Free The Birthday Deadline (Billionaire Brides) by Ella Cari

day."
    Though I parted my lips, I could say nothing in response, again sentenced to mute suffering.
    Somehow I lugged myself from the sticky seats of the yellow taxi as I stumbled up the stairs towards my apartment. I sank down on the floor outside of my door, face buried in my hands as the tears finally escaped my tightly squinted eyes.
    I wanted to fade away, to disappear. Though I barely knew the billionaire, I'd cared for him more deeply than I’d ever cared for anyone.
    I wondered if my heart would ever feel the same.

Chapter Fourteen
     
     
     
    From within the apartment, I could hear shuffling and creaking steps. Trisha was home.
    Sniffling, I climbed clumsily to my feet, rubbing my hands harshly over my face. I wasn’t in the mood to explain the situation that brought me back home so quickly, I just wanted to go to my room and collapse in the bed and sleep at least for a few hours - though I would have preferred the rest of my life.
    Grabbing the doorknob, I twisted it, only to find that it didn't move. Strange, she never locked the door. I dug the keys from my small purse, but they no longer fit in the doorknob no longer how hard I tried to force them in.
    Confused, I banged on the door, trying to peer through the peephole.
    "Who is it?" A voice called, no doubt the shrill one of my roommate.
    "Delilah." I said, glaring through the dusty peephole, "Let me in."
    The locks clicked apart, door swinging open. Trisha stood in the doorway, eyeing me carefully.
    "What are you doing back here?" She asked, frowning.
    "Listen, I'm exhausted." I said, "I’m going to sleep now and then we can discuss all of this later on."
    "They told me you weren’t coming back." Trisha said as she followed after me, "I started changing your room..."
    As I walked into what was once my bedroom, I found that my bed had been replaced by a crib. Green paint had been applied to half the walls, along with small colorful pictures.
    "Are you pregnant?" I gasped, turning to face her.
    Trisha blushed, shaking her head, "No, but Carl's moving in since we've got the space now...your rent for the rest of the year was given to me in full. We were going to start trying and I thought this would make a good surprise."
    "Wow." I murmured, turning in a circle as I took in the boxes of baby toys and gear, "I won't stay long." I promised as I left the room, collapsing on the couch. There wasn’t room for me here anymore, Trisha had already started planning her life without me taking up her space.
    "It's okay." She shrugged, "Carl won't be here for a week or two. You can help me decorate the nursery. It’s hard by yourself."
    "Thanks Trish." I sighed as she headed back into her bedroom, leaving me to wallow in the living room.
    How was I going to find another place in just a week? How was I going to afford another place? I could sleep in my shop, I supposed, unless it had already been closed down. I hadn't been in two days, a lot could change in just a few days when you haven't fully paid the rent on a place in forever.
    I groaned, curling up into a little ball and squeezing my eyes shut. Misery filled me, thoughts of losing my shop, losing my husband, losing my apartment played on a repeat loop of pain over and over and over.
    Was there something I could have said to Cornelius that would have changed the outcome of that situation? Was there something that I could have done to make him see how much I cared for his son?
    Probably not.
    Sebastian didn't truly want me anyway, that was why I was here right now, laying on the rough fabric of my old roommate's couch. I was lucky she took pity on my tearstained face
    I should go back to the flower shop and say goodbye, if I still had the chance. It was only the right thing to do. Maybe I would leave town completely, and find work somewhere far, far away from the Fox franchises.
    Sluggishly, I lazed off the couch despite my wishes to remain, shaking my head as I tried not to think about the pain in my heart. I was