Chapter 76

Between the incident of falling down the stairs and having that conversation with James earlier, my nerves were thoroughly shaken. On top of that, my muscles ached and I was in deep need of either a long bath or a long nap.

But from the startled look on Emily’s face, after I’d closed the door on James, I sort of guessed that I was in for a long night. Normally, under different circumstances when I wasn’t pregnant, she and I would discuss a lot of our drama over a glass of wine...Or perhaps an entire bottle.

However, she was willing to make the swap for tea instead of wine this evening.

I hugged the steaming hot mug to my chest and embraced the comforting sense of warmth it gave me.

“Mia...” The eerie tone in her voice sent chills down my spine. “Are you really thinking about divorcing James?”

“Truthfully? I’m not sure,” I responded solemnly.

This wasn't how I expected my life to turn out after having only been with James for a couple of months. The thought of permanently putting an end to our relationship sent a grueling feeling through me.

What on earth would become of my life if I were to actually end our marriage? Would I have to, essentially, quit my job at the company as well?

‘Surely, James wouldn’t want his ex-wife running documents and contracts to him on a daily basis,’ I thought dryly. ‘Well, at the very least, I would have to find another living arrangement.’

The severity of my situation had practically, and quite literally, doubled in the span of just a single day. Twins...I was now expecting twins.

That meant I would have to work even harder than I had before in order to support all three of us.

God, the mere thought of returning to how my life was before James came into it was enough to make me want to break down in tears.

‘It’s not like I want this to happen,’ I thought painfully to myself. ‘But, the way things have turned out, I can’t see any other possible course of action.’

Emily must have sensed my inner distress as she came to rest her hand on my arm.

“I think you said most of that out of anger,” she says. “I mean, do you really want to divorce James?”

“I don’t think it’s a matter of ‘want’ but rather what may need to happen,” I responded. “I can’t live in that house—be married to someone who is still heavily hung up and living in their past. It’s not fair and it certainly doesn’t feel right.”

“But didn’t James tell you that he loves you?” Emily asked gently.

Thinking back to that time during the press conference sent another jolt of pain through my chest. “That’s another thing that’s been bothering me...If it really meant it, then why did he make it into some major announcement in front of the press? Why couldn’t he tell me in private when it could have meant so much more?”

Emily nodded her head to understand. “You’re saying that from the way he did it, it appears as if it was all for show.”

“Yes.”

There reached a point where I genuinely felt like our relationship was based solely on the preservation of the Derek name and nothing more.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

The sudden knocking on the door caused both Emily and I to jolt in our seats and turn our heads. A feeling in the pit of my stomach told me that it was James.

This time, I was the one who got up from the couch to answer the door. The moment I opened it, I was met with a breathtaking vision of James. His eyes were filled with light and long forgotten the sorrow that they held before.

“Mia, please, I need to talk to you.”

Good God. I just wanted a bit of space to work things out—and James wasn’t giving me that space.

“James, I really don’t want to talk with you right now.”

“It’s important,” he stated pointedly.

Suddenly, my voice filled with venomous sarcasm. “Oh, so now, all of a sudden, things are important? Why weren’t they important when I was still at the house, huh? Why was it that whenever I tried speaking to you, you were able to just push me aside?”

“Mia...”

“Well, now I’m pushing you aside. I don’t have time to deal with whatever issue that’s newly come up. Surely you and Evelyn can find a way to fix whatever it is—”

“For God’s sake, Mia! There is no Evelyn.”

My brows pulled together. “What?”

“That woman wasn’t the real Evelyn.”

“I don’t understand—”

“It was Edward—my uncle—he set this whole thing up to. He wanted to break our relationship.”

I wrapped my arms around myself. “Well, it seemed to have worked,” I muttered under my breath.

“No. Don’t you see? None of it was real.”

“But you wished it was, don’t you,” I said quietly. James stared at me with wide eyes. “The second that woman came walking about into your life, you dropped everything that we’ve been building together. I understand that you were looking for answers as to what happened to her. But in the meantime, you either treated me like I was either a burden or if I didn’t exist at all.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a long breath. “Mia, please—”

“If you weren’t over your ex, then why were you so adamant about finding a new wife?”

“You know why.”

A humorless laugh slipped past my lips. “Oh, yeah. That’s right, that ridiculous Alpha Gathering. You needed someone by your side to show everyone that you moved on. But you weren’t over it, were you? Jesus, James, you have every right to be upset and mournful over Evelyn. I never held any of that against you. But in all truthfulness, you and I both know that you were never ready for a new relationship.”

“So, what if it is true?”

I glared at him incredulously. “Then why the hell did you insist that we sign a marriage contract? If you’ve always felt this way, you could have at least chosen someone with a less colorful background that would have been less trouble for your family to accept. Why pick me of all people?”

His gaze was heavy with a look of unbridled longing. “Because I wasn’t about to let you walk out of my life. Not again,” he stated fiercely.

I let out a huff. “What does that even mean?”

“It means that I wasn’t going to let my mate slip through my hands!” he growled.