“Austin, please take a seat.”
I shake my head in silence, pacing Lex’s office with my hand running through my hair. My chest caves in, the overwhelm too much to handle and fogging my mind at this very moment.
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do,” I say while pacing, the frustration increasing my tone. “Ava is angry. She thinks I’m still in love with Millie. No matter what I say or do, it’s not fucking good enough. I’m at my wit’s end here. I can’t keep fighting this uphill battle.”
“Austin.” Lex remains calm, sitting behind the desk with his posture straight. “Life has been anything but easy, especially since you’ve both just welcomed a baby. To add to that, you’re tired, and I can only recall how exhausting it can be to work those long hours in the hospital. Ava is stubborn, and she protects herself by putting up barriers. She needs to calm down, which I will agree on. I am just about to go see her since she won’t answer my calls.”
“Stubborn would be an understatement,” I mutter.
Lex glances at Will, his expression softening as he releases a sigh.
“This is the unfortunate nature of the beast. The Edwards family has always been subjected to media scrutiny. Charlotte and I have thick skin. We’ve learned over the years to pick our battles.”
“It’s all bullshit!” I raise my voice, desperate to kill whoever caused this nightmare. “And it’s tearing my family apart.”
Romano is oddly quiet, bowing his head without a word.
“Do you love my daughter?” Lex questions.
“Of course, I love her, Lex. She’s the mother of my child, but what difference does it make when everyone else’s opinions mean more to her than my truth?”
“Then marry her,” Romano mumbles, barely audible inside the room. “Marry her, and everyone gets their own happily ever after.”
My facial muscles turn slack, a flat gaze aimed at Romano, surprised to hear such words come from his mouth. From the beginning, he made it clear my relationship with Ava was orchestrated to ruin his life. Although things settled when Ava gave birth, I wasn’t expecting him to encourage me to join the family completely.
Lex appears to be just as stunned, blinking slowly with his brows furrowing.
“Do you love Ava because she’s the mother of your child?”
“I can’t breathe without her, Lex.”
He nods, then places his hands on his desk.
“Then it’s settled. Just as Will suggested, marry Ava. If you both love each other, then stop ruining it for each other. You’re just delaying the inevitable.”
I watch on with confusion. “Did I just hear right? So you’ve given me your blessing to propose marriage to Ava?”
“You were always part of the family, son. Just wrong daughter to begin with.” Lex turns to Will with an amused expression. “Sorry to rub salt in your wound, but nevertheless, rather true.”
Romano lets out an annoyed huff, glaring at Lex because he can. The two of them are more like best friends than father-in-law to son-in-law. Yet rightfully so, their persona is just that of a controlling billionaire who always gets their way. It’s a completely different world, nothing at all like practicing medicine.
“I wouldn’t even know where to begin with getting her to talk to me, let alone proposing.”
Barely thinking straight, a thousand thoughts are running through my mind. We’re talking about Ava here. I can’t just propose marriage, especially since she was there the first time I attempted to propose marriage to someone. This has to be special and meaningful. Then there’s the matter of the ring. Again, it’s Ava. I’ve spent enough time with her to know her taste in jewelry is refined.
“I’ll help you,” Romano intervenes, his eyes finally meeting my gaze. “Just as long as you promise me to never ever hurt my sister. You understand me?”
I look him in the eye, the man I once considered my arch-nemesis.
“What do you have in mind?”
Twenty-Five
Ava
In just a heartbeat, everything is ruined between us.
I leave Austin standing in the corridor, his face crestfallen at my callous words. The moment between us is a blur, like my body is standing there, yet my mind is elsewhere, so far in this mess I created inside my head. I’ve hurt the one person who means the world to me.