He was horrified.
“We’re too much for you? Your husband and kids?”
She stopped him.
“No, you’re not too much for me. Motherhood is. I don’t like it.”
Well, fuck.
She was already a mother.
That wasn’t something they could undo.
“It’s how I feel, Duke.”
Maybe she should have been on better protection when they got pregnant with Charlotte, or she should have terminated the pregnancy.
All Axelle knew was this was not how she saw her life, or who she thought she’d be.
Over the silence of the phone, Duke was appalled.
He’d not forced Abby on her. He let her decide, and all he did was offer what he wanted so she was aware. As for Charlotte,he told her the decision was hers on whether or not she kept the pregnancy. He never forced her once.
EVER.
“I hope you understand,” Axelle offered.
Yeah, no.
“I don’t, since they’re our children. My wife is telling me that suddenly, she doesn’t want to do this anymore. She’s telling me that she only loves one kid out of two, and that’s going to do nothing but hurt both of the girls in the long run.”
She was honest.
That was all she could give him.
“Duke, the CIA has offered me a cushy job, and I’m considering it. It involves travel, and moving around the world…Motherhood doesn’t fit my narrative right now.”
He stopped her.
“I’m not leaving my family to live all over the world, Axelle.”
That hung there.
And that’s when he got it.
She was leavingHERfamily—as in he wasn’t part of her exit strategy.
“Oh, I see.”
She sighed.
“We’ll talk about this later. I don’t want to fight with you, Duke, but I’m not happy. I sincerely wish that we didn’t have kids. Now, it’s more work, and it’s very little joy for me. I hate Christmas, and I hate planning a birthday party that I don’t see a reason to have.”
He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
Had Axelle lost her goddamn mind?
Was she having a mental breakdown?
