“Well, am I right?” Waylen asks. “I told you I’d trust you no matter what—so just tell me what happened, and we can move on.”
“You saw the picture,” Leilani whispers.
“What?” Waylen asks.
Leilani raises her voice, “I said you saw the picture.”
“The picture doesn’t mean anything,” Waylen says. “I know he forced you, right?
He sounds like he’s trying to convince himself, she thinks. I hate myself for what I’m about to do, but I don’t have a choice. It’ll be better to hurt him now than to encourage his love and hurt him later.
“The picture doesn’t lie, Waylen,” Leilani says, trying to keep her voice from shaking. “I kissed him.”
Waylen shakes his head back and forth and says, “No, no, that’s not true.”
Leilani shuts her eyes, and hot tears drip down her cheeks. She hears footsteps, and then she feels Waylen’s breath on the top of her head. He hooks his finger under her chin and gently tilts her head toward him, wiping her tears with a soft tissue.
“Why are you crying?” he asks. “You don’t need to feel guilty—I know the kiss doesn’t mean anything. You’re mine, Leilani. I’m the father of your child, and soon I’ll be your husband again. You’re mine and mine alone.”
“No, Waylen, I won’t marry you,” Leilani says. “I’ll give you the child, but I won’t be your wife again.”
“Why not?” Waylen asks, his voice getting dangerously low. “Is it because of Andrew? Is that why you keep refusing my proposals? Do you care for him, Leilani?”
Leilani tries to speak, but there’s a painful lump in her throat. She swallows hard and tries again, but she can’t make the words come out. She watches the different feelings flicker across Waylen’s face: confusion, betrayal, rage, and then a terrible sadness.
“Or is this about Charles?” Waylen asks. “Do you love Charles? Is that why you kissed Andrew—because Charles’ heart is in his body?”
“No, it has nothing to do with Charles or the heart,” Leilani says, hating herself for the pain she’s about to cause.
“What is it about?” Waylen asks.
“It’s about you, Waylen,” Leilani says, trying to make her voice as cold as possible. “I want to leave you. I always have, and now I’m determined to do it. Our marriage was the worst mistake of my life.”
Waylen pulls his hands away from her face, and she notices that they’re shaking. His face is ashen, and he slowly leans on the side of his desk. He looks like he might collapse at any moment. Leilani forces herself to look at him. I can’t hide from the consequences, she thinks. This is what I’m doing to him—I’m destroying him.
“I don’t believe you,” Waylen says. “You’ve had many chances to escape from me, but you’ve always come back.”
“I had no choice,” Leilani says. “I wanted to be with Andrew, but we had a lover’s quarrel. I got angry and ran away, but I had nowhere to go.”
“Oh, what was this quarrel about?” Waylen asks.
She says, “It was about your child. He was jealous that I was carrying your child.”
Waylen begins to laugh, and the sound is unhinged and terrifying. He laughs and laughs until tears run from his eyes. He wipes them away and laughs some more. Leilani looks nervously for Robert, but the butler has run away from the room.
“I didn’t realize our baby was such a burden to you,” Waylen says. “Why didn’t you just get an abortion?”
“I tried,” Leilani lies. “But your grandfather found out, and he threatened to kill me.”
Waylen shakes his head wildly back and forth and says, “No, no, no. You left me that recording. You told me you loved me and begged me to come to find you. I don’t know what’s going on now, but I know that you’re lying to me.”
“I left that recording before I really spent time with Andrew,” Leilani says. “But after I lived with him, I fell in love with him.”
Waylen laughs again, and the sound makes Leilani shiver. He grabs her by the neck and pushes her up against the wall. He stares deep into her eyes as if he wants to read her mind. She closes her eyes and turns her head away.
“Stop lying to me,” he whispers.
“I’m not lying,” she says. “You can believe whatever you want, but I’m not lying.”
“I’ll give you one last chance,” he says. “I promise to believe whatever you say—no matter how crazy it sounds.”
Why is he making this so difficult? She thinks. I’m trying to get away from him, but he won’t let me. In the past he’s always been so quick to assume I was cheating or lying, why is he suddenly so willing to listen?
“Everything I’ve just told you is the truth,” Leilani says. “I don’t want to marry you. I want to live with you as soon as I can.”
“Do you think you can just abandon me like that?” Waylen asks with a crazy laugh. “No, if you won’t be my wife, you must be my mistress.”
Leilani feels like she has ice water in her veins. Did I hear him right? She thinks. Is he so upset he wants to humiliate me? He’s been angry and hurt before, but he’s never threatened me with something so degrading. She stares up at him and shivers. His face has gone deathly pale, but his eyes are filled with hurt and betrayal.
“For the sake of our previous relationship, why don’t you just let me go?” she asks.
Waylen laughs and says, “You think I’d keep you around if you didn’t have that baby in your belly? No, Leilani, I’m keeping you here for the child, but you’re replaceable. Anyone can be Mrs. Bamford.”
Leilani raises her hand to touch his arm, but he flinches away as if he’s disgusted by her touch. He takes his hands off her neck and turns his back to her. She watches him cross the room and pour himself a glass of whiskey. His shoulders are tense as if he’s ready for a fight.
“Arrange for a DNA test, Robert,” Waylen says. “If the child in her belly isn’t mine, she doesn’t even deserve to be my mistress. She refused me in marriage, but I’ll abandon her.”
Leilani bites her lip and tries to slow her breathing. She can’t believe that Waylen still has suspicions about the baby. The s.p.e.r.m antigen test already proved it was his, but now he’s asking for a DNA test.
Of course, the DNA test will show that the baby is Waylen’s, she thinks. But I’m sure someone will tamper with it. All I have to do is make sure that Leonie and Florence know about the test, and they’ll find a way to change the results.
If Waylen thinks the baby isn’t his, I’ll be free to leave and meet Andrew.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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