Chapter 87 Divorce and baby

Chapter 87 Divorce and baby
Cassian POV

What the fuck do you mean by you want a baby and you’re getting divorced?

The words slammed into my skull so hard I almost laughed. Arihya always knew how to say the one thing that could knock the ground out from under me.

Her arms were folded tightly across her chest, chin lifted in that stubborn, defiant way that made grown men surrender without a fight.

Only Arihya could announce she wanted a child like she was asking for coffee and only her was ending a marriage and then immediately ask me to give her a baby.

“Say something,” she snapped when I stayed silent too long.

I dragged a hand down my face. “What do you want me to say?”

“The truth.”

“The truth?” I barked out a bitter laugh. “The truth is you’re insane.”

Her eyes narrowed. “And you’re a coward.”

There she was that sharp tongue and fire.

That woman who always knew exactly where to cut me even if she got the divorce like she claimed, having a baby immediately shouldn’t be her next focus not when her life was still tangled in another man’s name but Arihya never cared about timing.

She only cared about what she wanted and tonight, apparently, she wanted my child.

“Just tell me you aren’t interested,” she said, voice dripping with annoyance. “Then I’ll find another sperm donor.”

Something ugly and primal rose in me at those words, another man touching her.

My jaw clenched so hard it hurt and Arihya noticed.

A smug little smile played at the corner of her lips, and I knew instantly she’d said it on purpose.

She was provoking me.

Arihya could be petty when she wanted, and if I didn’t handle this right, she’d cut me off again and right now, losing her felt more dangerous than losing my mind.

I stepped closer until only inches separated us.

“Get the divorce first,” I said quietly, my voice low enough to make her shiver. “Who knows?

Our baby could be forming as we speak.”

Her breath hitched then I slid my palm over her stomach, it was a simple touch but it felt like sin.

My hand lingered there longer than it should have, imagining things I had no right to imagine like a swollen belly with my child inside her, the thought was intoxicating yet I couldn’t stop it.

Her lashes fluttered as she looked down at my hand. “So what now?” she whispered.

I lifted my gaze to hers. “It depends on you, baby.”

She swallowed hard and I knew that look.

She loves when I called her baby but hated how much it affected her.

I gripped the back of her neck gently and kissed her.

Her lips parted instantly, letting me in like she’d been waiting all day even though I just kissed her a couple of minutes ago.

My other hand tightened at her waist, pulling her body flush against mine. When I pulled back, both of us were breathing too hard.

Her fingers curled into my shirt like she didn’t want me to leave but she let go first.

Without another word, she turned and walked back toward the house.

I stood there watching her hips sway beneath that thin dress, every step a temptation and she paused at the door but didn’t look back then she went inside and just like that, I was alone with my ruin.

I sat in my car for a long time before starting the engine. I don’t know what I’m doing.

My wife and daughter were thousands of miles away in London these are people I loved in ways words could never explain.

My daughter owned every soft part of me but what I felt for Arihya that was entirely different.

I loved Elena as a duty as my daughter with blood as my blood nut Arihya?

I wanted her with every dark instinct I had and maybe that was worse.

I drove back to the hotel through empty streets, hands gripping the wheel so tightly my knuckles turned white.

At a red light, I caught my reflection in the mirror, I wore an expensive suit and had cold eyes.

A man who looked in control, by the time I reached the hotel lobby, my phone rang and it was Elena.

My chest tightened instantly as I stared at the screen for three rings before answering.

“Hello.”

At first, there was only breathing then her voice came through. “Were you with her?”

I closed my eyes. “Elena....”

“Don’t lie to me tonight, Cassian.”

The elevator doors opened, but I didn’t move.

I stayed rooted to the marble floor. “I asked if you were with her.”

“Yes.”

The silence on the line chilled me more than shouting ever could then she laughed.

A sound that used to charm rooms and now made my blood run cold.

“Do you know what hurts the most?” she asked and I said nothing.

“It isn’t that you touched her.” Her tone sharpened. “It’s that you keep pretending you won’t choose her.”

My grip tightened around the phone. “ I love her before you and you knew it.”

“ But you married me,” she snapped. “And I gave you a beautiful daughter.”

That hit harder than it should have because somewhere beneath all the bitterness, I knew she believed that won't hold me back.

The elevator doors closed again still I stood there then her voice lowered into something far more dangerous.

“Even if you choose her…” she said slowly, each word deliberate, “you remain mine, Cassian.”

The line went dead and I stared at the phone in my hand.

For the first time in years, I felt something close to fear because Elena wasn’t the kind of woman who made empty threats and Arihya wasn’t the kind of woman who backed down.

One wanted the man she married while the other wanted the man she could ruin and somehow, I was both.

My phone buzzed again and it was a message from Arihya.

Did you mean what you said about the baby?

I laughed once then another message came immediately after from Elena.

If you are not back in London tomorrow, I'm involving your parents again.