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Her final plea lay between them A part deep inside of her fantasized he’d adave her the tiniest indication there was a real chance for them, she’d marry him without question But to be trapped with sohtaze flicked over her with dise based on shared co There will be no regrets onme as punishment How can our relationship stand a chance with such a start? Don’t you want more for us?"

His words were as robotic as his tone "No This is all we have left"

Her heart frag for any loophole or offer she could beg hi conclusion

She was going to have to ree," he said again

No She wouldn’t do it Wouldn’t hold both of thee that could never be real, at least on his end She grabbed on to her own frustration and anger, confronting him with clenched fists "How dare you think you control this relationship orher voice low "Deny it all you want--you couldn’t have handled the truth back then You left without speaking tobecause you decided you missed me? And when you heard about the baby, you never once wondered at the tie me? You barely looked at us for two years, and I was supposed to tell you about her?"

"Yes! Because I’m her real father!" he shouted "Becca is asped and whipped around Her daughter stood framed in the doorway, dressed in pink Hello Kitty paja wildly around her head, those sleepy eyes huge as she stared at both of the furiously Sydney clapped a hand over herher cry

A shocked silence filled the kitchen The room spun, tilted, then steadied Dear God, how much had she overheard? What had they done?"

Sydney walked over, dropping to her knees and grasping Becca’s hands in a tight grip "Baby, I’ What did you hear?"

"Just what Tristan said That he’s s barely squeezed breath out, throwing her into a panic She realized this was a moment she’d planned for Becca’s whole life Yet this wasn’t the way she wanted her daughter to find out the truth Fear choked her, but she pushed it aside and swore she’d do whatever possible toout this way "Becca, look at azed into her eyes

"I love you I love you ine Do you believe me?"

"Of course Mo else"

She blinked back the sting of tears "That’s right Youyou the truth sooner about your dad And the reason I didn’t want to tell you was because you were too little to really understand There was a lot of grown-up stuff going on"

She paused, glancing at Tristan to make sure he was ready That he’d support what she was about to tell her daughter

His face Oh, God, his face was full of the divine as he stared at Becca, drinking in her presence as if she ater to his parched soul Eyes lit with gentleness and pure love, as if he still couldn’t believe she was part of him

And then she knew it had to be done Tristan deserved to be a father to Becca She’d taken that from him, and it was ti to be She couldn’t lie to her daughter to buy more time