It’s too late.
There is no other reason I’d be drinking soda when we’re out.
Tonight was always going to the night she discovered the truth.
And while I don’t want to deal with said truth, I must admit that her knowing lifts just a little bit of the pressure from my shoulders.
It’s not just my secret now.
“Oh, Bea,” Sienna says softly as my eyes flood with tears. “I suspected but I didn’t really think. Shit. Are you okay?” I sniffle and nod. “Wait. That was a stupid question. Of course you’re not okay. You’re probably freaking the fuck out. Have you told anyone? Oh my god, does he know? Have you spoken to him? Fuck. It’s his, right?” She leans closer just in case a random person walking past overhears. “It’s Donnelly’s?”
At hearing his name, my emotions bubble over.
A sob rips from my throat, but Sienna is there, wrapping her arms around me and holding me tight.
“It’s going to be okay, Bea. Everything is going to be okay.”
I suck in a shuddering breath as she tries to reassure me. But while I might want to believe her, I’m struggling to.
How?
How is it going to be okay?
The business might be in a better place now, but she has no idea that I’m about to be evicted from my home.
I’m pregnant by a man who will probably think I’m lying, or that I somehow did it on purpose to claim a chunk of his fortune.
I have no family to support me. My friends are my family now, and I can’t ask any more of them.
A laugh erupts. Are they even really my friends when they’re my employees? If the business were to go under, would they stick around? Or would they find new jobs and new lives without me in them?
“Whoa. I’ve got you,” Sienna says softly, gently stroking my back as I shatter.
Normally, I’d care that I’m breaking on the sidewalk where anyone can see me. But right now, I’m not in control of my body or my emotions.
I have no idea how long we stand there for, Sienna practically keeping me upright, but eventually, my sobs subside.
I pull my face from the crook of her neck and wipe my wet cheeks with the back of my hand.
She studies me with soft eyes. “Did you want to go home?”
“What?” I balk. “No.”
Home is the very last place I want to be right now.
“Bea,” Sienna starts.
“I’m fine, honestly.”
“We don’t have to do this. We can go somewhere else. Somewhere quiet and talk about all of this.”
I shake my head. What good will talking about it do?
It’s not going to change anything. It’s not going to give me any answers.
It’ll just remind me how royally fucked I am.
“No, I want to get dinner and then go watch the game.”
