Page 22 of Desperate Temptations

“We haven’t filed this with the court. We wish to keep it out of the proceedings.”

My lawyer sighs. “They don’t want a paper trail should the child ever go looking.”

My heart clenches for a second. They want to erase me completely at this point.

“That’s fine,” I say through gritted teeth as the anxiety of my possible future lies in a flimsy envelope on the table.

I grab the envelope, tearing it open and pulling out the paternity test. My heart sinks as I read over the results. “She’s not mine,” I say, swallowing down the emotion clawing at my throat.

Trent’s shoulders slump and their lawyer shakes his head.

“No, she’s not.”

I attempt to smile, but fail. “Guess that’s why my wife kept her here. Probably knew.”

Trent reaches out, squeezing my arm before letting go. I slide the paper on the table away from me.

“I guess that’s it then.”

My lawyer clears his throat. “We’d like to go over the division of assets. Just so we’re all on the same page and can assure you’re fairly compensated.”

I rub a hand down my face. “I don’t give a fuck, really. I’m not going to go babbling to the media. This was the last thing tying me to them, and there’s no link.”

“But the house?—”

“Sell it.”

His face flushes a ruddy color. “And the company stocks?—”

“Sell them too. Liquidate it all, I don’t fucking care about the money. I just wanted—” I say, raising my voice as I stand. My lawyer calls after me as I walk out the door, but I ignore him, needing a moment to fucking breathe. I rush out through the front door, gulping in the chilly morning air as I lean against the building with my hands on my knees.

In the next moment, Trent rubs a hand down my back.

“It’s okay to be disappointed.”

I look up at him, tears gathering on my waterline. “Is it?”

He shrugs. “Yeah, I wouldn’t blame you. She may not have been a good wife in the end, but you were with her for a long time. You loved her, the child is the last remaining piece of her.”

My nose tingles and I stand up straighter. “I don’t know how to explain how I feel. I just… It hurts, Trent.”

“I know,” he whispers as he pulls me into a hug. I rest my forehead on his shoulder and take a deep breath of his scent before moving back.

“Let’s finish this up and go home.”

I don’t comment on the strange expression that twists on his face because it makes my heart clench. So I give him a half-smile and then walk around him and back into the office.

ELEVEN

ETHAN

“We have the apartment for another month, so if you don’t want to go back just yet, we have time,” Trent says.

I nod, sitting on the corner of the bed.

“We can also travel a bit. Whatever you want,” he continues.

I squeeze my eyes shut. What I really want is to be left alone, but I don’t say it aloud.

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