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She gives me a quick hug before I head back downstairs, resigning myself to the fact that it’s time to go home. I’m very nearly to the door of the mansion when I hear a woman’s voice behind me, high and musical, with a faint Irish accent.
“Are you Isabella?”
10
ISABELLA
Iturn slowly, my heart beating rapidly in my chest. I have a feeling that I know who it’s going to be even before I see the tall, gorgeous, very pregnant redheaded woman standing some feet away, her mouth pressed together in a thin line. She’s wearing a green wrap dress, her hair pulled back, manicured toes bare against the marble floor. A huge diamond engagement ring and matching wedding band glitter on her left hand, and I swallow hard. There’s only one other lady of the McGregor estate, and this woman’s bearing tells me exactly who she is before she even says her name.
She purses her lips, stepping closer until she’s only maybe a foot from me as I stand there frozen. “I’m Saoirse,” she says crisply. “Saoirse McGregor. And you, Isabella, need to leave Niall alone.”
I gape at her, blinking with startlement. “I’m—I’m having hisbaby,” I stammer out. “I can’t very well keep him away even if I wanted to. And of course I want a father for my child.”
Saoirse waves a manicured hand, her ring glittering in the overhead chandelier. “Sure,” she bites out. “Allegedly, you’re having his child. No one really knowswhatto believe about you though, do they? Connor told me the whole story.”
I narrow my eyes at her, feeling a sharp bite of anger rise up in response to her dismissive tone and attitude. “I can admit that I haven’t always been wholly truthful,” I say carefully, a tinge of acid in my words. “But I’m very tired of being told that I’m lying about my baby’s father to trap Niall, when it’s one thing that I most definitely havenotlied about. I’m trying to make up for what I did wrong. As for stories—” I grit my teeth. “Niall toldmethe whole story too. Aboutyou, and what you did to him.”
Saoirse’s lips thin, and I see a flash of a hint of defeat in her eyes. “Yes,” she admits, her tone still crisp. “I can admit to things, too. I handled my relationship with Niall poorly. It was a difficult time for us both. I know I hurt him, and that I’m the reason he was so brokenhearted that he had to go to an entirely different country to fuck his way back to feeling something.” She sniffs. “But at least I was honest with him the whole time. I told him the terms of our relationship, what it could and couldn’t be, whatwecould and couldn’t be to each other. Niall fell too hard for me, and I struggled with it too. I let things go too far.” She narrows her eyes at me, stepping closer. “But at the end of the day, I never promised him anything, and I never lied.”
Saoirse levels a finger at me, her gaze sharp again. “Allyou did was lie to him. And now you’re leeching off of him too, taking everything he has to give.”
I feel my cheeks flush, heating with another wave of hurt and anger. “All I wanted was to choose who I gave my virginity to!” I shout, hearing my voice rise but feeling unable to stop it. “I never meant for it to go this far! It got out of hand, and I—”
Saoirse laughs, covering her mouth delicately with one hand, the other resting on her bump as she shakes her head disbelievingly at me. “Oh, so you didn’t mean to get pregnant?” She raises an eyebrow. “So you used a condom then? Or you had birth control? It just failed, is that it?”
“It’s none of your business,” I snap back tightly, and Saoirse smirks, stepping closer still, enough that she’s looking down at me with satisfaction in her eyes, as if I’ve answered some mystery for her.
“I know Niall,” she says smoothly. “We’ve known each other all our lives, Isabella. Niall is a good man, a careful one. He wouldn’t sleep with you without a condom unless you were on birth control, I know that much. Don’t forget, I’ve been in his bed too. We never went as far as having sex, but I knew very well what precautions he would take if we did. So which is it? Did you lie about being on birth control, or did the condom break? It’s one or the other, sweetheart.”
I flush red, hating it, knowing that it tells her the answer I don’t want to give. “It wasn’t like that,” I stammer, flustered at her interrogation.If only I hadn’t come in.I’d just wanted to spent more time with Ana, enjoy the newfound feeling of having a friend, but I hadn’t gotten out in time, and I’m not sure this was worth it. “I didn’tmeanto do it! I got caught up in the moment, andyes. Fine. I lied about the birth control. But it wasn’t malicious. I was just thinking about what I wanted my first time to feel like, not about getting pregnant, and then—”
Saoirse shakes her head. “Sure,” she says sarcastically. “That’s a fine excuse now, when you’re here, safe and being taken care of on Niall’s dime, your future secured—if it really is his baby in your belly. None of us are convinced.”
“I am.” Ana’s voice comes from the top of the staircase. “I believe her. And you need to leave her alone, Saoirse—”
Saoirse keeps talking, ignoring Ana as she focuses on me, her green eyes bright and angry. “You can keep pretending to be an innocent girl who got caught up in the moment, but those of us who know how all this works know better.Connorknows better. Liam is biased towards his friend, and Ana—” she waves her hand. “Ana was never meant for this life. She doesn’t understand, but I do. I know what girls like you are willing to do in order to secure a man like Niall, when a marriage you don’t want is on the table. But Niall doesn’t need a girl. He needs a woman.”
“What, do you mean yourself?” I fire back angrily, unable to stop myself from retorting exactly as I want to any longer. “Because Niall is done with you—”
Saoirse laughs, a sharp, startled sound. “Oh, sweetheart. Of course I don’t mean me. I’m happily married. I wouldn’t trade Connor for anything. I made the right choice in the end, I’m sure of it. Things between Niall and I are finished, for all that they were sweet while it lasted. I mean anyone other thanyou.”
She pushes past me, marching towards the door and opening it. “Get out,” she snaps. “You have no right to any of this, or to him. You played a game, but you’re going to lose in the end, and the only one who doesn’t realize it is you.”
Ana reaches the bottom of the staircase then, her blue eyes glittering angrily as she glares at Saoirse. “That’s enough!” she says sharply, her gaze flicking between the two of us. “You’re really going to talk to her like that? If you know the whole story, then you know what she’s been through. You’ve never had to endure anything like that, Saoirse, but Ihave. So leave her alone, do you understand me? You had your chance with Niall, and you chose. What he does now is not your business.”
“It’s not yours either,” Saoirse says archly. “I’m simply reacting to what my husband told me, and finding this girl in my house.”
“Ourhouse,” Ana seethes. “I’mreacting to whatmyhusband toldme. And my personal knowledge of what it’s like to have gone through what Isabella has. Now I’ll tell you once more, leave her alone. None of this has anything to do with you.”
“It’s part of Kings’ business—”
“Which is Connor’s and Liam’s,” Ana snaps. “We’re simply here to support them. And harassing Niall’s wife isn’t doing that. It will only make things more strained.” She sighs, glancing at me. “You should go, Isabella. I’ll smooth things over here. I’ll text you soon.”
I nod, unable to speak as tears burn behind my eyes. I hear Saoirse’s voice, but I block out her scathing retort as I flee towards the waiting car. I manage to hold the tears back until I’m inside the cool, leather-scented darkness, and then, as the driver pulls away from the McGregor mansion, I let them fall.
I sob all the way back home—or rather, to my apartment.
This isn’t my home. And I’m not sure it ever can be.
