The Man Who Has No Heart - Victoria Quinn Page 0,83

I didn’t believe Valerie and I would ever find common ground, but I didn’t want him to be upset. I just wanted him to be happy, the happiest boy in the world.

“You don’t deserve to be sad…” He pulled away from me and went into his bedroom down the hall.

I stayed on my knees, unable to believe that had just happened.

Valerie crossed her arms over her chest.

After a minute of silence, I got to my feet again, looking at her, my eyes still wet. “I want to work this out with you, Valerie. But our son is right. Your behavior needs to stop. If it’s obvious to a five-year-old, even if he is gifted, then you need to change. What kind of example are you showing him? I left because you’re controlling, manipulative, and simply toxic. We aren’t married, so I won’t put up with it anymore. You have no right to treat me this way anymore. You use our son against me to get away with it. But time passes quickly, and when he’s an adult, he’ll want nothing to do with you. Kids remember things. Kids see more than we give them credit for. You still have time to change that…and I suggest you do. Otherwise, you’ll lose your son for good.”

Her chin was tilted toward the floor, her arms still across her chest. She didn’t show any emotion, but it was obvious that the interaction affected her, that the innocence of a child was impossible to fight. He painted her in a hideous light so she couldn’t pretend it was untrue.

“We’re never getting back together, Valerie.”

Her eyes shifted to mine.

“I’m a lot happier on my own. If that makes you want to keep Derek from me, then there’s nothing I can do about it. But now that I know he understands. I know he’ll forgive me for not being there all the time, that he’ll know the only reason I wasn’t there was because of you—no other excuse.” Derek gave me more than he realized. He took the guilt from my shoulders, understood my pain like a friend. “But please don’t take him away from me. He’ll only be this age once, and I don’t want to miss all of that.”

She was still quiet.

“Valerie, you’re gorgeous. You can have any man you want, so why can’t you let me go?”

Her eyes moved to the floor again. “Because I can have any man I want, but the one man I want doesn’t want me.”

“So, you only want me because you can’t have me?” That was so childish, it made me sick.

“No…because you’re the only man I’ll ever love.”

I felt pity for her when I shouldn’t, when she didn’t deserve it. But somehow, I did. “I’m sorry…” I didn’t know what else to say. “I’d like to move on, as friends, for the well-being of our son. But you’re making that impossible. I don’t want to hate my son’s mother—”

“You hate me?” Her voice broke.

I didn’t know how to answer that without being cruel. “You make me miserable.”

Her eyes watered.

The silence lasted for minutes, and I watched my ex wipe away her tears and sniffle. Now I felt like the asshole, when I’d finally said the words she needed to hear.

“I just feel like you never really gave me a chance. You never tried.”

“Valerie, you can’t try to love someone. You do, or you don’t.”

“But you can’t love someone unless you’re at least open to the idea. You wouldn’t even open that door…”

“You tricked me into knocking you up.”

“I did not—”

“Come on,” I snapped. “You did. Lie all you want, but I know you did. And honestly, I don’t even care because Derek is the best thing that ever happened to me. But let’s not rewrite history here. How am I supposed to love someone when our relationship is based on deceit? You need to trust someone before anything like love can happen, and I never trusted you.” I spoke from personal experience without even realizing it. Cleo had always been honest with me, only had good intentions, and looked after me. What I had with her was real…so fucking real. “And you’ve never accepted me for being who I am. I’m not talkative. I never have been.”

“This is the most I’ve ever heard you talk, actually.”

Because I had something to say.

“Can we try again?” she whispered. “Derek deserves to have his parents stay together—”

“Parents don’t need to stay together to be a family. We can still be a