Page 153 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 3
He sighed, like talking to me was the most exhausting thing he ever had to do. “Penny, I know this is going to be hard to hear. But we need to make the proper plans just in case. For the sake of the children. For your sake too.”
“For my sake?” I realized I had raised my voice and that people were starting to stare. I leaned forward and hissed, “Are you fucking kidding me? My sake, James? If you had been thinking about me at all you never would have let any of this happen.”
He stared at me. “I’ve done the best that I could. But my heart hasn’t been the same since our wedding day. You know that. I know we’ve never talked about it, but you knew that. You had to have known that.”
I’m pretty sure my mouth was hanging open. It reminded me of something Isabella had said to me once. That he was only interested in the chase. That once he got my heart, he’d get bored and move on to the next thing. The next rush of adrenaline. The next fix. “You don’t love me anymore.” I didn’t ask it like a question. If what he was saying was true, it was a fact. James’ heart didn’t belong to me anymore. He’d been slipping away ever since our wedding day.
“What? No, that’s not…”
“Just stop. I know, okay? I know. And…I don’t want to know any more. I saw the picture. Her face is already burned in my brain. So whatever specifics you have, keep them to yourself.”
“Who are you talking about? What picture?”
“That tan brunette woman you were with in London. You weren’t with me when I went into labor. I was so scared and you weren’t there. But you more than made it up to me the past few weeks. So I forgive you. Let’s just move past this.” I was grasping at straws. He had made it pretty clear that we were done. But I couldn’t accept that. I just couldn’t. I picked up the menu and stared at it even though I already knew the whole thing by heart. And all I ever ordered was cheese pizza. Boring. No wonder he didn’t love me anymore. I wasn’t exciting or alluring or anything. I was just…me.
“You remembered? When did you remember that?”
“Outside. Right before we came in here. So you don’t have to fill in the details. You cheated on me. But you’re here now. That’s all that matters.” If that was true, why had I started crying? Why did it feel like he was slipping away from me before he even utter the words divorced?
“I wasn’t in London cheating on you.”
A strangled laugh escaped my lips. “There’s no point in lying to me now. Isn’t that what you’ve been trying to get off your chest? You made me pull it from you. And now here we are. What am I supposed to do with that?”What the fuck am I going to do with the rest of my life?I was moments away from bursting into tears or holding a knife to our innocent hostess’ throat if he glanced over my shoulder one more freaking time.
“I’d never cheat on you.”
“I remembered everything, James. Why are you backpedaling now? And I was wrong, I do need to know. What was it exactlythat made you do it? Was it something that I did? I feel like I’ve given you everything I possibly could.” If I wasn’t enough for him…no matter how much I didn’t want him to go…how could I possibly ask him to stay?
“You have.” That was all he said. Like it was enough. It still looked like his mind was far away. Like he didn’t care about this conversation at all, even though it was slowly killing me.
“Then what were you doing in London?” I asked. “Why were the tabloids covered in pictures of the two of you? What could possibly whisk you away from me during the last trimester of my pregnancy? Especially when you claimed to be so worried about my health.” What a joke. Our whole life together was a lie.
He shook his head. But didn’t say anything at all.
“None of this even makes sense. Getting married shouldn’t have changed how you felt about me. You wanted to be married. You proposed to me, not the other way around. If you didn’t want me, why did you propose? Why?”
Nothing. He had nothing to say.
I shook my head. “It’s my fault. I kept postponing our wedding. I wanted to move to New York City first and settle in. I wanted to finish school. I kept delaying it…making you love the chase even more.”
I couldn’t read his expression. Maybe he wasn’t saying anything because he thought I had lost my mind. Or maybe he just cared that little. He had checked out of this conversation five minutesago. He wasn’t even humoring my questions with responses. He was just staring at me.
“And all those times you’ve been possessive and jealous? Was that just a show? I can’t even count how many times you’ve been a jerk to Tyler for no reason at all. And no wonder. Because your idea of a marriage has blurred lines. So of course you assumed he was cheating on Hailey with me. Because that’s what you would do. You son of a bitch.” I grabbed a drink off a waiter’s passing tray and threw the contents into James’ face.
He looked surprised, but still said nothing as the liquid dropped from his stupid perfect eyelashes.
“Tell yourself whatever you have to in order to not turn to a new vice. Because despite what a prick you are, my heart never changed. I’ve always loved you, you stupid fucking ass-hat. Have fun with the brunette.” I stormed out of the restaurant before I burst into tears.
