Page 48 of Revenge
“There’s a Manarch baby inside of you. You should have told me.” Her voice is loud, getting the attention of some patrons.
“Keep your voice down,” I demand while looking around.
“Viktor deserves to know you’re having his baby.” I contemplate telling her the baby isn’t Viktor’s. “Don’t even think about lying.” Tina fixes me with a glare.
“You know things are complicated. I didn’t know I was pregnant when I left, and that was for the best. We need to move on. He has a family, and I was in the way.”
“Fiona was in the way, not you. But that’s not the point. He deserves to know. We all do.”
“It’s complicated.”
“Just tell me one thing. Why didn’t you tell me? Who has been helping you? How is the baby?”
“That is more than one thing.” We laugh as our drinks are set on the table. “I didn’t want to keep it from you, trust me. I thought about calling you a million times. You have no idea how much I’ve missed you. I just don’t want him to know. I couldn’t ask you to keep this from him. It wouldn’t be fair to you.” I couldn’t live with asking another person close to Viktor to keep a secret from him. It’s bad enough that I asked Oliver.
“That wasn’t your call to make. I would have kept your secret.”
“Maybe. But you know how things are. Someone could have followed you and found out.
“As for me, I’ve been well. I found an apartment not too far from here with an amazing roommate. I have to admit, Viktor’s money also helped.”
“When are you due?”
“Couple of months.” I touch my belly.
“I can’t believe you’ve been doing this all on your own. Does your dad know?”
“I haven’t really been on my own,” I say, regretting it immediately. I can’t afford for her to ask more questions. The last thing I need is to divulge that Oliver has been helping me. I wouldn’t hear the end of it. But she doesn’t follow up, and I’m grateful. “My dad doesn’t know. Only my roommate and my job, for obvious reasons.” Now I’m lying to her, too, and it sucks.
“You’re working? You shouldn’t be working.”
“I’m perfectly fine working. If it eases your mind, I don’t work as much anymore. Just enough to make sure I don’t die of boredom.”
“And you don’t need anything?” There’s concern on her face.
“I swear I’m fine. Better now that you’re here.” I squeeze her hand. I’m so happy to have her in front of me. “And I’m not going anywhere.” Curiosity gets the best of me, and I ask the burning question.
“How is Viktor? What brought you to the baby boutique?”
“One of my friends is having a baby. Viktor is worse than before you came. He’s miserable, and he hates Fiona. They’re constantly fighting.”
“I’m sad to hear that,” I murmur, and I mean it. Hearing that Viktor is not doing well kills me. The last thing I want is for him to suffer. I want him to be happy.
“He misses you.” She squeezes my hand.
“I miss him every second of the day. But our lives took different paths. There’s no point holding onto the past.”
“He looked for you.” I know this, but I can’t allow myself to care.
“He called and texted a few times. I didn’t think I should answer. We needed a clean break.”
“I don’t understand what went wrong. He was willing to publicly recognize Fiona’s baby but marry you.” I close my eyes. I don’t want to talk about this, but I can’t ignore it either.
“He said that in a text. We both know he had to marry Fiona. Your uncle demanded it. Not doing so would have cost him highly. I couldn’t ask him to risk it all for me. There was a lot at stake.”
“How do you know that?” she asks curiously.
“Fiona,” I say. Finally admitting that I saw her.
