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“Damn well right.” Jayson starts to stand, knocking his hand against the opened decanter and sloshing the alcohol everywhere. He collapses back into the chair.
With a deep breath, I say, “I meant what I said earlier. I don’t want anything from you. The stock in your company was never mine, even if I inherited it from my father.” I look down, thinking of him. “If you had just asked me not to sell the shares until the company could afford to buy them back, I wouldn’t have. There was no need to force us both into a marriage just to maintain control of the corporation.”
He glares at me. “I don’t know how many other ways to say this: I did not marry you for those damn shares. I married you for Sophie, and I am trying to stay married to you because — ” Jayson trails off, running a hand through his hair roughly. “Sit down.” He gestures to the chair across from his desk.
I want to refuse, but decide not to with his mood so volatile. As I perch on the edge of the chair, I’m eerily reminded of the night when I sat here more than three years ago, when Jayson first suggested the preposterous idea of us marrying.
“Here.” Jayson lifts a stack of papers from a drawer and slides them across to me.
“What’s this?”
“Read it.”
I scan the first few paragraphs, eyes widening as the words sink in. “What…”
“And this.” With a flourish, he produces another stack of paper and feeds it into the shredder.
“What’s that?”
“The damned marriage contract. The gesture is mostly symbolic, I suppose, but I want to make the point.”
“Which is?”
Jayson drops into his chair. “That there’s nothing binding you to me. No legal agreement keeping us together. There is no requirement for you to stay.”
I flinch at his words as my gaze drops to the papers. More confused than ever, I say, “If you don’t want to stay married, why are you giving back my shares?”
Jayson looks at me through bloodshot eyes. “I want to stay married, Harper, but I don’t want to have trapped you. I got you pregnant with the intention of making you stay married to me.”
I gasp. “That’s not true.”
He nods, looking miserable. “It is. The night you made that offhanded comment at the party, the idea took hold. I knew if I could get you pregnant, you’d have to stay with me. I deliberately didn’t use protection whenever you were too…excited to notice.” His shoulders droop. “I had no idea that I would give you a baby that wouldn’t live.”
I reach out automatically, but draw my hand back. “I hope you aren’t blaming yourself for the miscarriage. We’ll never know why he didn’t live, but it could have been a genetic mistake contributed by either one of us, or my body might have failed him.”
He swallows but doesn’t reply.
Once more, I look down at the papers. “I really don’t want ten percent of your company, Jayson.”
He snorts. “I guess it’s a good thing I gave you one hundred percent then.”
I blink, scanning the pages more thoroughly. “What? This is crazy.”
A harsh laugh explodes from him. “That’s what the attorneys said — especially when I insisted they draw up all the necessary paperwork within hours.”
“Why are you doing this?”
Jayson seems defeated, and the lack of spark in his gaze is alarming. “It’s all I can think of to prove to you that I want you as my wife because I love you, not because of that damned company.”
I jerk in surprise. “What did you say?”
He sighs. “I want you to stay with me, but only because you want to. I love you, Harper. I tried trapping you and forcing you to stay, thinking having you even under duress was better than a life without you.” Jayson’s lips press together. “I still think that, but I have no right to keep you. I have behaved like an idiot, a boor, and the only way I can make up for it is to offer you your freedom.” He leans forward, bringing his hand near mine. “With the caveat that I want you to stay, with all my heart.”
I can’t believe what he’s saying. “How can you love me? I’m not the kind of woman who should be your wife.” My calm façade slips, making my voice crack. “And there’s Maia. If you love me, how can you still be with her?”
Jayson swears. “For an intelligent woman, you can be an idiot sometimes, agape mou.”
I gasp, but he continues before I can think of something to say to that.
