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“Not just her.” Mom grabbed a brown paper bag that had been out of sight behind the stuffed toys. She walked across the room and placed it on the bed next to Alison. “I don’t think this is for Irene.”
Alison opened it. There were three different colors of nail polish in the bag.
“He bought that for you. I didn’t understand why he never gave it to you, but now, I’m assuming that the two of you had a fight.” Mom picked up one of the bottles. “Turquoise. One of your favorite colors.” Her eyes met Alison’s. “He may not say the words, but this is how a man shows that he loves you—by paying attention to you, by knowing what you like.”
“I wish it were that simple.” Alison laughed, but the sound was hollow and humorless. “Trust me. I wouldn’t leave him because he hasn’t told me that he loves me.”
“Then what is it? What are you so angry about that you’d throw your marriage away? Did he cheat on you?” Mom’s eyes hardened. “If that’s it then you’re right to leave him. There is no place in a woman’s life for a man who cheats.”
“He didn’t cheat.” She should’ve left it at that, but her darn mouth opened and spewed out the words that she’d been hiding for so long. “Mom, none of this was real. This was all a bargain. A deal that I made to own part of the company.”
“I don’t understand?” Mom pulled up a chair and sat, her eyes worried.
“He wanted a child and he offered me a partnership in the company to give him one. We only got married because I knew it would upset you if I had a child out of wedlock.”
“What?” Mom’s face was paler than Alison had ever seen it before.
“I'm sorry. I never meant to tell you.”
“So the two of you concocted a fake marriage?”
“Yes, and now it's done. We’ll go our separate ways.” She kissed the baby’s head. “But it's not all bad. I have Irene and now, we have money. A lot of it. I know we’ve fixed some of the issues with the house already, but now, we can repair the rest or buy a new one or—”
“Is that how you convinced yourself to do this? Pretended it was for money? Pretended you were doing this to save me and my house?”
“It wasn't pretend, Mom. You wouldn't move. We should’ve left that house. It cost a fortune to fix; a fortune I didn't have. I was making good money but not enough.”
“Do not use me as your excuse. I would’ve done what was necessary. I've always done what was necessary.”
“When Mom? When the house fell down around you? When your lungs filled with mold? Or were you waiting for the place to catch on fire?”
“That falling down house is all I have left of my life and the choices I made, but they were my choices. I appreciate you helping me, but you weren’t obligated, and you certainly weren't expected to sell yourself as a brood mare to a billionaire.”
“I didn't see any other way.” Alison straightened. Her mother should be at least a little grateful for what she’d done.
“You should’ve looked harder.” Mom stormed out of the room.
Aunt Tiff walked over to her. “Alison, I love you like a daughter.”
She braced herself. Aunt Tiff’s tone was always the sweetest before she impaled someone with her words.
“But you need to grow up, and you need to quit lying to yourself. You may not have wanted or needed that money, but you wanted that partnership. You wanted to own that program. None of this was about your mother. Telling yourself that just made it easier for you to accept.”
“That's not true.” She couldn’t believe they were turning against her after everything she’d done for them. Like what, whispered her conscience? Having fabulous sex with a gorgeous man? Living in a mansion and not worrying about anything? Yeah, she’d sacrificed so much for them.
“Stop it. This is too important to lie to yourself. You wanted this deal, this contract, and this man. Do not place your choices on your mother’s shoulders.”
CHAPTER 14: Harker
Harker stood outside the door to the hospital room, trying to hear what Alison was saying, but the damn doors were so thick he couldn’t even hear them mumbling. He grabbed the handle. If he opened it just a crack...He dropped his hand as Mrs. Robinson barreled out of the room, slamming into him.
He stumbled backward, grabbing her shoulders to keep them both from falling. “Are you okay?” It was a stupid question. He could see by the tears in her eyes that she wasn’t.
“You.” She pulled away from him.
He flinched at the loathing in that one word.
“This whole time...I knew something was wrong when you hurried the wedding. I can’t believe you did this to my daughter.”
