Page 23 of This Life of Mine

The only reason she has the nerve to be within my space is that she knows I won’t touch her while she’s pregnant.

“I truly hope we can move on and be happy for each other,” she says. Her voice softens. “Maybe even be friends again.”

For a second, I just stare at her. Then something inside me cracks. The way ice cracks after a long winter. Quietly. Irreversibly.

A small smile touches my lips. The kind that should probably come with a warning label.

“Cassie.”

She brightens, hope flickering across her face as though she thinks we’re getting somewhere.

“Yes?”

“We will never be friends.”

The smile falls from her face. Enough for me to see the first hint of discomfort.

I don’t give her a chance to respond.

“And I think you’ve mistaken my civility for forgiveness.”

Her eyebrows pull together. Confusion. Then irritation.

“I—“

“Stop.”

The single word comes out calm. Significantly less agitated than I truly am. Years of hurt, humiliation and anger. All of it has settled into something still and cold.

“I don’t dislike you because you’re with Cole.”

Cassie stiffens.

I angle my head slightly. “I dislike you because you’re a snake.”

The insult lands. I watch it happen. The slight widening of her eyes. The tightening of her jaw. The immediate shift to defense.

Her hand slides over her stomach. Protective. Possessive. Victorious. Like she’s displaying proof she won. Like she’s expecting the sight of it to hurt me.

I almost laugh.

“You seem to think I’m jealous.”

Cassie’s chin lifts. Defiant.

“Aren’t you?” she asks.

The question comes out sharp, but underneath it I hear something else. Hope. She needs me to be jealous. Needs me to still want him. Because if I don’t, then what did she even win?

“God, no.” The laugh escapes me.

The answer comes effortlessly. Honestly.

Uncertainty flashes across her face.

“You can have him, sweetheart.”

The words settle between us heavy and final.