Page 170 of My Big, Fat, Secret Billionaire Baby

Yes,the rational part of my brainscreams.

He lied.

Risked his life.

Proved he can’t be trusted.

But the other part, the part that remembers the tenderness beneath the intensity, the part that saw the genuine effort he was starting to make, the part that melted when he held Mia… that part is heartbroken.

Devastated.

And leaning heavily towards picking up the phone and telling him to come over.

No. Stop it.

I rock Mia gently as I lift her from the crib, burying my face in her sweet-smelling hair.

This breakisthe right choice.

For her.

For me.

It has to be.

I need to be strong. I need to protect her from the inevitable heartbreak.

Like I said, I’m leaning towards making this break permanent.

Ending it before he disappears for good, leaving us shattered and holding the bag.

It’s the only logical, self-protective thing to do.

So why does it feel so monumentally wrong?

Later that day,after fielding another dozen PR calls and successfully feeding Mia a meal of mashed peas, I call Tatiana. She already knows I moved out. I’d texted her the tearful, abbreviated version yesterday.

“Hey,” she answers. “How are you holding up?”

“Define ‘holding up,’” I say, trying for sarcasm butmostly just sounding exhausted. “I haven’t eaten ten Black Forest cakes in a row, so I guess that’s a win?”

“Baby steps,” she says gently. “Want me to come over? I can bring wine. Or Rocky Road. Or ten Black Forest cakes.”

“Don’t tempt me.” I sink onto my sofa and pat my curves. “I’m still trying to get rid of the… uh… lingering effects of gestating a tiny human.”

“Sabrina,” Tatiana says, her tone becoming more serious. “About Leo. I just wanted to say... well... are you sure you’re not… you know… projecting?”

I stiffen. “Projecting? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Just… your dad,” she says carefully. “The abandonment. The unreliability. Maybe you’re painting Leo with that same brush, without really giving him a real chance to prove he’s different.”

“Different?” I scoff. “Tati, he literally lied to me and went wingsuiting! And now he wants to go to Chamonix. The same flight that almost killed him! How is that different? It’s theexact same pattern! Choosing risk, choosing himself, over responsibility! Over Mia! Overme!”

“Okay, yes, the wingsuiting is insane. Terrifying,” Tatiana concedes, sounding genuinely troubled. “And him telling you he’sdoingChamonix, after lying about the quarry jump… God, Sabrina, your anger, your fear? Totally justified. It’s like he’s choosing that rush over you and Mia, point blank.”

She pauses. “And maybe he will, in the end. Maybe that pull, thatneedfor the rush, is just too strong for him right now. Maybe he’sincapable of choosing differently, especially with the pressure from the firm mounting after the Luca incident.

“But Sabrina, think aboutthisspecificsituation for a second, separate from your dad, if you can. Leo didn’t justdecidethis in a vacuum. He feels backed into a corner, doesn’t he? His partner nearly died. His company’s stability is shaky. His identity as ‘Leo Maxwell, Billionaire Venture Capitalist’ took a massive hit with the original accidentandthe sudden fatherhood reveal. He’s flailing. He’s reaching for the one thing he knows, the one sport where heprobably usedto feel completely in control. Wingsuiting.

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