Fake Dating My Ex's Favourite Hockey Player novel Chapter 74

Fake Dating My Ex’s Favourite Hockey Player

Chapter 74

BECCA

Sometimes, I wonder why I even try.

A year and a half ago, I stared down at those two pink lines, my hands shaking, my heart pounding so hard I thought it might burst. I was finally going to be a mother. Just like I’d always dreamed of.

But dreams are funny things, aren’t they?

Because the reality was nothing like the fairytale I’d imagined.

The father of my baby–the man I loved–wasn’t the man I thought he was. He hadn’t just broken up with his girlfriend of ten years like he’d claimed. No, he was still with her. Still choosing her.

But he had an excuse, of course. She’s fragile, he told me. If I leave too soon, she might do something to herself. Just be patient, Becca. Just wait.

So I did.

I counted the days, the weeks, the months, waiting for the moment he’d finally be mine.

But when my belly grew and my career stalled, when I had to disappear from the world to hide my pregnancy–where was he then?

Not with me.

I

gave up job offers. I went on a year–long hiatus. I spent my pregnancy in seclusion, my body changing, my life shifting in ways I wasn’t prepared for.

And he wasn’t there.

But I told myself it was worth it. That he loved me. That once he finally let go of Emilia, we’d be a family, ((0)

Except Emilia wasn’t the one holding on.

He was.

And when the time came–when I lay in that rundown clinic, too terrified to go to a real

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hospital in case someone recognized me, too terrified to go through labor alone, too terrified of the pain and the scalpel and the hollow ache in my chest–where was he then?

Not with me

So tell me, why is it wrong to ask him to take responsibility?

Why is it wrong to ask him to choose? Me and my daughter or Emilia?

Because I chose him. I chose him every single time.

So why couldn’t he choose me?

Why couldn’t he choose Lolo?

Why can’t I hate her?

The woman he loves more than his fiancée. More than his daughter.

Maybe I deserve this. Maybe I was stupid for falling for his lies, for believing he’d ever choose me. But what did Lolo do to deserve this? What did my perfect, innocent baby girl do to be born into a life where her father treats her like a burden instead of a blessing?

I hear the pain in my own voice, and I hate it. I hate how weak it makes me sound. I hate that I care when I should be furious.

Why can’t anything ever go my way?/

Why do I always lose just when I think I’ve won?

And why the fuck is the man I’m supposed to marry standing in front of her suite, arguing with her boyfriend over his right to see her?

A cold chill runs through me as I take in the scene–the tension in his shoulders, the desperate edge in his voice,

This isn’t just some unresolved ex drama.

Margot moves beside me, jaw clenched, voice shaking with barely contained rage. “How-

anyway,”

I don’t wait for his response. I turn on my heels and walk away.

Margot follows immediately, her footsteps quick and sharp behind me. “Becca-”

“I know.”

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She exhales, frustrated. “Lolo-”

“I know, Margot!” My voice cracks. I take a deep breath before I continue, quieter. “But what? You want me to raise Lolo without a father?” My throat tightens. “I won’t do that,

Margot. I won’t.”

She stops walking, but I can still hear her. The words she has to say. The ones I’ve been running from.

“But isn’t that what you already do?”

The pang in my chest is unbearable.

But I don’t stop.

Not even when I hear the sound of a door opening and Emilia’s soft voice in the

background. Not even when I think of how Lolo’s face fell when she realised her dad missed

another video call.

I can’t go back now.

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