Page 153 of I Replaced His Husband
He snorted angrily. "There was no other way to be sure, and the test confirmed it beyond doubt, so there was no escape from it anyway. My TM and I discussed what to do. He was married, with four kids, and was ten years older than me. When we met, his kids were very young, the youngest just one year old. They loved their father to death. It was hard as hell. Still, he decided to tell his husband, and now he has shared custody. But I was in a different situation, Kay wouldn’t take it well. We had to come up with a plan." Maurice paused.
"Stupid plan! Lies. Deceptions. Fraud."
Maurice let out a huff. "Think of what Kay would feel seeing me leave for another man with young children, becoming a father to a new family, for kids of another man, but leaving him behind, pregnant with my own child! I know Kay! It would break him much more deeply and longer than my death. No matter how awful—death cuts it all off, just like Kay said. There's no anger at the one who leaves, no sense of betrayal. And you can start a new life with a clean slate, without a treacherous ex hovering around. And look, was I wrong?" he asked with a strange bitterness.
But I stayed silent.
"Was I wrong?" he repeated. "Kay started a new life, found you. And look, he got even better. You're his True Mate, an upgrade! Isn't that a wonderful twist of Fate?"
I closed my eyes tightly, feeling the chaos and confusion grow within me. Something was off, something wasn't right.
"You don't understand! You don't understand the impossible situation you've put me in now. Lies. I'll have to gettangled up in the same web of lies you spun for him. I won't be able to be completely honest with him. You're condemning me to a life of secrets."
"You're being overdramatic. Look at it practically. Kay is happier now. That chapter of his life is closed. He doesn't feel like I hurt him or abandoned him, he feels like Fate hurt him, but Fate also gave him something new, even more beautiful. Sometimes lies are better than the bitter truth."
A quiet growl escaped my throat. "I see you've thought this through, huh? But what about honesty? Kay isn't a child, Maurice! Hecanunderstand the situation. Remember, you talked to him about this years ago inhigh school. Time changes people, he might see things differently now."
"Bullshit. Didn't you feel hurt when your husband left?"
"I did, but—" I fell silent. Well, yes, even in a less serious relationship, I suffered. But would I prefer not knowing at all?
Maurice stayed quiet for a while before saying, "Sorry, but I think I know Kay better than you do."
"Maybe. But Kay simply doesn't deservelies. He deserves the truth, no matter how painful. He's smart. You don't give him enough credit. And he has me now. You've known him since he was fifteen, and maybe you still see your relationship as puppy love? But Kay has grown up too, you just didn't give him the space to mature, sheltered him, built this artificial safe bubble around…"
Maurice looked out toward the ocean and took a deep breath. For a moment, I deliberated what to propose to him.
"I'll grant you some more time. Kay just gave birth a month ago; he deserves peace of mind and the chance to enjoy parenthood. But I can't promise I'll keep your secret forever," I murmured.
He nodded slowly, biting his lip. "How much time exactly are you giving me?"
My eyes rolled on their own, observing his nervous fidgeting and swaying from one leg to another. It was pathetic.
"We'll see. There's also the matter of your parents. You hurt them as much as you hurt Kay. Maybe even more. You don't care? You're an only child… Kay has me, but what about them?"
Maurice's eyes became glossy, and his lips trembled slightly.
"But I did it for Kay too. I had to disappear so he could start a new life. He wanted that! Their suffering is on my conscience. As much as I love them, Kay meant even more to me. Maybe I'm a bastard, but I couldn't hurt him. My mission was always to protect Kay."
As an alpha, I understood him. But we were humans first. Maurice was still a scumbag, willing to ruin other people's lives for a decision he thought was right! For this… obsessive, protective mission. An alpha with a protection kink, basically.
"What's important to me is that Kay will eventually know the truth. Whatever decision you make about your parents and Ray is a different matter. You'll have to discuss that with Kay. You treated them cruelly, but I won't get involved in that. However, I can't agree to keep this lie from the person I love most in the world."
Maurice exhaled, his voice trembling slightly. "So you love him." There was a strange relief in his voice, mixed with resentment.
"Yes, I love him."
Maurice nodded, a bittersweet expression on his face. "That's good. It's proof to me that I made the right decision. And even this whole conversation shows me something about you, it shows me that Kay ended up better off… than with me."
We locked eyes.
"One more thing," I had to say this, not to torment him, but to make him more aware of the bigger picture, as I knew he still cared for Kay.
"Kay is beautifully nesting."
A silence fell, and Maurice's eyes widened; he swallowed hard. I knew that in the dark room, he couldn't see it clearly enough to assess the state of the nest, which was previously distorted and never finished. I saw it hit him right in the heart.
His nature as an alpha and protector failed in a way, hindering Kay's omega nature from maturing and blossoming. He raised his hands and pressed them to his eyes.
