I Fled the Wedding and Came Back With a Contract Husband Chapter 04

I Fled the Wedding and Came Back With a Contract Husband Chapter 04

My stomach turned. I pushed back my chair and stood. “I’m done. Going out for air.”

The evening wind carried the scent of oak leaves, cold enough to make me shiver. Hasty footsteps followed.

“James Prescott is a decent man,” Nathan said, catching up. “The Prescotts can help your family, and they can get your mother better medical care—”

I turned to face him. “What right do you have to say that to me? My ex-fiancé? Or my brother-in-law?”

He went still, his pupils contracting.

“You chose her five years ago,” I went on. “Stick with that choice. Don’t show up at the airport. Don’t interfere with my marriage prospects. When you do these things, do you ever think about how Sophia feels?”

“She’s your wife. She’s the mother of your child.” I stared at the ring on his hand. “I’m just your wife’s sister. Remember your place.”

A soft cough came from behind me.

I turned. Sophia stood in the doorway, wrapped in a shawl, her face pale. She must have been there for a while.

“Nathan,” she called softly, chiding, “you didn’t grab a jacket. It’s cold out here, and your stomach—”

She walked up, tiptoed to drape a coat over his shoulders, and smoothed his collar with practiced intimacy.

Then she turned to me, sweetly apologetic. “Emily, your grandfather arranged the match for your own good. James is a wonderful catch—you wouldn’t regret it. I already accepted on your behalf. He’s coming to see Mom tomorrow, so you two can meet.”

I stared at her. “Who said you could speak for me?”

“I was just trying to help.”

“I don’t need your help.” My voice went cold.

Sophia’s face paled. She clutched her chest and stepped back, breathing hard, like she was about to have an asthma attack.

Nathan caught her immediately, his brow creased. He looked at me with reproach. “Emily, you know she’s fragile. Why do you push her?”

I watched him holding her, and I laughed.

“Nathan, when we were twelve, you got into a fight with the neighbor boys for me. You came home covered in bruises and promised no one would ever hurt me again. Do you remember that?”

His throat worked. He said nothing.

“The person hurting me now is the one you’re protecting.”

I turned away.

“Forget it. It doesn’t matter.”

I headed back inside, but at the entryway, my father’s voice drifted from the living room.

“Back then, if Nathan hadn’t come to us himself saying Sophia was carrying his child and insisting they marry, Emily would have been the one—”

I stopped cold.

Nathan came in behind me and stopped in the doorway.

I turned slowly. “He’s telling the truth? You went to Grandfather yourself and said Sophia was pregnant with your child and you had to marry her?”

He looked at the floor. “Yes.”

“No explanation?”

“No.”

I stared at him for a long moment.

Twelve years of love, five years of running—and here it was, shattered beyond repair.

I didn’t speak. I walked out the front door.