Chapter 314 He Loves Children
Emilia’s POV
The second I saw her photo on the headstone, the tears came back, hot and fast. I knelt in the grass and pressed trembling fingers to her picture.
"Mom," I whispered. "Tell me what to do. Please. What am I supposed to do..."
My tears dripped onto the grass by my knees. Maybe next spring a sad little flower would push up from that spot.
"Years ago you told me that one day I’d have a daughter just as clever and stubborn as me. Well, here we are. What now, Mom? I tried. I swear I tried everything. It still wasn’t enough. I’m so tired. I’ve gritted my teeth and clawed through, again and again, but I can’t outrun the hand fate dealt me."
I lowered my head and let it out.
"They’ve been good to me, Mom. Mila swears it isn’t my fault. Says they’d never turn me out just because I can’t carry a child. I know those are only words meant to soften the blow. But I keep swallowing the lie anyway, telling myself she truly doesn’t mind." My voice cracked. "But I know how much she aches for a grandchild. I’ve seen it. It guts me. Am I selfish, staying in this family when I can’t give them the one thing they want?"
A gust of wind moved through the graves, brushing my face like a mother’s hand wiping my cheek dry. For half a second it eased something in me. Then fresh tears came anyway. When I thought of Sebastian, of the fact that he still didn’t know, I wished the earth would just split and let me lie down beside her forever. Leaving him would hurt. Staying with him would hurt more.
Enough of this, Eve murmured somewhere in the back of my mind, quiet but firm. Crying in the dirt won’t fix a thing. Get up, Emilia.
She was right. She usually was.
My phone rang before I could rise. I dug it out and answered with tears still wet on my face. Unknown number. But the voice was one I knew far too well.
"Come out and meet me."
I sniffed and steadied my tone. "What’s this about?"
"I’ve got something to discuss. Believe me, if I didn’t, I’d stay as far from you as possible."
I wiped my eyes. "Sorry. I don’t have time right now."
"Tomorrow, then. Let me know when you’re free."
"Just say it over the phone. I’m busy every single day."
It was Abigail Tanner. And every instinct I had screamed that meeting her was a mistake.
"Fine," she said sweetly. "Then maybe I’ll swing by the pack house and find you there. I know the place well. I’ve been through those doors plenty of times."
My grip clamped down on the phone. The thought of her strolling into Mila and Titus’s home made my stomach turn. "Where?"
"Blue Sky Cafe."
She hung up.
I took one last long look at my mother’s photo, pressed my fingers to my lips and then to the cold stone, and walked back down the hill.
No matter how far down I was, no matter how ugly my week had been, I would never let a rival see me bleed. That was my one unbendable rule. So by the time I walked into Blue Sky Cafe, my face was smooth, unreadable. My eyes were a little red, sure. But nobody would guess I’d just been sobbing in a graveyard.
Abigail was already there, perched at a corner table like she owned it. I sat across from her, calm as still water.
"All right," I said. "What do you want from me? Let’s skip the small talk."
She looked me over. "You’re tougher than I gave you credit for. A tragedy like this lands on you, and you still sit there acting like your whole world isn’t falling apart."
"You’ll have to be clearer than that."
"I know everything." She leaned in, lowering her voice like she was doing me a favor. "You can’t have children. Permanently."
The blood drained from my face. I dug my nails into my palm under the table and flattened my voice. "And?"
"Oh, nothing much. I’d just like to know your thoughts. Your plans."
"Why on earth would I share those with you?"
I fixed my eyes on her, cold. She only smiled.
"You don’t have to, of course. But let me remind you again, since you seem slow to catch on. If you can’t give him a child, you should leave Sebastian. It’s the only way you’ll ever prove you actually love him."
"And why would I take that reminder from you? You’re a footnote in his past. You might want to remember that before you open your mouth."
"Who said I’m just his past?" She lifted her chin. "To this day he can’t accept that I walked away from him. He and I aren’t finished. You slid in while he was at his lowest, sure, but what he and I had runs deeper than that. We’re meant to be. Otherwise, why would you be the one sitting here barren?"
My hands shook on the table. The way she spat that word, barren, it landed like she’d flung it in my face along with her spit. Humiliation curdled into pure disgust.
Let me out, Eve growled low. One swipe. Just one.
Not here, I told her. Not for this woman.
"I’m done talking to you," I said aloud. "Do yourself a favor and get out of my sight."
"I’m not leaving Sebastian!"
"And what exactly do you think staying beside him earns you?" Abigail arched a brow, twisting my own words back at me. "You can’t even do what any ordinary woman can. Don’t you think it’s shameless, clinging to him like this?"
"Compared to a woman who shoves her way into someone else’s marriage without a shred of shame? No. I sleep just fine."
Her face darkened. She ground her teeth. "Even if they never accept me, they’ll never keep dead weight around forever either. They might tolerate you now, but you honestly think that lasts? You’ll be out of that house before three years are up."
"Worry about your own life. Whatever becomes of me, don’t you dare imagine you’ll get anywhere near my man."
"You’re impossible to reason with." She sat back, mouth curving thin. "Maybe I’ll just bring Sebastian in one of these days and lay it all out for him. He adores children. I’ll have a far easier time getting through to him than I ever will with you."
The words sank into me like a blade. But I kept my voice flat and cold. "Dream on. Sebastian doesn’t like children. If you’re planning to lure him with the promise of a family, save yourself the trouble and give it up now."
Abigail threw her head back and laughed. "He doesn’t like children? Oh, that’s rich. Just because you can’t have any doesn’t mean the rest of the world shares your defect. A few years back, when Sebastian and I were still together, we fought about having kids all the time. Did you know that?"