Page 62 of A Raven Reformed

He let out a long sigh. Slowly he nodded. “What do you need, Bells?”

“I need to tell you something, but you can’t tell anyone else.”

He nodded. “Very well.”

“I think—” She took a deep breath. “I think I’m pregnant.”

Isaac’s mouth opened in a wide grin. “Congratulations! That’s so exciting! I bet your husband is over the moon.”

Her heart stuttered briefly. “He doesn’t know yet.”

Michael’s broad form appeared in the doorway. “He does now.” His voice was quiet, but it vibrated with anger.

“You,” he said, pointing at Isaac. “Pack your bags and get out of my house.”

“No!” Belle shouted as Michael turned to leave. “You don’t get to do that, Michael.”

He turned back to face her. “I just did.”

“Michael, please. He didn’t do anything.” She chased after him as he stormed down the hall. “What happened to listening to me? You said you would do better.”

He turned to face her again. There was so much hurt in his eyes. “I would have listened, but you didn’t talk to me. You might be with child. My child,” he said, pointing to his chest, “and you thought you should tell that man, someone you’re not even supposed to be having private conversations with, instead of your own husband? What happened to having no secrets between us, Belle?”

Guilt ripped through her at his words and she had a sudden need to lash out. “No, Michael. Get down off of your high horse. You don’t get to hold me in judgment, when you kept our betrothal secret from me for my entire life!”

He shook his head, a flicker of pain in his eyes, then he turned to continue down the corridor away from her.

How had this gone so horribly wrong? She hurried back to Isaac. He looked stunned by everything that had just happened.

“I won’t let him sack you, Isaac.”

“You were the one who made a bad choice, Belle, and rather than just apologizing or taking responsibility for it, you decided to strike out and hurt him. You need to stop worrying about me and go after him.”

“And you need to stop defending him,” she argued. “You realize he’d sack you just for speaking to me that way.”

“In case you didn’t notice, he already did, so I might as well speak my mind. You’re behaving like a brat again, Belle. Just go and apologize to him.”

“I most certainly will not. He’s a brute and a bully and he’s the one who needs to apologize. And the same applies to you!”

She stormed from the room and straight out of the house. She had no idea where she was going. She just needed to get away from them. Both of them. She hurried away from the house and into the trees. A layer of mist hovered amongst them, which was even better. If they couldn’t find her, they couldn’t bother her. She’d go back when she was good and ready. It was her turn to blow off some steam, so she continued with her brisk strides, wherever they took her.

Was she being a brat? Yes. Without question. But she was scared. Her mother died after giving birth to her.

A single tear ran down her cheek. She just needed someone to comfort her and tell her everything would be alright. She shivered. She hadn’t bothered to get her coat before leaving the house, but she wasn’t ready to go back yet, even if she was cold, so she just moved a little more quickly.

She continued to place one foot in front of the other, not paying any attention to where she was going, thoughts swirling relentlessly through her head. Michael did want a baby, didn’t he? He’d certainly been putting plenty of effort into trying to create one. Of course he wanted one.

Why hadn’t she just told him? Her throat ached with defeat. She needed to go back home, find Michael, apologize, and tell him the truth. Surely she could make him understand. She could convince him Isaac hadn’t done anything wrong.

Slowly, she pulled her mind back to her present surroundings. Somehow, she hadn’t even noticed the fog settling in around her. There had been a bit of mist when she’d left, but nothing like this. Dread slowly filled her stomach as she looked around. Not only did she have no idea how far she’d gone or where she was, but she could barely see ten feet in front of her. How was she going to find her way back home?

* * *

She was pregnant. It should be the happiest moment of Michael’s life. In some ways, it was. He wanted nothing more than to start a family with her.

He just wished she would have told him. Why did she continue to keep secrets from him? He heard her words again, and she wasn’t wrong. He had kept their betrothal from her for her entire life. But they’d already discussed that. Was she still hurt by it? Hadn’t she agreed that it had been for the best?

But no, that wasn’t what this was really about. He’d hurt her, so she’d lashed out. But he’d done the same thing to her, hadn’t he? It had hurt him to know that she’d chosen to tell Isaac rather than him, so he’d lashed out by dismissing her friend.

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