“Listen, I could sure use a shoulder to lean on.”
“Listen, hon. I want to date you. But I don’t want to be involved in the drama. I don’t do drama. You promised me no drama when we first started dating. And I usually don’t do kids. But I made an exception for you. Because I want to settle down and have my own family, you know, with kids you and I make.”
“I see.”
“You mean everything to me, and I see a future for us. I think you’d make a great corporate wife. Because you’ve already worked in the field, you know the stakes. If I have to work late, you’d understand because you’ve been there yourself.”
Bella nodded. “You wouldn’t want me to work?”
“No, because I make enough money for the both of us.”
“But I love my job. I worked so hard to get here. I don’t just want to give it up.”
“You can’t be a mom and have a fulltime job.”
“What? I do it now.”
“I’m talking about with our kids, the ones we’re going to have in the future.”
“You want me to be a stay at home mom?”
“You’ve been so tired and stressed lately. I thought you’d jump on the opportunity.”
“Working doesn’t make you a bad mom,” Bella said.
“And staying home doesn’t make you lazy. I’ll have plenty to keep you busy. Especially when I get my promotion as vice president. Your day will be filled. I promise. There’s charity luncheons, volunteer work and…well, I know how much you like to stay busy. And lucky for us, the twins are old enough to go to boarding school.”
“You can’t be serious?”
“There are so many benefits for the kids. Matter of fact, I met my best friend at boarding school. We’ll talk about it more later. Because I’ve got to run. I have to work early. I just wanted to apologize in person.”
“Thanks for stopping by.”
He kissed her. “I love you. Goodnight.”
She didn’t say it back, and he walked to his sports car. As she watched him drive away, she knew he wasn’t the one for her. She didn’t know why she hadn’t seen it sooner. He didn’t like kids. He wanted to get rid of hers as fast as he could. Dump them off at boarding school? Not a chance in hell! The thought infuriated her. He wouldn’t be the dad her kids needed. And he would never love them as his own. She thought he had made that quite clear. He only cared about starting a family…a new family. Would he put his own kids in boarding school as well? Or was it only hers? So he could have her undivided attention.
She should’ve told him off right there and then, but she was already too emotionally exhausted. She couldn’t take on another battle at this point. Bella knew she lost him. Not that she cared. He wasn’t right for her, and she’d never really felt that spark between them anyway. She wondered if she lost Harvey too.
Just as she went to open her door, her neighbor came over.
“Bella, I’m sorry to eavesdrop, but I heard everything that little weasel said. Why are you still with him? Kick his sorry ass to the curb!”
“I plan on it. I just don’t have the energy to fight with him.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Harvey knows about the twins.”
She gasped. “Oh my gosh!”
“He dropped by the house. I should’ve know it was going to happen sooner or later when we were involved.”
“You told me you were going to tell him, as soon as you got your new job. So there wouldn’t be any drama at the office.”
“He beat me to the punch. Being at work is going to be like walking on egg shells. And the tension is going to be thick as a knife.”
“He just found out. I’m sure he’ll calm down some.”