4
Pippa rolled her eyes. “An actress? I’m my mommy’s good girl. You can’t be bullying her.”
My heart, wounded by my son, started to heal.
It started beating fast again.
That’s right. We both had new choices.
They had their life, and I had mine.
Why should I be hurting over someone who
didn’t care about me?
I snapped out of it, picked Pippa up, and
rubbed my face against hers affectionately.
“Snuck enough snacks to remember your mom
now?”
Pippa blinked, looking guilty. “What’s mommy
talking about? I don’t understand.
“I heard bad people bullying mommy, so I came
to help.”
“Ba…bad people?”
Mikey couldn’t believe his ears His eves
<
Mikey couldn’t believe his ears. His eyes
widened and he pointed at Pippa, yelling,
“What? Say that again!”
“She’s my mom, and I’ll say what I want! You
got a problem with that?”
I glared at him, putting my other hand over
Pippa’s ears.
She was too young to hear such foul language.
Mikey looked hurt by my glare. “How… how
could you?”
Jake yanked Mikey back. “Whose kid is this?
Some trashy boyfriend?”
“Bella, how could you? Sleeping around with
deadbeats because you couldn’t find a rich
guy?”
“How much did he pay you to have this kid? I’ll
く
double it… no, I’ll pay ten times as much, just
give him back.”
Jake looked broken, his hand trembled as he
held Lily’s hand.
I didn’t care about his hand tremors.
I glared at him. “Jake, take your meds before
going out. My fiancé is amazing, a thousand
times better than you.
“You’re nothing to me and my family. Say those
things again, and you’ll regret it.”
“Okay… okay, Bella. Fine!”
Jake was so angry that he said “okay” three
times.
Just then, a waiter came over and told us to be
seated. Lily rolled her eyes and started acting
up, pointing at us.
<
“Everyone at the auction is someone important.
When did broke people start sneaking in?”
Jake was the richest man in Atlanta, and
everyone knew his future wife.
The waiter snapped his fingers and called the
security guards. “Throw these two broke people
out of here!”
I held Pippa tightly, on alert. “You better not.
We were invited by your boss.”
The waiter checked the list closely, but couldn’t
find my name.
He sneered. “So important that your name isn’t
on the list.
“Why don’t you sit outside and wait? We’ll let
our boss know.”
It was pouring rain. Mikey had broken my
<
phone, I would get soaked if I took Pippa
outside.
Pippa had been sick since she was little. It had
taken a lot of money to let her do everyday things, like running around.
She would catch a cold if she went out.
I calmed down and tried to talk to him nicely.
“My fiancé isn’t here yet. You’ll see when he
gets here.
“Your boss invited us. Ask him if you don’t
believe me.”
The waiter didn’t say anything, but Lily did.
“Who did you marry that’s so special that the
boss has to pick you up?”
“This auction house belongs to the Jones
family. Do you know who Mr. Jones is?”
Г
Jake was the richest man in Atlanta, but Mr.
Jones had the most money.
He rarely made public appearances because he was dignified.
The waiter was confident that I was here to
freeload. “Why don’t you leave with your kid? The auction is about to start.”
“You’re polluting the place, are you here to make it dirty?”
I started to choke. “Go ask your boss. It’s
easy!”
The waiters looked at each other and laughed.
“I wouldn’t dare bother Mr. Jones. Leave with
your kid now, or we’ll throw you out!”
Pippa yelled, “When my dad comes, he’ll fire
you!”
<
Mikey scoffed. “This bratty kid has a bad
temper.
“Why did Ms. Sterling have you? It must be hard
to keep you alive, why are you pretending to be
rich?”
“Why not go home?”
Lily was happy to touch Mikey’s face, but he
dodged her.
She blushed, acting as though nothing had
happened. “Don’t be mad. He just doesn’t want
anyone to be mean to me.
“They worry too much. They’re scared someone
will bully me.”
Who was being bullied?
Wasn’t I the one being given a hard time?
<
Hadn’t she been the one pushing everyone to
give us a hard time?
Just then, Jake spoke up.
“Bella, just ask me. I’ll let you stay.”
