Page 117 of Billionaire Unbroken - Asher
The pre-orders for my book were more than encouraging, and I loved illustrating holiday stories.
“I’m going to expect a copy of that one, too,” Lauren said excitedly. “Cole and I aren’t actively trying to have a child rightnow, but I’m hoping we will someday. I’d like to have every book you produce. If we don’t have children, I’d still like to have them.”
I couldn’t see Cole and Lauren not having a child in the future.
They’d both be amazing parents.
“Absolutely,” I assured her as my cat jumped up and into my lap.
Lucky came to visit me in my office whenever she decided that she wanted my affection.
She’d become one spoiled kitty because Asher insisted on keeping treats for her in his office.
I was fairly certain that she visited him in his office more than she visited me, but I was okay with that.
Asher seemed to enjoy her company, and Lucky deserved to be spoiled. She’d been through a lot of lean years and chaos during my marriage and afterward.
Lauren sighed as she took the top off her water. “Asher seems so different that it’s almost unreal to me how quickly things have improved for him.”
“He’s been trying really hard,” I shared with her. “Tons of exposure, and I think his treatment just started to kick in. It’s like that sometimes. Nothing happens, and then you realize that you’re making quite a bit of progress all at once.”
There wasn’t a thing that the Remington women didn’t know about me or my past anymore.
I’d gone through the agonizing process of filling them all in on life before Asher.
The amount of support and caring I’d gotten had been almost overwhelming.
Maybe that was one of the reasons that I finally felt like I could forgive myself for my past.
I thought I had, but through my relationship with Asher, I’d realized that I’d never quite taken that final step of letting go of the guilt and shame.
That fact had hit me hard when I’d visited my unborn son’s grave in Hollister with Asher.
As I’d put flowers on Nathaniel’s grave, all of that guilt had swamped me, the blame that I’d never quite put on the person who had killed him instead of myself.
I’d ended up a sobbing mess that Asher had simply held and comforted until I finally got my head together.
Grief was one thing.
Blame and shame was another.
I’d decided right then and there that I was going to start putting the blame where it belonged.
On the man who had murdered my child and tried to kill me.
I was always going to be sad that my son had never gotten the chance to live, but I wasn’t going to take the blame for that anymore.
I’d done the best I could with the brain that I’d had at the time.
I’d tried to get out of my marriage for the good of my child.
I’d wanted something better for Nathaniel so damn much.
I’d planned my escape carefully.
I just hadn’t counted on Jordan coming home before he was due to arrive.
There was really nothing I would have done differently if I could.
