Page 96 of Grumpy Billionaire Seeking Wife

"That doesn't sound like a good thing, Sabrina."

"I don't know if it's a good or a bad thing, but I do want to say that since I met Sadie, I realize that maybe I was actually better off with him having left. All these years, I pictured him in my life and having a picture-perfect family, and that would've been amazing, but what if he stayed and he became a drunk with my mom and beat her?" She sighs.

"I don't think Sadie's had it easy, and while I haven't had it easy, I haven't had to deal with that shit. You know? I've always had Erika and you and Miles and your family, and even though my mom was devastated and upset, she was still a good mom. We were poor, yeah, but we weren't in the streets. I always had a roof over my head, and no one ever hit me or her."

She takes a deep breath.

"It sucks that he's like that. Are you going to meet her?"

"You mean my stepmom?"

I nod.

"I don't know. Maybe. I guess I have to figure out if I want to speak to my dad first. I asked Sadie not to tell him anything, and she promised she wouldn't. I want to speak to my mom first and see how she feels about the entire thing before I decide anything."

"I understand. Those are a lot of big decisions you have to make. I hope that you can start the road to closure and happiness, though."

"I think I will be able to." She nods. "Thank you."

"You already thanked me. There's nothing else you need to thank me for." I stare at her, my heart aching as I see the sadness in her eyes.

"I just thought that if he stayed, I would've had this picture-perfect life, you know? LikeThe Brady Bunchor something, and that he'd be there for me, and my mom wouldn't struggle, and I wouldn't have all these loans from school, and I would've been able to focus on school alone, not having to work, but I waswrong. My life could've been a lot worse, you know? All these years, I felt sorry for myself. I felt like I missed out. I felt like something was taken away from me, yet maybe it was a blessing in disguise."

She sits on the edge of the bed and runs her fingers through her hair. "I think sometimes in life, it's easy to look at what someone else has and think that their life is so much better, but if we really knew what they were going through, oftentimes we'd see that we didn't have it so bad after all."

I nod slowly. "You're right. I think that myself sometimes."

"You do? But you have everything."

"You see? There you go again," I say, laughing.

"What do you mean?"

"You just said you weren't going to look at someone and assume that they had everything, but..."

"Oh, yeah. I guess I am judging your life based on appearances."

"I mean, yes, I've been blessed. I was born into a family with money, I have great siblings, I am not too shabby looking." I chuckle. "But with that comes expectations that you will always be happy and that nothing can ever go wrong in your life. I have bad days. I have days when I don't feel like I'm good enough, where I'm tired, where I'm angry, but I'm always supposed to be on, you know? I'm always supposed to be cool and fine because I have those things, but that's just not how life works. You know? Don't get me wrong, I have it so much better than so many people, and I love that I'm able to help others. In fact, I feel like maybe I haven't done that enough in my life, and this is a wake-up call to be a blessing to others, not just family members, but it doesn't mean that I don't still want things I can't have," I say, staring at her.

She nods slowly. "I guess I should get going. My mom said she's going to make dinner for me, and well, I don't want to keep her waiting."

"Are you finished packing?" I ask, and I hate that my voice sounds sad. I don't want her to leave. I want to make sure she stays, but I know I can't do that. I can’t be selfish anymore. I need to let her go. I need to let her fly free.

I watch as she packs her last couple of T-shirts. Bruno rushes over to her and nuzzles his nose into her leg. "Don't worry, Bruno, I'll see you soon, and I'll find a place for us. I love you."

"I have something for you,” I say.

She looks up at me in surprise. “You do? What?”

“Something that... Well, I got it for you a while ago, and well, I think I want to give it to you now. Don't think I'm doing it because I want you to feel obligated to me for any reason. I don't. I just want you to have it."

"What is it? If you say your big cock, I'm not going to be laughing."

"No. That's not it. But why wouldn't you laugh?"

"Wes."

"I know. I'm sorry."

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