Mom, Don't Cry! Here comes a new Daddy! novel Chapter 36

< Chapter 27

Chapter 27

(Sabrina’s POV)

+25 Points

My suitcase wheels rattle against the dock planks, the sound matching the angry rhythm of my

heartbeat.

I step off the gangway, as the morning air hits my face, sharp and cold despite the early sun.

Four days. I was gone for four days, and in that time, I almost forgot I had another life.

I’m not a single woman. I’m a divorcee, and a single mom with a custody case to win. Having a

crush on a random stranger…

No. That can’t even be called a crush, since the whole thing was a set-up.

Either way, I don’t have time to waste on feelings and men when I have better things to do, like get a new job, and provide for myself and my son.

Because after the shit Sophia pulled on me? I would be damned if I trust her again.

…….

My phone buzzes in my pocket. I ignore it. It’s been going off nonstop since I turned it back on an hour ago. Sophia. Jake’s account notifications. Unknown numbers that are probably reporters wanting a statement about the “viral cruise romance.”

I want to throw the phone into the ocean.

Instead, I grip my suitcase handle tighter and head toward the parking lot where I left my car. Sophia drove me here Friday night, but I called a rideshare to bring my car to the port this morning. I’m done depending on people.

Done being the sad divorcee everyone needs to fix.

My phone rings again. Different number this time. I almost don’t answer, but something makes me check the screen.

Unknown. Could be important. Could be my lawyer calling about Jake’s custody case after that social media stunt they pulled.

I pick up the call. “Hello?”

“Sabrina. Please don’t hang up.”

Jason’s voice stops me in my tracks. I stand there in the middle of the parking lot, my free hand clenching into a fist.

“How did you get this number?”

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Chapter 27

“Sophia gave it to me. Before you blocked her.”

Of course she did. Because apparently, I don’t get a say in who has access to my life.

“I’m hanging up.”

“Wait. Please. Just give me two minutes. That’s all I’m asking.”

“Forget about two minutes. You don’t even deserve two seconds.”

+25 Points

“I know.” His voice is rough, tired. Like he didn’t sleep last night. Good. “I know I don’t deserve anything from you. But please, Sabrina. Let me explain.”

“Explain what? That you lied to me from the moment we met? That you played along with some sick scheme to manipulate me into dating you?” My voice is rising, and I don’t care who hears. “That everything-every conversation, every smile, every kiss-was that part of some elaborate setup too?”

“God, no! Sabrina, I know what we did is wrong. But how can you-”

“Save it, Jason. Or is that even your real name?”

Silence. Oh God. Is that not even his real name?

“It’s my middle name,” he says quietly. “My first name is Ethan. Ethan Jason Hale. But I go by Jason sometimes, and I thought-”

“You thought lying about your name would make this better?” I’m laughing now. The man I thought understood me, saw me in a way no one has seen me in years…I didn’t even know his real name. Could this get any worse?

No. I don’t think so. At least, I hope so. But I wouldn’t put it past the universe to serve me another slapass dish on my joke of a life. “You’re even worse than I thought.”

“I wasn’t trying to deceive you. Not about anything that mattered.”

“You deceived me about everything that mattered!” I’m shouting now, and a couple walking past gives me a wide berth. “You let me think we met by chance. You let me think your feelings were real. You let me believe I was worth something to someone, when really I was just an entertainment.”

“Your worth cannot be defined by me, Sabrina. With or without me, you’ll always be worth more than anyone gives you credit for.”

“Don’t.” My voice cracks. “Don’t you dare try to make this about building me up when you spent four days tearing me down with lies.”

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Chapter 27

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“I never lied about my feelings. Yes, the setup was planned. Yes, Jake and Sophia arranged for us to meet. But everything I felt-everything I said-was real.” He pauses, and I hear him take a shaky breath. “I went along with their plan because what Jake was doing was incredible. A five-year-old kid, trying to protect his mom after watching his dad destroy their family? How could I not help

him?”

“By going along with his ridiculous game?”

“And why do you think this is a game, Sabrina? Why couldn’t it have been the arrangement of a blind date only on a cruise instead of a restaurant?”

Why? Because I was kept in the dark.

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No one told me, not even so much as mentioned to me, that I was going on a cruise to meet a guy. How can that be the same as going on a blind date? After all, no one walks into a restaurant for a blind date without knowing they’re going on a blind date, right?

“I know I was wrong to hide this from you. I should have told you from the start what this was about on that dinner date. But I was afraid-”

“Of what? That I’d say no? That I’d see through your act?”

“That you’d close yourself off before you gave me a chance.” His voice is softer now, almost pleading. “You were so guarded, Sabrina. So convinced you weren’t worth anyone’s time. And I just wanted you to see yourself the way I saw you. The way Jake sees you. As someone incredible and strong and deserving of happiness.”

Tears are streaming down my face now, hot and angry. “You don’t get to decide what I deserve. You don’t get to manipulate me for my own good. That’s what Dustin did. That’s what Jessica did. And now you and Sophia and my own son-”

“Jake loves you. Everything he did was because he loves you.”

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