprised.

With my involvement confirmed and everything making more sense, I knew what had to come next. I knew I couldn’t let Faye follow through with her plans to leave.

“Which is why you can’t go,” I began, sighing as I did everything in my power to calm my racing heart at the thought of both of them slipping away from me all over again. “I’ve already missed so much, and I don’t want to miss out on more of Margo’s life…on what the two of us could’ve had.”

To my surprise, Faye’s eyes softened, and she seemed to grapple with my words.

I could tell she wasn’t expecting me to be so accepting or determined to make sure she stuck around, but it seemed to work in my favor.

“I’m…sorry you had to find out this way,” she murmured, voice barely above a whisper. “I know it must be a lot to process.”

“It has been, but I won’t pretend like I didn’t already have my suspicions.”

With a subtle drop of her shoulders, she nodded. “She looks a lot like you. It’s hard not to notice.”

I smiled faintly at her comment, knowing she was right. The thought made a hint of warmth move through my chest. “It’s true.”

“She doesn’t know, by the way…I still haven’t told her.”

Faye sounded somewhat ashamed, as if she should’ve told Margo by now.

While it could be true, a part of me also understood why she hadn’t. She was still young, and something like that would likely confuse her more than anything. Even so, my being in the picture would complicate them even more if we didn’t approach it properly.

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