Page 130 of Stolen Kiss

“And I asked to not be given the name of the woman who donated the eggs. I wouldn’t have known Elodie is yours—had she not inherited your smile.”

My knee buckled, and I slipped to the ground. “How are you sure?”

“I started to suspect something after Elodie turned two.” He ran his fingers through his hair, laughing a little even though there was nothing funny about the situation. “I thought I was going crazy. That perhaps because I missed you, I started seeing your features in my daughter. But it persisted. When I couldn’t leave it alone any longer, I went to Jace and told him my suspicion. It took some convincing, but I was able to test Elodie with Evelyn, and it confirmed that they’re related.”

“Does Evelyn know?” I asked, my heart racing.

It soothed something in me when he shook his head. “No, she doesn’t. I asked Jace not to say anything until I could tell you. I did some digging,” he confessed. “I found a paper trail of the payments you received from the egg donation. I knew then that it was you.”

“I don’t understand.”

Jensen stood up then and walked over to me. He crouched down in front of me and waited until I looked at him. “It’s fate, baby.”

“Fate?” I laughed. The noise sounded abrasive in my ears. “How could this be fate? Why didn’t you tell me this from the beginning?”

“I didn’t want you running scared,” he admitted. “But I also didn’t know how you would react to this news. I wanted to give you and Elodie a chance to know each other first, and fuck, I was selfish, because I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about you for three long years. I wanted you to myself.”

I didn’t know what to think or how to feel.

I needed someone to tell me it wasn’t completely unreasonable to feel angry at him and at fate. I had gone through with the egg donation because I needed funding for my studio. I needed a chance to start over in my life, a project.

I just wanted to find my passion again, but not this.

Not like this, and not with him this way.

I never even entertained the idea of having kids, and now he was telling me that Elodie was mine and we could what? Become one big, fucking happy family?

I pushed him away a second time and stood.

“Emilia?”

“I just need to think,” I said tonelessly. “Okay? Just give me time to think.”

I quickly packed up what little stuff I had at his house, called for a taxi, and went home.

I went straight to my bed and buried myself under the blanket, closing my eyes. I’d told him I needed to think, but fuck, right now I just didn’t want to think about anything anymore.

---