“I’m due in September.”
He did the math quickly in his head, then his lips twisted downward. “So I’m the father.”
I looked down at the grass, the color of emeralds, lush and spikey. “Sorry. Yes.”
He shook his head. “How is it possible? We were so careful—”
“Not careful enough, apparently.”
“You knew you were pregnant when you left London, didn’t you?” His voice was deceptively quiet. “You knew, and you didn’t tell me.”
“I did you a favor.”
“A favor?”
“You didn’t want a child. You were very clear.” My teeth chattered with emotion. I wrapped my arms around my body, which was suddenly shivering in the bright July sunlight. “You didn’t want a child, and you didn’t want me.”
He came closer to me. “So you took your revenge?”
I shook my head fiercely. “I wanted to tell you about the baby. I tried! But the moment I told you I loved you, you ran out of the house in terror!”
He gritted his teeth. “Don’t you dare try to—”
“You said you wanted a clean break!” In spite of my best efforts to stay calm, my voice was shrill. “You said you never wanted to see me again! I tried to tell you, but you ran out of the house rather than listen to me! Don’t you remember?”
Edward sucked in his breath. Then he came closer in the dappled sunlight, until he stood inches away from me. “Is that why you turned to Jason—because I wouldn’t listen?” He moved closer. “Or was he the one you really wanted all along?”
“I wanted you.” My voice was flat. “I told you. I was in love with you. I loved you as I’ll never love anyone again.”
He blinked.
“Loved.”
“Past tense.” I shook my head. “Loving you nearly killed me. You rejected me. Abandoned me,” I whispered. “I couldn’t bear for you to reject her, too.”
He exhaled, as if he were breathing toxic fumes. Then his eyes flew open. “Her?”
I nodded. “I’m having a little girl.”
His face filled with wonder and he reached towards me. “We’re having a girl....”
I jerked back before he could touch me. “We’re not. I am. I can support us now.” My eyes hardened. “We don’t need you.”
Pain flashed across his handsome face, then the lines of his cheekbones and dark jawline tightened. “You’re not even giving me a chance.”
“I tried that already.”
He gritted his teeth. “I didn’t know you were pregnant.”
“You told me straight out you never wanted a child. Never. Never ever.”
“People can change.”
“What are you trying to say, Edward?” I clenched my hands at my sides. “Are you saying now I don’t need you, now I don’t even want you, you suddenly want to be part of our lives?” I tossed my head. “Forget it!”
His expression hardened. “Because you now have what you really wanted all along—an acting career, and Jason Black?”
“Leave him out of this!”
He set his jaw. “Has he asked you to marry him?”
I looked away.
“He has, hasn’t he?” Edward’s voice hit me like a blow. “So you could forgive him for sleeping with your stepsister? But not me for letting you go?”
“Look,” I said acidly, glaring at him. “I don’t know what kind of spiritual breakdown you’re going through—seems a little early for a midlife crisis, isn’t it? But keep us out of it.”
“She’s my daughter.”
“Just biologically.”
“Just?” he said incredulously.