The Price of Their Fortune Chapter 02
Author: Skylar Blue
Before the final words had left her mouth, her hand flew up.
“Slap! Slap!”
Two blows struck my face. My ears rang, and my cheeks burned.
After hitting and condemning me, Delia looked as though she’d completed some sacred duty.
She turned and gathered the three boys into her arms.
“It’s all right, sweethearts. We’ll ignore your cruel father. Mommy will take you into the bedroom to rest.”
She shepherded them into our bedroom and locked the door behind them.
Laughter soon drifted through the walls.
The sound scraped back and forth across my heart like a rusted saw.
This time, I didn’t call my best friend and ask him to mediate as I had before.
I wouldn’t stand helplessly by and let them destroy me again.
Then someone knocked on the front door.
My body tensed, but I didn’t move.
My best friend Travis Cole’s familiar booming voice immediately sounded from the hallway.
“Nathan, what are you doing in there? Open the door!
“Did you make Delia angry again? She stayed with you when you had nothing. She helped you build everything you have. How can you treat her this way?”
Of course.
Delia had already told him her version of the story.
I drew a steady breath and called through the door, “Travis, what exactly did Delia tell you?”
He sighed loudly from the hallway. “You still have the nerve to ask? A man should take responsibility. You’re refusing to acknowledge your own children!
“Nathan, I never knew you were that kind of man. You’re an embarrassment.”
Cold sweat spread across my back as I listened to his righteous outrage.
In my previous life, Travis had broken eight of my ribs with one kick after seeing the boys.
He’d trained in Muay Thai for 10 years. I had no chance against him.
At least he hadn’t seen them yet.
I forced myself to stay calm and lied through the door. “You’ve misunderstood. I think I caught a bad strain of flu. I’m dizzy, and I don’t want to infect you. We can talk another day. Go home for now.”
Travis fell silent, then suddenly sounded alarmed.
“Wait. Is someone else in your apartment? I thought I heard children.”
My stomach dropped, and I denied it immediately.
“No. You heard the television.”
His voice sharpened.
“Nathan, what the hell is going on? Open this door!”
His pounding struck the door like a drumbeat against my chest.
Panicking, I dragged the dining table toward the entryway to block him.
I couldn’t let him inside.
Not again.
But just as I pulled the table into place, I heard the lock click.
