Baby

Chapter 30

Iris:

I found myself sitting outside the front door of my house, not knowing where to go, getting lost in the number of thoughts that I was having, feeling more pain than I ever thoguht that I would. Mostly, I was angry, and the thing was, these emotions were ones that I didn’t like my daughter seeing in me. It was something that I often fought against, and yet, here I was, weakening.

The thing was, I knew that I would end up going to my parents‘ to pick Lillian up. The last thing that I needed was for them to ponder me with questions if I didn’t. But right now, I didn’t want to be a mother. It was an urge that I couldn’t fight, but couldn’t help but find myself not wanting to take care of these duties and instead, I just wanted to be left alone to drown whatever I was feeling.

I ran my fingers through my hair for a few seconds before laying my back on the porch’s wall. I didn’t even care if anyone passed by or watched. At this point, I couldn’t care about anything.

The man that I loved, the man who was my husband, looked at me as if I were some kind of pest, and the way he spoke to me didn’t make anything better. If anything, I couldn’t help but feel small, and that fact alone broke me more than ever.

My heart raced against my chest as I ran my fingers through my hair, recalling his words.

“You can consider it as a warning.” His threat could be seen in his eyes as he spoke. The way he looked at me, glaring daggers at me, told me that he would be more than willing to hurt me. But his next words were the ones that broke me, especially when I knew that I had sacrificed a lot to be with him at the time. I could have been with someone who at least loved or appreciated me, but I chose him, and this was what I got.

“And by the way, I may have not wanted you in my life, and thank you for giving me the reminder of why I didn’t want you as a wife.”

The words have been playing in my head for hours, and now, I knew that I needed to somewhat snap out of them. If anything, it was me who wanted to sign the divorce papers. I wasn’t forced to do so; however, I knew that I couldn’t really get over him that easily. It just sickened me inside that he was easily over me, and not only that, but that he was easily able to look past the relationship that the two of us had before Mariana.

The fact that I no longer knew whether he was ever honest about his feelings toward me didn’t make things any better, especially when I knew that Mariana was employed a year into our marriage. But to know that he might have just felt forced into the marriage only made me lose my own self–confidence, and that wasn’t something that I accepted or took very lightly.

A few tears fell from my eyes before I could stop them, but I was quick to wipe them to ensure that no one saw them. The last thing that I wanted was for anyone to read my pain in my eyes. I was already going to be the center of media when it was officially found that I was working with Dean. Just the idea of dealing with that much attention was not something that I wanted to think of; however, I knew that I had to suck it up and endure the hell that I would be going through.

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Chapter 30

It was either that of my father chose to give up on fils treatment, and the last thing that I was going to do was accept that he stopped the process when just convinced him to start with it. Therefore, for his sake, I knew that I would endure whatever hell came with it. If I was going to do this for anyone, then I was going to do this for him.

I just had to find the urge to stand strong in front of the one man who was my weakness.

And that was something that I knew for fact. If I wanted to win this, then I had to do it for my, and my daughter’s sake. There was no running from this now…

“I am surprised that you came to the meeting.” Dean said, taking me off guard as he approached me after the meeting was over. I had to admit, I did debate on skipping it or sending my lawyer and secretary, but the last thing that I wanted him to think or know was that he was having anything over me, and by anything, I meant any power.

The man didn’t deserve to think or know that I was weak, and it was something that he knew very well at thi

point, but I was more than determined to wipe that idea off his head and mind.

“I believe that I am a partner, and your direct one; therefore, there is no reason for me not to show up at a work meeting when I know for fact that it would benefit me just as much as it would benefit you.” I said, giving him a cold smile. I knew that he could read past my smile, but that was the least of my concerns. If anything, the man was going to pay for what he has made me endure, and one way or the other, I was going to make sure that he didn’t approach my daughter.

“I am sorry about yesterday, Iris.” He said, and I rolled my eyes as I picked up my files. I, being his direct partner, was the last to leave the meeting along his side in case there was anything to tend to with the investors. That fact itself bothered me despite knowing its importance, but I knew that it mainly bothered me because I didn’t want to be in his presence.

“You apologizing means nothing to me, Dean.” I said, glaring at him. “The two of us are nothing but colleagues and partners. Therefore, you don’t need to find the urge to apologize.”

“The two of us are parents of…”

“You are no parent to my daughter.” I said, stopping him. “Parenthood doesn’t come by donating a

which you gave me when you were in conflict with your bitch of a mistress.”

sperm

“The woman is…”

“The woman broke MY home, and therefore, she will be a mistress in my eyes no matter what she does. You can either choose to accept it or try fighting me against it, but I do not give a fucking damn.” I said, stopping at him. I knew that me snapping right now was due to my anger out of everything, and that was something that I knew I needed to control. “As for Lillian being at your school, I will give you this warning once, and believe me, Dean, I will not hesitate to fulfill.”

“Warning?” He asked, frowning in confusion at my choice of words.

“If you think of approaching my daughter without my permission, I give you my fucking word that

Chapter 30

you won’t be dealing with me; it would be the cops. I said glaring at him. And he laughed, shaking his head before wrapping his arm around my waist and pushing me toward the round table, pinning me against it as he stood in front of me, leaning in. His hot breath hit my face, and I wasn’t

my waist despite it not being

stupid as not to know that his grip could possibly leave a bruise on hit my face, and I wasn’t

tight. It was me who had sensitive skin that got bruised out of almost anything.

“Lillian is my daughter, and if I wasn’t in her life, its because you chose to hide her.” He said, glaring at me as he spoke. “Considering that I am respecting the fact that you could have been in pain, and that pain is the main reason why you hid her, I won’t say a word; however, I do recommend that you don’t test your luck too much If anything, I doubt that it would do you any good, do you understand me, Iris?”