Page 6 of Beloved Beauty

She laughs, delighted. “Lord, Maggie, you’re sittin’ on a gold mine. You better hold on to that man tighter than a tick on a hound.”

“His money is his money. I’m still building something on my own, and I’ll keep building it, married or not.”

Robin rolls her eyes. “You need to quit playin’ around and get yourself pregnant. That’s the only way to keep a man like that. Wedding rings slip off easy. A baby? That’s what locks ’em in.”

My body stiffens. “I would never use a child as a bargaining chip. I’m not you.”

She doesn’t flinch. Just smiles, tight-lipped and smug. “You owe this family, Maggie. After everything I gave up raisin’ you, you finally got a shot to give something back.”

I blink, stunned. My jaw works, but no words come—at first. Then it breaks loose, sharp and clean. “You didn’t raise me. You endured me. There’s a difference. You want to cash in on my marriage as if it’s a scratch-off win? Go find another ticket, Robin. I don’t owe you a damn thing.”

No pause. No second look. Only the sound of my steps as I walk away.

Out the front door. Down the creaking steps. Across the patchy yard where sunburnt grass curls around crushed beer cans—leftovers from nights that ended in bad decisions.

The heat slaps me, thick and damp, clinging to my skin. I press a hand to my chest, trying to slow the riot inside me, but my heart’s sprinting.

A moment later, I hear the screen door creak open behind me. Alex’s voice is low and even. “You want company, or should I give you space?”

I shake my head. “Stay.”

He stands beside me. Doesn’t touch me or say anything. Just waits.

“She asked if I’d give her money after I marry you.”

“Of course she did.”

“I expected her to ask for money. Honestly, I was ready for that. But that’s not what got to me. It was when she said I should get pregnant—fast, suggesting that a baby should be used to lock you in. As though love wasn’t enough.”

I shake my head, the words thick in my chest. “It’s not about the greed. It’s the way she doubts your love for me—suggesting I’m not worthy of it. And worse… the suggestion of using my child as a pawn to hold on to you and your money.”

A slow, cleansing breath moves through me as I inhale, steadying my nerves and quieting the noise within. “It’s silly to keep holding out for a version of her that doesn’t exist. I’m done contorting myself for a woman who never had room for me in the first place. I choose peace… even if it means choosing distance.”

Alex steps closer. “We’ll build that space together. As wide and strong as you need it. No one gets through unless you say so.”

His words settle in my chest—quiet, warm, unshakable.

And for the first time since we got here, I breathe without flinching.

We don’t go back inside.

Not to explain. Not to smooth things over. Not even to collect whatever politeness I left sitting on the kitchen counter.

Alex slides his fingers through mine as we walk to the car, and that’s all the closure I need. No apologies. No last scene. Just the clean, quiet break of a woman choosing herself.

Because I don’t owe them anything.

Not a thank-you.

Not a promise.

Not even a goodbye.

And that truth? It tastes like freedom.

Chapter 3

Magnolia Steel

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