บททั้งหมดของ LOVE FOR SALE : บทที่ 41 - บทที่ 50

BEN POVI stared at the darkened phone screen in my hand, the anger still bubbling beneath my skin. My fingers trembled, not from the cold but from everything that had been stirred up again—memories, wounds, truths no one ever cared to hear.I tossed the phone onto the bed and sat down, trying to steady my breathing. The bathroom still smelled faintly of eucalyptus and steam, a stark contrast to the bitterness I now tasted on my tongue. I hugged my knees to my chest, feeling small again—too small to carry the weight of a baby, of grief, of history.A knock came at the door, light and hesitant.“Ben?” It was Nolan.I cleared my throat. “Yeah?”“Dinner’s ready if you’re hungry.”I hesitated. My appetite had disappeared the moment I heard my mother’s voice, but I knew skipping meals wouldn’t help the baby.“Okay,” I said, my voice barely audible.He waited a beat longer. “Take your time.”I heard his footsteps retreating down the hall, and I sighed in relief. Nolan was giving me space, b

BEN POV The hospital was colder than I remembered. The air smelled like antiseptic and quiet dread. Three months pregnant, and already everything felt heavier—my body, my mind, my heart. The checkup had gone fine, the baby was growing well, but the doctor had looked at Nolan like he was the father. He didn't correct him. I didn't either.When we got home, Nolan parked the car in silence. He gave me a nod and a half-smile before heading to the office. It was always like that with him—measured, polite, almost too careful, like he was afraid any wrong move might shatter me completely. Maybe it would. I wasn't even sure who I was without Ambrose. Living with Nolan felt like standing in the echo of a life I almost had.The house was too quiet. My phone was within reach, so I called Clay. If anyone could distract me, it was him."Finally! I was starting to think you'd forgotten about me," he answered after the first ring."You wish," I said, curling into the corner of the couch. "Had my ch

NOLAN POVI didn’t sleep that night either.Ben had gone quiet after we talked. Not the kind of quiet that begs for space—hers was the silence that came after a war. I’d seen it before, in myself. After the funeral. After the last fight with my father. After I realized I’d never really known the woman I was supposed to marry.But sitting next to her now, the city below us, her hands wrapped around a chipped mug of rooibos tea—I didn’t feel that same emptiness. I felt…raw. Awake. Like the earth had shifted beneath us and neither of us knew what to call this new terrain.She hadn’t cried. That scared me more than if she had.I wanted to say something, anything, but I knew better than to rush her grief. Ben had always carried pain like it was part of her bones—hidden, quiet, indestructible. She made suffering look graceful, which made it easy for people to forget she was still breaking beneath the surface.I hadn’t forgotten.Not this time.She fell asleep on the couch just before dawn,

NOLAN POVSleep wasn’t even an option. Not tonight.I sat at the kitchen counter, staring at the half-empty mug in front of me. The tea I made for her, the same rooibos blend my father used to brew, had gone cold. I hadn’t touched it. Maybe because some twisted part of me felt like I had no right to drink it. Like even now, even after everything, I was trespassing on something that wasn’t mine.It’s funny. You can share a roof with someone, breathe the same air, pass them the sugar over breakfast and still feel like a stranger in your own home.I ran a hand through my hair, pushing back the frustration, the ache, the… whatever this suffocating feeling was. Grief. Guilt. Love. It was all tangled up so tight I couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began.Her voice still echoed in my head.“It can’t, Nolan.”Those three words were a scalpel sharp, precise, unforgiving.She was right. Of course, she was right.This thing between us whatever it was had no future. Not here. Not now.N

BEN POV I had taken Nolan’s advice. Maybe it was time to talk to my mother and figure things out. I had given her a call just after Clay left, and she was going to come over so we could talk about the baby shower. Thirty minutes later, I heard the doorbell ring. It was her. I stood up and went to answer the door. She gave me a small smile and embraced me. It felt like we had lost a lot of time. Her embrace felt foreign to me.The last time I saw her, I didn’t want anything to do with her because I had just found out that I was adopted. She pulled back, examining me. “Motherhood looks good on you, my dear. I’m sure Nolan can’t take his eyes off you,” she teased. The mere thought of Nolan checking me out made me wince. “Come in… and have a seat.” She walked in and closed the door. “This house is beautiful.” I nodded quietly, grabbing a quick snack from the kitchen. Marshmallows. I went back to the living room and found my mother looking at a picture of