Husband With Benefits
Chapter 517: Shock

Her days in the hospital had been alternating between staring at the white ceiling or the white door. She wanted to see Seb. But he was avoiding her. And that made her want to cry. So, she decided that she would have to look at the cieling. No crying. She’d cried those first two days when she’d realized that their babies were safe. He’d held and they’d both cried tears of relief. Being alive was one of the biggest blessings.

In that moment, she’d realized that they’d come closer than ever. She’d been thankful for his presence, his generous unconditional love for her. But something she’d said had somehow set him off. She knew what it was, of course. She’d felt something was off the moment he had the expression on his face and had raced out of there as if he were a thief. But all she’d said was how lucky her and their babies were for having him in their life.

She wanted to cry again but shook her head. She couldn’t let the hormones get the better of her. The children were alive and kicking and that was all she wanted. As for Seb’s problem, she would figure it out.

Looking at the time told her that Seb would be here any moment now. And she realized that she needed a battle plan. She needed to get the Seb who was with her the first two days. Oh no. She wanted the one who was as raw and worried as she’d been.

Just then the door opened and a nurse spoke up," He’s here. Get ready."

Hurriedly, Olivia closed her eyes and pretended to sleep. She’d bribed the nurses today so that they would inform her of when he arrived. He’d been tkaing care of her diligently, visiting her during lunch and dinner, spending the nights, etc. A perfect husband. But she knew that he was also doing things to avoid them talking alone. And he was hiding something from her. She just needed to know what.

She heard the door open and took a deep breath. She was to be asleep. She heard him pause and knew the moment he started to tread carefully, making sure to not make a sound.. It made her feel smug and soft on the inside at his thoughtfulness for her, though she had to be very careful not to show it on her face.

She felt him walk close to her, and almost flinched and broke her cover when she felt his hand on her cheek. She fought the urge to nuzzle into his palm, before deciding to take the risk. She could nuzzle him while asleep, couldn’t she? Keeping her eyes closed, she sighed and turned her head. Felt him pause, maybe he looked her over, before he gently took back his hand. She felt a tug of disappointment as the warmth of him was taken away. But in the next minute, she felt his breath across her cheek as he leaned down to kiss her cheek while tucking the blanket around her.

Just as he was about to turn away, she caught his wrist, her voice barely above a whisper as she pretended to stir from sleep. "Stay," she murmured, making sure to slur her words with feigned drowsiness. She sensed his hesitation, but with another soft mumble, she tugged at his wrist, "Come, I’ll sleep better."

She watched him from under her lashes, as he looked at her carefully, assessing if he would cause any discomfort before getting onto the bed with her. As he carefully got into bed with her, she took the opportunity to quickly snuggle into him, burying her face into his chest as she inhaled deeply.

Since she was pretending to sleep and had the prey in her arms or was in her prey’s arms, she could not begin having a conversation immediately. That would reveal her ruse. So, she would continue to pretend to be asleep for a little while and then question him about what was on his mind. She’d like to see him try and escape from her arms then!

As she lay nestled against him, the sound of his heartbeat steady against her ear and his warmth almost lulled her into sleep. Thankfully, just before she could fall into a deep sleep, she heard him move. She flinched a bot, realizing that she’d almost lost the opportunity. Just as she was about to open her eyes and look at him, she felt his arms tighten around her as he whispered near her ear," Sorry."

His voice was barely audible and if he hadn’t moved and woken her up, she would never have known he said something. She felt a myriad of questions race inside her but kept quiet. She just needed to wait.

Seconds seemed to stretch into hours as she waited for him to continue until his voice broke through, filled with a deep sorrow and regret.

"I’m sorry," he began, his voice barely above a whisper, "for putting you and our babies in danger. I never meant for any of this to happen. I’ve been so selfish in wanting to keep you and them by my side that I ended up almost causing you your lives. But I promise I’ll correct this..."

"In the future...", Seb paused and Olivia knew that whatever it was he was gathering courage to speak, was something she would not like. " In the future, I’ll keep my distance. We’ll... divorce and you can live your life happily. I won’t abandon you and the kids I promise that but.. I won’t stop you from... loving someone else who is more deserving of you."

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