The Baby Contract

Then again, apparently his agitation at me had chemical attraction elements, similar to what I had toward him. The man who I always thought looked down and despised me, kissed me like a man dying of thirst getting his first sip of water.

And oh man, was it good.

No, Anne. God why couldn’t I stop thinking about Bran and sex?

The constant loop of thoughts about Bran was interrupted by my phone ringing. Maybe I should ignore it. If it was Bran or Harper, I wasn’t ready to talk to them. But maybe it was a potential job offer.

I grabbed my phone from my purse, checking the caller ID. God. It was worse. My father.

“Hello.”

“I hear you’re begging for money again, Anne. That behavior is unacceptable.”

I would have thought after all these years of knowing my father resented me, I wouldn’t get emotional at his cruel comments. Unfortunately, his dislike of me still hurt. He’d never given me a chance. He hated me from the moment my mother died after giving birth to me.

“Are you listening to me?” he snapped.

“Yes. Do you think mom would be onboard with how you treat me?” I’d always wanted to ask that but had been too afraid to. Now I had nothing to lose.

“Don’t you dare speak about your mother. You never knew her. It’s your fault.”

“Maybe it’s your fault.”

He sputtered and, for a moment, I wondered if he was stroking out. “You’re a hateful child, Anne. I gave you everything you needed—”

“Except love. You didn’t give me that.”

“You killed what was good and true in my life. I can’t love what stole my wife from me.”

A part of me felt bad for his loss. He clearly loved my mother a great deal. But considering how he treated me, I wondered if their love was a good one. He was so filled with spite and hate. Would he have treated my mother the same if she crossed some arbitrary line he set?

“Why are you calling?” It was time to get this call over with.

“Stop begging to your brother or to people in my network. It’s an embarrassment, Anne. I won’t have it.”

“Sure thing. I’ll go homeless and starve. Will that be less embarrassing to you?”

“The one thing I always thought you were, Anne, was smart, but you must not be if you can’t support yourself.”

“I can support myself when I’m allowed to work. You’ve made that impossible for me. You’ve blown up a bridge and then tell me I’m stupid for not crossing the river.”

“I’m not arguing with you. Leave us all alone. We’re done with you.”

My gut clenched. My heart split in two. It wasn’t like I hadn’t known all this before but hearing him say it broke a part of me.

Instead of answering, I hung up. I started to the kitchen to pour a large glass of wine but stopped myself.

The best way to fix my situation and possibly experience the revenge success could bring against my father was to take Bran up on his offer.

Of course, my father and brother would scoff. I could hear them saying the only thing I was good for was breeding.

But with twenty-five million in my bank account, their disdain would be easier to take.

I got a glass of water, and then sat at my table to work out a way I could make this arrangement with Bran work without one of us killing each other, or worse, having sex, over the next year.