Page 71 of The Wife Deception
"You don't know that."
I called her bluff. "You're many things Aire, but you're not a cheater. The only man you've slept with in the last four months is me."
She shifted her weight on her feet. A simple act that was cute when she did it. Even when I hated her, she still had the ability to make my blood rush. "How do you know? Did you have your people follow me?"
"Am I wrong?"
"Still. I don't want to be with you, so there's that. You got your deal anyway. What more do you want from me?"
"Not you. I just want my child. You can't deny a child their father and if you try, I will put my entire weight as a Hawthorne to make sure I get that child. Forget marriage. Forget joint custody. I will get full custody and make sure you never see the child ever again."
Her nostrils flared. Her voice shook as she spoke. "You wouldn't dare."
"Wanna bet."
She stomped her feet. "Fuck!" Her eyes were glistening with tears. "Fuck you, Nolan Hawthorne!" And ran to her bedroom. I followed her there.
"We haven't finished talking!"
She ignored me as she disappeared into the closet. A few moments later, she came back out dragging what looked like an already packed suitcase.
"What's this?"
"I wanted to leave cordially, but since you want to make this difficult, I am doing it now."
"Were you planning on running away with my child?"
She blanched. Guilt written all over her face. "I would have told you I was leaving."
"But not that you are pregnant. You were going to leave with my child and without me knowing." I don't know why I was surprised. Someone like her would do something like that.
Her voice was low when she spoke, her head down. "I didn't think you'd care." Then she raised her head and her voice. "And if you did care, I was afraid you would react like this!"
"You mean like a normal human being?"
"Like a controlling freak!"
I was taken aback. She took the chance and dug in further.
"All you want is control! You don't care about the child! What they are going to be or whothey're going to be. All you want is to be there! Be around them so they don't mess up! And when they do! God knows what you're going to do. Spread the same controlling disease your father gave to you! And you want me to stand for all of that? You don't care about me! The mother of your children! The woman who's going to give birth to your child. You see me as a vessel. A tool to carry the Nolan Hawthorne! I say fuck it! I don't want my child to be part of that. One messed up family is bad enough."
She had cut too close to the bone. Her observation was incredibly astute. I could not deny how true it was and yet, I wanted to push back. She had said something to me that no one has ever said. Revealed a fear I kept hidden for years. That I was just like my father. She had no right to be as astute as she was while being one of the worst people I've ever had sex with. And for that sexual encounter to be fruitful was punishment enough.
"Is that it? Are you done?"
"Yes. Now, can you step aside so I can leave?"
"Not with my child, you're not."
She rolled her eyes as if to say, 'see? point proven.'
If you were to say, leave in the middle of the night, where would you go? You were renting at your previous place; I gathered. Your grandfatheris no longer living in the city, and your cousin is nowhere to be seen.
"I have some money. I'll stay at a hotel."
"The allowance I gave you, you mean. The cards that I can easily freeze with one phone call to the bank."
Her eyes bulged. "You wouldn't dare."
