Unexpected Eva (Triple Trouble #3)(106)
No response.
My temper flares, and adrenaline takes over.
“You know what?” I say, stomping back up the corridor in his direction. “Screw you. I didn’t do anything wrong here. Yes, I kept Knox and me a secret. I said I’m sorry a hundred times. But are you going to punish me forever for it? And I don’t get invited to our family gatherings anymore? Because if I had known that when you gave me an option to pick him or you, I would have chosen him. But Knox made me choose you. You didn’t give him a fair choice, and you still cut me out. Nobody wins. He said family first and you guys are all here. I’m family too.”
“It’s not like that, Eva. You cut us out too. You stopped bringing the boys.” My dad says, sounding pained.
“To teach you a lesson, Dad. It’s been two weeks and still you haven't spoken to me. Why the hell would I want to bring my boys into your home when you said all those nasty things about me and Knox? Especially about Knox. You can’t even admit that you are wrong.”
I pace back and forth.
“We explained everything to you that night. Our reasons. And still here we are.” I throw my hands out to the side.
“Have Eden and Ella explained to you what Knox did for me?”
“No?” He looks confused.
“Do you know what has been happening in my life for the last three to four months, longer, but worse in the last three? A complete car crash is what it has been. Do you know any of what I have been going through?”
I don’t wait for him to reply.
“Ewan assaulted me. I have an injunction against him for that now.”
My dad stands up and tries to come to me. “Eva.” He sounds shocked.
“I don’t need your compassion. Please sit down. Do you know who went with me to the police station to file a harassment report? Who sat with me for three hours, going through every single threatening text from Ewan? Knox did. He paid for a new divorce lawyer for me, too. And do you know I came home one day to no furniture in my house? Ewan let himself into my house. He removed all my furniture from my home. I stayed at Knox’s house one night and I came home to nothing. No sofa. No television. He even took the boys' beds. And do you know what Knox did? He had a full house of furniture delivered to my house so my boys had somewhere to sleep that night. He sent food to my house the same evening because he knew I would be tired and not want to cook. But you wouldn’t know this because you never visit me. None of you do. You simply pick up and drop off at the door. I can’t remember any of you dropping in for a chat to see me. And this is another reason I didn’t tell you about Knox, Ewan, all of it, because you’re all so wrapped up in your own little bubbles, and I understand, I really do. You have your busy lives to get on with. I am not saying you are wrong. Not even close. But we are all busy. However, I make time for you all. I cover classes even when I’m stretched to my time limits. I stayed up until two in the morning to stuff wedding invitations into envelopes for you, Ella. I sorted out the accounts when our assistant was off the other week. I have created something close to one hundred social media videos over the last month. I interviewed the new dance tutors when you two”—I point to Eden and Ella—“went off to pick out nursery furniture for the new baby. You didn’t ask me if I wanted to come. I covered for you when you couldn’t make the Castleview Business Circle.” I look at my dad. “Knox was so proud of the social media training I did for them.”
I speak with force. “When Ewan didn’t turn up to take my boys to the zoo, Knox took us. When Ewan assaulted me on Christmas night, he took me in. He looked after me and my boys. Fed us, clothed us. Called my sisters to come and carry the burden because he knew I needed them. He built a den in his kitchen for my boys. He organized a truck of inflatables for the boys so they could have a pool party in his house, distracting them from the fact their mother had been attacked by their father the night before.”
Sobs leave my heavy chest. “He built them a treehouse in his backyard.” I cover my mouth to conceal my sobs. “Hamish loved it. It even has a slide.” I laugh, remembering how happy they were that day. I feel slightly hysterical.
“He gave me this bracelet.” I hold up my wrist. “It’s called a Love Bangle or some stupid shit. It seals a bond between two people. Everlasting love. And it’s here every day on my wrist as a constant reminder of what that felt like because I can’t take the friggin’ thing off because it needs some fancy bloody tool to unlock it.” I pull at it, trying to tear it off. “And I want so much to take the goddamn thing off, but I can’t.
“And it hurts so bad. In here.” I point at my chest. “Because he loved me like no one else has ever loved me. I don’t know how we happened. But we did. I fell in love with him, and it was all so unexpected. But so beautiful. It’s deeper than anything I have ever felt. He even knows how I like my cup of tea. And he cared for me and my boys. He loves them so much. We were going to be a family. But that’s not going to happen anymore because you forced me and him to choose. You made him choose, and he chose you for me, but you didn’t choose me back. You chose not to say sorry. Not to tell me you still loved me, regardless of what happened between us. You walked away from me. We are supposed to love each other unconditionally for all our flaws. You stood by Ella and Fraser when it all went to crap last year. But what about me?”