Wayne listened, understanding what he must have gone through. He only had to think of losing Lily, and it brought him to his knees.
“Let’s just say I’m done. I don’t want to be the monster of a man anymore. I loved Lily with all my heart, and instead of cutting it up and dealing, I should have loved the one thing that had been present of our love for each other—our child.”
Wayne had two choices. Number one, send the man off and never allow him near his wife, or let Lily have something she truly needed.
“I want to warn you I love Lily with all my heart and soul. You do anything to f**king hurt her, and I’ll f**king kill you.”
George nodded and followed him to the spare room. Richard stood outside pacing and glanced at him as he walked closer.
Wayne let him go in and watched the scene unfold. Lily reached out for her father, and George went to her with open arms. He heard them talking and knew he’d made the right decision.
“She knows about the pre-nup, doesn’t she?” Wayne asked a nervous Richard at his side.
“How do you know?”
“I know Lily, and I’ve f**ked up. I want you to get every single copy of that...contract and bring it to me.”
“All of it?”
“Everything.”
Richard left him. Tony went to get more coffee, and Wayne got everything ready so he could take his wife home. Looking at the date on his watch, he noticed it was a week until Christmas. He wanted to make her first year with him special, but with all the ramifications rolling around, he truly believed everything he tried to do would be a lost cause.
Wayne watched the love of his life and prayed to the gods above to give him something to take away the Beast and bring her the man she deserved.
Chapter Twenty
They scattered around each other on tender hooks. Lily worked at home, refusing to bring anyone else in to do the washing and the cooking. The two jobs she got pleasure from: cooking food and making her clothes clean. It was almost therapeutic.
Wayne stayed at home in either his office or following her around somewhere. He wouldn’t leave her side no matter what she asked of him.
Her father came around as much as he could. He was working for Wayne, trying to build his life back up after the disaster of losing so much of his life already. George has given her a few diaries and keepsakes he kept hidden from her evil stepmother. The name still made her giggle. Knowing Jessica wasn’t any relative of hers made her sleep easier at night and having Stephanie as a half-sister was easier to handle.
For a short while, she truly thought she’d end up like the spiteful duo who got pleasure out of tormenting her.
The question she’d had for so long was answered: why everyone hated her. She was living proof of her father’s love and the infidelity with another woman. Lily took another item of clothing out and saw the lipstick mark on the neck of one of Wayne’s shirts. After so long of being empty, the mark jolted something inside her. Closing her eyes, she tried to calm her nerves. It had been a few weeks since she’d done the washing. Disgusting, but after everything she hadn’t got round to cleaning.
Screwing up the shirt, she put it on top of the machine and tried to blank out everything, to process her thoughts.
It doesn’t mean anything.
Wayne is cheating on you!
It doesn’t matter. I don’t love him. I never have.
Oh really, so you call mourning his loss in bed at night and craving his attention and wishing just once he’d turn around and tell you how he felt, hating him?
This was ridiculous. Grabbing the shirt, she charged down to his office. The door was shut, as usual before lunch.
Turn back around and pretend it doesn’t mean anything.
Nonsense, go in and confront him. Be a woman and take matters in your own hands.
Two voices were arguing amongst themselves. The child and the adult.
A child would skulk off and let it be. A woman would fight for her love.
Did she love him?
Do I have to do everything for you? Why do you think it hurts so damn much? You’re breaking inside, pregnant with his child and all you want is to be loved. Go in there and get him, tiger.
Nodding, she put her hand on the doorknob and froze.
More pain, is that what you want? Voice number two whispered along her brain.
Lily prayed. Other women had these moments, otherwise, she was putting herself in a sealed room with lots of f**king padding.
Lily jumped back as she opened the door. She screamed and tripped over, landing on her back.
“Lily!” Wayne took her in his arms and escorted her into his study, placing her gently down on the sofa she’d put in for his comfort. “I don’t want you hurting yourself. Why didn’t you just come in?”
“Hurting myself or the baby?” she growled.
Wayne jerked as if she’d burnt him with her words.
“Never mind, forget I ever said anything.” Lily moved out from under him. Having him so close and not thinking about touching him was too difficult to process.
“Lily, wait.”
“You know I don’t want to do this.” She flapped her hands above her head and moved away.
“Lily?”
“Actually, you know what I think. I’m sick, Wayne. I’m sick of you and everything you stand for.” Lily had no idea what she was saying, but she kept on. “You blackmail me with family that isn’t even mine to become your wife. I don’t even know you all that well! I have no honeymoon besides the cottage trip, which was lovely, but then you blurt out about the baby and that heavy contract and now all this and...and....” Lily took the shirt, stormed over to him, slapped him on the cheek, and pressed the lipstick mark right up in his face.
“What’s this? Another one of your floozies?”
“Lily, you’re not making sense.”
“Don’t give me one of your excuses. The shirt has lipstick on it. I don’t wear make-up, shithead.”
“You just called me shithead?”
“Yeah, and I’ll call you worse before the end of the day. I won’t have you....” Whatever she was about to say stopped as his lips took possession of her mouth, melting the coldness and shooting a spark to her heat.
Lily moaned and dropped the shirt to the floor. Her br**sts ached, and her cunt was swimming for more of this man and his hard cock.
She stopped. Shit, she’d given in too soon. Pulling out of his arms, she shot him a fierce look, wiping her mouth.
Wayne picked his shit from the floor and looked at the lipstick. “It’s your sister’s.”