I scoff. “Clearly.”
Riley winces. “It was an accident.”
Is that what she wants me to believe? Because I don’t know what’s true and what’s a lie anymore.
I look back on everything that’s happened since that night. Now, all of those memories I once cherished are tainted.
Was any of it true? Did she ever care for me at all?
Because her actions right now are telling a different story from the one I have been telling myself these past few months.
“Let’s get the next scan booked so we can get out of here,” I say coolly.
Riley’s cheeks are wet with tears, but I don’t have it in me to feel bad, not when it feels like my heart has been ripped out of my chest.
While she changes back into her clothes, I head back to the waiting room, where Jace is hovering by the door, looking painfully uncomfortable.
“How is she?”
“Alive.”
Jace doesn’t say anything else, and a few minutes later, Riley appears, looking completely devastated.
Her shoulders are hunched, and tears continue to stream down her face.
It’s not lost on me that this was meant to be a core memory for us, hearing our baby’s heartbeat for the first time.
Instead, she ripped that away, not just from me but from herself too.
“Let’s go.” I open the door to the clinic and step aside to let Riley pass.
She keeps her eyes down and her arms tucked in tight, as if she’s terrified to brush against me.
We leave the clinic in silence, with Jace following closely behind us, and head back to where the cars are parked outside the front of the bistro.
At the look on my face, Leo and Wesley quickly climb into the SUV to give me and Riley some space, and Jace follows behind them. Only when we’re alone does Riley reach for my arm, but I shrug out of her grip.
“Not now.”
“Kieran, please. I didn’t mean for it to happen like this. I was going to tell you?—”
“When? After the baby was born?”
She flinches, but I don’t care. I can’t afford to care. Not now. Not when the one person I trusted the most has proven I was a fool to do so.
“When will you stop punishing me long enough to hear me out?” Her green eyes shine with tears.
I really look at her then, and the weight of what I see nearly knocks the breath from my lungs.
She’s not just Riley, the woman I married. She’s the woman who decided I didn’t deserve to know I was going to be a father.
“We’ll raise this child together.” My voice comes out cold and even, as if we’re negotiating a business deal. “I’ll make sure you and the baby have everything you need. But that’s where it ends.”
Riley’s breath hitches as she sways slightly on her feet. “W-what are you talking about?”
“I can talk to my lawyer about drawing up a custody agreement.”
“Custody agreement?” Riley chokes as she places a hand on the hood of the car to steady herself. “I don’t understand what you’re talking about. What about us?”
