AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I could never give you what you really want. I am what I am, and what I am is a general. And you deserve better than that.”
Katie took a step back, and tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. Then she set her jaw, and her eyes practically blazed.
“I guess I do.”
And then she stormed off, leaving him feeling hollow.
SIXTEEN
KATIE
Katie all but ran from him. Ran from his words and everything that had occurred in the last five minutes. It felt surreal. It felt like a nightmare.
She slammed the door when she got to her room. Slowly, she slumped against the door and then slid down it. Her body trembled with anger and sorrow, and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to scream or sob.
When a cry wrenched itself from her throat, she gave in. She let herself cry and cry and cry. How had it all gone so wrong so quickly?
And to think, she’d actually thought he was going to ask her to marry him. And she would have said yes. How terribly mistaken she was.
“I’m so stupid,” she muttered. For thinking he wanted her. That he’d choose them over his career. That he even cared about them or loved them like he said he did.
She’d wanted him to choose, and he had. Looking back now, the reason she’d been ready for him to choose was because she thought he’d choose them. A hysterical laugh bubbled up from her throat. He was a career military man. Why in the universe would she think that he’d choose them or his career?
Her mind supplied a montage of moments with him. Ones where he’d been so loving, so good with Ayla. How he’d canceled his meeting just to spend a day with them.
Apparently, that had just been an anomaly. Apparently, it hadn’t meant enough for him.
Old anger seared within her, born from memories of her father constantly brushing her off. Of telling her he had more important things to do. He couldn’t be bothered with her because his career came first, and apparently, raising a child came dead last.
Her hands curled into fists. If he was always going to put his service before everything else, then he didn’t deserve to raise Ayla. Ayla deserved better than that.
She vowed since the beginning to not let Ayla grow up with the same life she’d had as a child. Every kid deserved to have a loving parent. Axur surely wasn’t going to be that parent.
Katie debated sticking it out until there could be a hearing for custody over Ayla, but the thought of being here a minute more turned her stomach. She grabbed the device that Stella had left before her departure that would ring directly to Stella in case of emergency.
“Stella, I’m leaving my position here. I’d appreciate it if you’d send a replacement straight away.”
After that call, it took three days for Stella to send the new nanny. Three days that felt like months. She’d spent most of the time avoiding Axur like the plague. She could tell he was doing much the same.
When the nanny finally did arrive, she decided to take mercy on the girl and spend another two days training her.
“Be sure to cook something healthy with the meal, even if she bats her eyes at you and begs you for sweets,” Katie instructed the new nanny, Lisa. “But do be sure to make something sweet, too. She deserves that.”
Lisa gave her a hard stare. “I have been a nanny before, you know. I can run a household and look after a child.”
Katie clenched her jaw. She didn’t particularly care for the attitude of this new nanny, but she couldn’t really stand to wait here any longer for Stella to send someone else. So, she relented.
“Fine. Just be sure to read to her every night. She loves books.”
Lisa nodded. “So you’ve said. Don’t worry, I will.”
Katie sighed. What more could she ask for? She’d already taken more time than was probably acceptable to train this nanny. If the roles had been reversed, she would have been a little insulted.
It was strange. She wanted to leave. Staying in the same house with Axur just wasn’t an option for her anymore. But she also felt like the moment she left, it would truly all be over.
A small part of her hoped that Axur would come to his senses and apologize for everything, and it could all go back to the way it was. They could still be a family, and all of this could just be a big misunderstanding they worked through. If he really had come to her with genuine remorse, she believed she could forgive him.
But he never did, and so she had to leave.
