Page 61 of The Dark Elf's Surprise Baby

“Did the zagfer do that to you?” His voice is stern, and I look up at him in surprise.

I shrug my shoulders and shake my head.

“Please, Harper,” he kisses the palms of my hands. “Please, bring Adelaide and come back to me.”

“I don’t think I can do that.” I pull my hands out of his, but he sits closer to me. He slides his arms around my waist and pulls me into his embrace.

It is becoming harder and harder to let go of Demethys. I only wish he hadn’t come here tonight.

He kisses my cheeks, and then my forehead. He wipes away the tears that have welled up in the corners of my eyes again.

“I love you. And whatever the servants told you was a lie.” He says. Demethys doesn’t try and touch me in any other way.

He only holds me and kisses my face.

“I fired all of them. Please know that I love you more than life itself.”

“I don’t think I want to work things out with you,” I pull away firmly, and he drops his hands. “And I don’t think we can.”

“I promise you; I fired every one of the servants, even the butler. I know they hurt you.”

I burst into tears again and Demethys pulls me closer to him. Just then, I hear footsteps behind us.

“No one will hurt you ever again, Harper,” Demethys whispers in my ear. “I promise you that.”

When I pull away again, I see Kerym and Layla standing behind us. Layla smiles at me encouragingly.

“We can work through this, Harper. We can still have a life together.” Demethys is begging me now, I know he is.

And as I sit there, I think through all the possibilities.

I still love Demethys. I do not think there will ever be a version of me that does not love him.

And as much as I might want to, I can’t keep him away from Addie. Not now that they’ve met.

She loves him so much that it would be cruel to keep them apart.

And he has never done anything to intentionally hurt me.

Should I really try? Should I try again? When there is a chance that my heart might get broken again?

The questions trip and tumble through my mind haphazardly.

And as I sit there, a thousand futures open up in front of me.

Futures where I am happy, living with Demethys in a home we have created for ourselves. We have had more beautiful babies.

We are growing old together.

There are other futures where I am alone. Without Demethys and struggling to move on.

Futures where I have to see Demethys move on eventually, and where I have to share Adelaide with him.

Are you willing to do this? When you might get hurt again?

But when I look at Demethys I know that he is sincere. He will ensure that nobody ever hurts me again.

“I don’t know,” my voice is thick with emotion. “I don’t know if I can put everything behind me.”

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