Chapter 233 His confession
No one pried on the details, and everyone left in the evening.
James was not aware of his drunken rendezvous with Mariana. He had tried to talk to her the entire week but had not mustered up the courage.
This time, aware that Mariana was upset about something, he stayed back after everyone left.
“Mariana,” James softly called.
He was too scared to call her name out loud.
“Yes!” She stoically replied, not knowing what to say.
“Are you alright?” James gently asked.
“How do I look?” She remarked instead.
“I am sorry!” James sincerely said.
“It’s alright!” Mariana said. She did not know what else to do with his apology.
“It will never be alright,” He involuntarily murmured loud enough for Mariana to hear.
“I am still pregnant,” Mariana told him out of the blue.
“What?” James was shocked and walked in front of her to check if she was being honest.
“I said I am still pregnant,” Mariana repeated.
James’s shocked face turned into pure delight.
Since that night, she saw his happy expression for the first time. She felt even worse seeing his beaming face.
Mariana lowered her head and bit her lips.
James realized something was wrong when he saw her lowered head.
He felt his heart clench at the realization. But he also knew he had no right to make demands.
He was the one who had denied responsibility for his child.
How dare he feel bad for the child he had not acknowledged?
James took a deep breath to calm his emotions. He thought it was probably even harder for her.
He moved by her side and held her in his arms. He caressed her head and held her close as she teared up.
It took a while before Mariana calmed down. But she did not move.
James realized that Mariana was too overwhelmed to say anything. He started talking.
He had to tell her how he felt. He could not be a coward any longer.
“I enjoyed annoying you very much. Your reactions were so amusing. I could spend the rest of my life watching you make funny faces when I tickle your raw nerve.”
“I don’t know when I started to fall for you. Those emotions only sank in when I watched you cry by the beach. For the first time, it hurt.”
“Before that, I had felt anger and jealousy. I was angry that I meant nothing to you. I had no presence in your life.”
“Liam could make you laugh when you were upset with me. You hugged Jacob and laughed in his arms. I only really held you by force. I was angry that you called Liam when you were in trouble.”
“And I was jealous. I have never been so incredibly jealous of anyone in my entire life. I was so jealous of your relationship with everyone but me.”
“But being the spineless bastard I am, I did not try to cultivate that relationship with you. I did not try to give you security or a sense of ease. I did not make you feel better. I was never there for you.”
“Instead, I forced myself on you.”
“When we made love for the first time, I was so happy. I was already in love with you by then. But when you questioned me as you rightfully should, I snapped. I instantly regretted every single word that I said that day. I only left so we could both calm down.”
“But I had not realized that I had put you in danger. And Liam had to save you.”
“Only after listening to Liam did I realize he was on his way and would have taken you to a hospital. Instead, I took your choice from you.”This belongs to NôvelDrama.Org.
“I genuinely wanted to do better. But I never realized that a forced relationship without any foundation, trust, familiarity, respect, or empathy was bound to be doomed.”
“I love you, Mariana Jacobsen. At the same time, I know that being loved by someone like me is probably insulting.”
“You deserve the very best. You deserve to be protected, spoiled, respected, and more importantly, you deserve to be someone’s epic love.”
“This baby does not represent our love. This baby represents my bad character and lack of respect and understanding towards you.”
“If you don’t want it, I will be there to hold your hand as you go through the procedure. If you want it, I will be there. If you allow me, that is.”
“I am so sorry, Mariana. Everything that you had to suffer was my fault.”
“It is my greatest honor to get to know you and fall in love with you. But you are not obligated to reciprocate my feelings.”
“However, being the selfish bastard I am, I still hope you will find it in your heart to forgive me eventually. And give me a reluctant chance. Even if that takes a lifetime.”