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CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Olivia pulled herselftogether enough to make Sammy dinner and put her to bed.
Then she fell to pieces.
Standing in the shower, she silently sobbed. Afterwards she climbed into bed and buried her face in the pillows and cried until there was nothing left.
Now, as she lay in the dark staring at the ceiling, all she could see was Fletcher’s face as he told her he was falling in love with her.
How could he do that to her?
It was so much easier when she thought it was just an office romance. He was a wealthy and powerful man who was completely outside her social circle. They would never work. He didn’t want stepchildren. Someone else’s kid.
Men like Fletcher married senators’ daughters, socialites, Harvard graduates, or successful entrepreneurs. Not a single mom with no assets and savings that wouldn’t even pay his mortgage for a day, let alone a week.
He couldn’t love her.
She had no idea why he’d said he would marry her. Guilt?
And yet, for a single moment, she had glimpsed what they could have, and hope had flown through her. Then reality slapped her back to the present moment.
Even if Fletcher had thought he meant those things, she couldn’t let him.
The next few months were going to be a nightmare. Her lawyer would likely suck all her savings, but if she was lucky, she’d still have her daughter. And nothing mattered more than that.
Even her broken heart.
She rolled over, closing her eyes.
She’d just have to realize there could be no men in her life for at least another twelve years. Simon was an evil, insane human being, but he had her over the coals.
There was nothing she wouldn’t do to keep Sammy.
Maybe he would give up this vendetta against her and find someone else to pick on. Or maybe he wouldn’t, but until Sammy turned eighteen years old, he could have her taken away.
Not legally.
But he never let the law get in his way.
And she didn’t trust he wouldn’t do something even worse, like disappear with Sammy. Knowing where he worked, where Emma worked, and having her eyes on both of them as much as they did on her, was beneficial.
It was a nightmare, but it was bearable.
Tears ran down her face as she remembered how she felt sitting on the porch in the Hamptons with Fletcher, feeling as if all was right with the world. She’d felt like she belonged and was cared for.
