Page 82 of Enemies, Lovers & A Valentine's Baby

I flinch as he mutters those words. He drops heavily into the nearest chair, his head bowed for a moment before he looks up, his eyes darker than I’ve ever seen them.

“How could I be so stupid to fall for this again?” His voice is low, but the accusation comes through loud and clear. It feels like a knife twisting in my heart.

“Cole, I—this isn’t the same thing as what happened with—I didn’t lie to you. I need you to believe me, please,” I beg, the words tumbling out as tears spill freely down my face.

“I thought you were different. I really thought you were different,” his voice cracks, “but you’re just like her,” he snaps, his gaze cutting through me. “Both of you, lying, manipulative—”

“No. Cole, that’s not true. I’m nothing like her,” I whisper, clutching my chest. It feels like my heart is being ripped out.

“How could you do this, Lila? What kind of woman lies about not being able to have kids to trap a man?”

He continues as if I hadn’t spoken, eyes getting a faraway look in them. “No, you’re not like her. You’re worse. So much worse. You didn’t just lie—you planned this. You set me up.”

“That’s not true…” I mutter weakly, wincing as his words continue to slice through me.

“Really?” His voice rises. “Then how is it that you are pregnant, Lila? You told me it wasn’t possible! You looked mein the eye and lied to me! I let my guard down because of you. I allowed myself to trust you. I have never been as vulnerable with any other woman as I was with you. I told you about the worst thing that’s ever happened to me, and you went and recreated it all over again! This time even worse.” He’s panting now, pain and anger coming through in bursts.

“How do I even know this so-called baby is mine?”

Those words crack through the air, hitting me harder than a physical blow.

I knew he was going to be upset, but I couldn’t have imagined this. Not even in my worst nightmares.

How can he accuse me of this? How can he look at me this way, like I’m some kind of monster?

My legs weaken, trembling uncontrollably. My hands grope for the wall behind me, desperate for something solid to hold onto, but it’s no use. I sink to the floor, my strength completely gone.

The dam breaks and the sobs come crashing through, ripping through me with a force I can’t contain. They’re deep and raw, shaking my body as I sit there on the cold floor, utterly broken.

“You should never have come here,” I whisper through the tears, my voice hollow, barely more than a breath. “Please, just leave.”

He stands there a moment longer, completely quiet. I can feel his gaze on me. Accusing.

Without a word he turns around, making his way to the door. He pauses just before he slips through it, placing his hand on the frame. When he looks back at me, those stormy eyes I fell in love with meet mine for one last, fleeting moment.

In that moment, the truth is clear as day.

Nothing will ever be the same again.

Chapter 35

Broken

Lila

Another sob breaks free the moment the door clicks shut behind him. It’s silent, the type that comes when pain tears through you so completely it leaves no energy behind for it.

I wrap my arms around myself, as if doing so could keep my body together in one piece. Keep me from feeling so…broken.

Deep down, a part of me had known that this would happen. I didn’t want to believe it, but I knew. I’d even managed to convince myself that no matter how he reacted, I would be fine with it.

I don’t need him to raise these babies. Contrary to what he thinks, I don’t need his money either. The fact that he even thinks I’m shallow enough to do all of this for money hurts me even more.

I can’t deny that I’d held on to this tiny little bit of hope that he’d gotten to know me, that he’d see I’m not the kind of woman who could ever do something like this to him. I see now that I couldn’t have been more wrong. If he’d seen even a glimpse of who I really am, he never would’ve said those things.

He never would’ve accused me of being worse than the woman who cheated on him and tried to pin another man’s child on him.

I told myself I would be fine doing this alone, but deep down, I hoped I wouldn’t have to. I’d hoped he would be there for me, and we could be a team again.

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