Chapter 72

The entire room is still and silent.

Thea, seemingly annoyed by our stunned reactions, snaps, “Did you hear me? I’m pregnant! Where’s my congratulations, Esther? Where’s the joy, Garnar? Don’t you want to be a dad again? Are our kids not good enough for you?”

Garnar springs to life at once. He rushes forward and takes Thea in his arms. “That’s so wonderful, darling! I’m so happy.”

I watch them, not totally sure if I believe her yet. “Do our parents know?” I ask.

Thea looks at me, then quickly back to Garnar, ignoring me entirely. “I knew you’d be happy…”

They start kissing, and then start making out, hands getting grabby. My stomach twists in revulsion and I quickly spirit myself away, retreating back to my room. Once I enter, I lock the door behind me.

God, I hope I never in my life have to see that again. I need to bleach my eyes.

At least, however, Thea’s surprise pregnancy seems to bring her onto my side of wanting a divorce. With Thea pushing for it, Garnar might actually agree, which would make things easier in the long run. We’d still need lawyers and go to court, but at least, I wouldn’t have to chase him down to sign things.

I don’t feel great about Thea wanting to be the mother of my children, however. I doubt Violet and Iris would go for that either, but I could see Garnar trying to push it.

However, I could also see Thea pushing my girls to the side, favoring her child above all others.

I rub at my forehead, feeling a headache coming on. There isn’t a lot I can do right now, other than push forward the divorce. When the custody battle starts, that’s when I’ll have to make sure the girls are protected from whatever Thea thinks is motherhood.

Right now, someone also needs to let our parents know. They know about the affair, but I can’t imagine they will support Thea and Garnar when they discover about her baby. Garnar is supposed to be my husband, after all. Surely the scandal alone would help them see things more from my perspective.

After retrieving my phone from my purse, which Hugo had delivered to the house, I find my parents number and call them.

My mother picks up the phone. “It’s late, Esther.”

For a moment, I think about telling her that I was in the hospital today. It has been so long since I’ve had her sympathy. But I bite back the words. Even if she knew, she might not care.

I hate thinking this way about my mother.

“I was thinking we should have a family dinner soon,” I say. “I have something that I would like to tell you and Father and –”

“This is last minute,” Mother says.

I said soon not immediately, but I can’t correct her.

“Um… sorry…”

“Tomorrow it is, then,” Mother says.

“Okay, thanks,” I say, but she’s already hung up. He didn’t even set a time. I really am on the outs with them, if she can’t even stand two more sentences of phone conversation.

It’s fine, I tell myself, pushing down on the hurt. This isn’t anything new, really. I’ve been in this spot before and even if we mend things, I’ll likely be in this spot again.

I also push down the pain that Garnar did not once ask about my health. Surely he received the phone calls from the hospital as my emergency contact. Did he even care? Or did he just not take them seriously?

With a sigh, I head into the bathroom. I shower and change into my pajamas, which helps relax me.

Miles told me earlier that it would be safe for me to sleep tonight, so I crawl into bed without further consideration, pull the blankets up to my chin, and stare at the ceiling.

With all this stress bundling up inside of me, I have a hard time finding peace in my mind. Even as my limbs sink into the mattress, my brain stays fully awake.

It’s no use trying to work through my thoughts of divorce and Thea’s baby and Amber getting fired. IT’s all a jumbled mess, tangling my thoughts.

“Come on, brain,” I scold myself. Today was a lot, but there has to be something good about it too.

There is. Of course there is.

Miles.

Miles tucking me in on his couch and delivering me soup that he himself warmed on the stove top.

Miles checking in on me, and making me laugh, and caring about me so much that I started to feel like I am worth something.

And when he almost kissed me…?

Humming, I close my eyes and focus on those thoughts. I bring forward memories of his mouth on mine and his hands slowly removing my clothes.

I stretched out on the bed for him, and he devoured me with his hands and his mouths, bringing me untold pleasures that I had never experienced before.

“Miles…” I half-whisper, half-moan as I slide a hand across my stomach and then slip it lower, down into my pants, my panties.

When he touched me there, he had been so deliberate and firm, knowing exactly what he was doing and how to drive me wild. He traced small circles around my click, holding on even when I bucked against his hand.

“You act like you’ve never been touched,” Miles said, breathy in my ear. His free hand clutched my breast, massaging it while tugging at my hardened nipple with his thumb and forefinger.

Then, I dropped my head back onto his shoulder, surrendering to the wildfire burning through me. Now, I push my head back into my pillow, arching my back clean off the bed.

I touch myself now as he touched me then. Relentless. Firm. Passionate.

It doesn’t take long for me to crest. Thoughts of Miles always seem to bring me to the edge so quickly. My body’s practically attuned to him. If he were in the room with me now, I would explode out of my skin.

Panting, I gasp, “Oh, oh, Miles, oh…”

Then, with a full-body tremble, I cross over the precipice and tumble down into pleasure.

My heart racing, it takes several long moments for me to return to myself, my thoughts scattered like the wind. Yet even when I do, my thoughts stay pleasant.

If Miles were here, he’d hold me after. He’d kiss along my spine as he settled against me. He’d whisper sweet nothings into my ear.

“You were so good… so fucking hot… Give me ten minutes and we can go again.”

The thought makes me laugh and I pull out of bed to clean myself. By the time I return, I’m blissed out, happy, and comfortable, and drift off to sleep without worry.

Early the next morning, I’m startled awake by a pounding on my door.

“Mommy!” calls Iris through the door. “You’re going to be late!”

I blink at my clock. My alarm didn’t go off.

In a start, I jump out of bed and rush to answer the door. “Thank you, Iris!” I say and kiss her on the top of the head.

How did my alarms get reset?