I understand him being angry, but he needed to control his mouth. AJ looks away from me, his brown eyes shimmering with unshed tears.
I try again to take control of the situation. “Look, I’m sorry you found out this way. If we had more time—”
He shakes his head, holding his hands up to stop my words. “I don’t even want to be around you right now.”
He makes a beeline for the door.
“AJ, wait.” I reach for him, but he jerks away from me as if my hands were covered in filth. The rest of my heart shatters and falls to the floor.
“I’m staying with Dad.” With those last words, he storms out of the house. I clutch my hand to my chest as if it’s a bleeding heart.
“I’m going with AJ,” my baby boy says, and then follows his brother out.
I quickly ran out after them. The moment I step onto the porch, I find Andrew leaning up from the hood of his car.
“Are you okay?” he asked AJ.
“I don’t want to stay here with her. Can I stay with you?”
Andrew looks up at me and then shakes his head.
“Sure son. For as long as you like.”
AJ goes to the passenger side of the car and gets in. Cameron walks past his father and heads to the back seat. I watch my two boys walk away from me, taking my heart with them. Andrew walks up the stairs toward me. He stops at the bottom step.
“You did this,” he says. “This is all on you.”
“Andrew, please,” I beg as the first stream of tears falls down my face. “Talk to him. Tell him—”
He shakes his head. “How did you think this would end, Ella? He’s their uncle, for Christ's sakes? How could you be so desperate?”
His words pierce my soul. My shoulders shake with my silent cry.
He sighs. “Give the boys time. In the meantime, you need to figure out what’s more important: that temporary infatuation Mitch has with you, or your children? You can’t have them both.”
With those words lingering between us, he walks away. I remain on my porch as he climbs into his car and drives off, taking my entire world with him.
Mitch
I’ve paced my living room floor so much I may need to replace the hardwood. It’s been fifteen minutes since Drew’s car pulled out of that driveway. My knuckles still ache from beating his ass.
Hitting him was probably not my finest moment, but hearing him talk to Ella like that sent me over the edge. I didn’t give a shit what he said about me, but calling her a desperate whore was too much. Unfortunately, AJ and Cameron had to witness this confrontation. But I won’t let anyone disrespect her. Not even the father of her children.
A soft knock on my front door has me hurrying over to open it. Standing on my porch with a red face and puffy eyes, is Ella. Taking my time, I look her over, making sure there weren’t any marks on her body. I know Drew would never lay his hands on her, but I wasn’t taking any chances.
“Are you okay, baby? Are you hurt?” I tug her into the house and shut the door behind her.
She shakes her head no, but tears pour down her cheeks.
“They hate me. They hate me so much.”
My heart breaks for her pain. This is what Devon was warning me about. It’s why I spent three weeks trying to let her go only to find out I can’t fucking breathe without this woman.
“Ella, I’m so sorry.” I wrap my arms around her.
She returns the gesture, wrapping her arms around my waist. Her body shakes as she sobs into my stomach.
I shush her, trying to calm her down. “It’s okay. I promise it will be okay. We just need to give them time. They will come around.”
