Page 84 of The Wedding Hoax

He would’ve seen how much he’d hurt me, and I couldn’t let him know how easy it was for him to completely shatter me, how easy it was for him to break me into pieces.

33

HARRY

“Seriously? You’re pulling this trick again?” Simone groaned as soon as she walked through the door of the house. “How did you even beat me back home this time?”

I was fuming while waiting for Simone to get back home, everything in me feeling like it was hot enough to set off flames.

How the hell could she have kept something so big from me?

How could she not tell me that she was pregnant with my child?

It was the kind of betrayal that I could’ve never seen coming. At least, not from Simone.

Because I’d never expected Simone to ever betray me like this. Ever.

“Simple. I didn’t have to catch a cab.” I answered her question as I held up a pair of car keys before setting them down on a nearby table. “I would’ve offered you a ride if you weren’t so committed to stomping away from our conversation—”

“Because we don’t have anything else to talk about.”

“I disagree.”

“Why? Because you feel like yelling at me? You want to tell me again how mad at me you are?”

“I’m just trying to understand what happened here.” I sighed before I nodded toward the hall. “Do you mind talking somewhere more private? Maybe my home office? I don’t want your mom or the nurse to accidentally overhear—”

“Sure. Whatever.” Simone brushed past me, her demeanor completely cold. I followed behind her until we reached my home office, and once we were both inside, I quietly closed the door behind us.

“You don’t need to leave,” I started. “It wouldn’t make any sense if you did.”

“Because?”

“Because the doctor wants you to be on bed rest soon. And because your mom is still recovering from her surgery,” I replied. “How are you going to take care of her when you need to be taken care of yourself? Besides, your apartment is way too small for her to do her rehab stuff, anyway.”

“Why do you care? If I’m such a bad person, why does it matter what happens to me and my mom?”

“I care because you’re having a child with me, Simone. And I’m going to be there for my child, no matter what happens with us.”

“I don’t know. I think it’s better if we make a clean break.” She shrugged. “I don’t want to feel like I owe you anything.”

“This isn’t just about you, Simone. We’re having a kid together now.”

I hated this.

I hated arguing with Simone like this. I hated that we ever got to this point.

Even though I was pissed at Simone, some part of me wanted to try to move past this. Hell, I kind of liked the idea of coparenting with Simone… because I liked the idea of doing anything with Simone. Even things I wasn’t sure I was ready for.

Still, I couldn’t deny I was angry about how all this went down.

“You’re pretty quiet,” Simone said as she studied me. “Something on your mind?”

“Trust me. You don’t want to know.”

“Is it about how I’m a no-good gold digger who sank her claws into your family’s fortune?”

“I don’t know.”

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