Page 49 of The Fake Affair

“You are different.”

“Yeah?” I set the letter and key on his desk, right where he’ll see them. “I’m the one who got pregnant. I’m the one he left here. Alone.”

“Please.” Tears stream down Audrey’s face. “Just wait. Let him explain?—”

“Explain what?” My voice cracks. “How this was all pretend until it wasn’t? How he never meant for it to go this far?” I grip my suitcase handle until my knuckles turn white. “I know the script, Audrey. Hell, I gave you some of the ideas.”

“He loves you.”

I laugh, the sound bordering on hysterical. “No. I was just a means to an end. The perfect assistant who could play the devoted girlfriend and bring in investors.”

“Bella...” She reaches for my hand. “There’s something else. I’m pregnant too, just a little further along than you, but… you’re not alone. We’re in this together.”

The suitcase slips from my grip, hitting the floor with a thud. For a moment, all my pain vanishes. “What? Oh my God, Audrey!”

I throw my arms around her, both of us crying now. “Louis must be over the moon.”

“He is.” She holds me tight. “Our babies could be like siblings, born within months of each other, growing up together?—”

“No.” I pull back sharply, reality crashing back. “Not this baby.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t...” My voice breaks. “I can’t bring a child into a world where their father runs at the first sign of commitment. I won’t let them grow up feeling unwanted.”

“Bella, you can’t mean?—”

“I have other options to consider.” The words taste bitter. “Better than being another one of Logan Fraser’s mistakes.”

“You’re not a mistake!” Her voice cracks. “Logan’s fighting demons you don’t know about. Things only he can tell you.”

“Then he should have told me!” The scream rips from my throat, startling us both. “Instead of leaving me here for three days, wondering if I imagined everything. Abandoning me and wondering if it was real.”

“It was real.”

I grab my suitcase, hands shaking. “Then why am I the one standing here alone?”

“At least tell me where?—”

“You know where.” Cedar Grove. Where everything is simpler. Mom was always right.

The elevator doors open. I step inside, finally letting the sobs take over. Through my tears, I see Audrey reaching for me, but it’s too late.

I delete all of Logan’s messages. Then, his number.

Outside, New York rises around me. Three months ago, I stood in this same spot, plotting revenge on Logan Fraser for dismissing me after one night.

Now, I’m leaving with more than just wounded pride. Now I’m leaving with his child.

My Uber arrives. The driver helps with my suitcase and asks about my destination.

“Penn Station,” I tell him.

I don’t look back at the penthouse as we pull away.

In some battles, it turns out, you have to choose not to fight.

FOURTEEN

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