Chapter 121
Bella stood frozen, her breath catching painfully in her throat.
For a second, she wasn’t sure she’d heard him right. That was how she’d been feeling for the past few seconds since she decided to tell him about Timothy.
Or was this a dream? She had to be sure. She told herself as she swallowed.
“You… can’t have children?” she whispered, her voice small, trembling.
Jake nodded once, a short, heavy movement. His jaw tightened, his eyes glinting with something she hadn’t seen before: shame.
“I can’t,” he said quietly. “I had a vasectomy p>
The word hit Bella like a language she’d never heard before. “A… what?” she asked, her voice barely audible.
Jake’s throat worked as he swallowed. “A vasectomy,” he repeated, his tone clipped and hollow. “It’s a procedure men undergo to stop themselves from ever having children. Permanently p>
Bella’s mouth fell open slightly. “You mean… you—” Her words faltered, disbelief trembling in her voice. “You made yourself… unable to have children p>
Jake’s eyes darkened as he nodded. “Yes. That’s why I’d always said I couldn’t have children. I’d wanted to tell you that day if not for Raymond. I’d wanted to tell you before I ask you out so you don’t expect children. But p>
For a moment, neither of them spoke. The clock in the living room ticked somewhere in the background, the sound painfully loud.
Bella blinked rapidly, trying to make sense of what she was hearing. “You… you have to be joking,” she said, shaking her head. “You’re lying, Jake. You probably got it done after that night, after we met. You just don’t want to believe me because you’re scared p>
Jake’s gaze lifted, and the sadness in his eyes cut through the room like a blade. “No, Bella,” he said softly but firmly. “I didn’t get it after we met. I got it done before. Two weeks before, actually p>
Bella’s lips parted, her pulse thundering in her ears. “What p>
He nodded again, his expression calm but bitter. “I had already performed the surgery before I met you. There’s no way I can be Timothy’s father p>
She shook her head in disbelief, taking a shaky step backward. “No,” she breathed. “No, that can’t be true p>
“It is p>
Bella’s chest constricted. “Jake, there has to be some explanation for this. There has to be p>
“There isn’t,” Jake said quietly, his tone flat, and final like the sound of a door closing. “The only explanation here is that Timothy isn’t my son p>
She flinched as if he’d struck her. “Don’t say that p>
He exhaled sharply, pain laced through every word. “Bella, think! I physically can’t have children. You said you got pregnant five years ago and I don’t doubt it. But it can’t be from that night p>
Her voice cracked as she spoke. “But it happened! Jake, I don’t know how, but it did! You’re his father. You have to be p>
Jake’s frustration snapped. “No, Bella! I’m not p>
The room echoed with his voice, loud and raw. Bella’s eyes welled up instantly, her hands trembling.
“How can you even say that?” she whispered brokenly. “After everything? After everything I just told you p>
Jake’s jaw flexed. “Because it’s the truth,” he said bitterly. “And maybe it’s the same thing all over again. Maybe you’re just like her p>
Bella’s stomach dropped. “What?” she asked incredulously.
“My ex,” Jake said, his voice cracking slightly as he spoke. “She told me she was pregnant, too. I believed her. I stayed with her, took care of her, planned a life with her and when she finally gave birth, I thought I was a father p>
He laughed bitterly, shaking his head. “Only to find out months later through her sister, of all people and by chance that the baby wasn’t mine. That she’d been with someone else. I’d been a fool, Bella. I’d been used p>
Bella stared at him, tears burning in her eyes. “Jake p>
He looked at her then, his voice low but trembling. “That’s why I had the vasectomy. To make sure that never happened again. To make sure no one could ever tie me down with a lie p>
The words stabbed through Bella’s heart like glass.
“So, what are you saying?” she asked, her voice shaking. “That I’m lying? That I’m trying to trap you the same way she did p>
Jake’s silence said everything.
Bella’s tears spilled freely now. “You think I’m capable of that? Jake p>
“I don’t know what to think anymore!” Jake burst out, his voice breaking. “You lied to me about Timothy being your sister’s son. You kept that from me. If it weren’t for the news, would you have even decided to tell me you were his mother? How am I supposed to believe this now? How am I supposed to trust a word you say now p>
Bella gasped, the betrayal cutting deep. “I lied because I was scared, Jake! Scared you’d react exactly like this p>
“Well, you gave me every reason to!” he snapped.
Her heart cracked wide open. “You think I’d use my son… our son, to tie you down? You think I’d do that to you p>
Jake’s voice trembled. “You already did. You walked into my life, hid the truth, and dropped this on me after everything that’s happened p>
“Because I figured you deserved to know!” Bella cried. “You deserved to know the truth about Timothy from me and that’s why I’m telling you now p>
“Then you should’ve told me sooner,” Jake shot back. “If you’d told me the truth… if you’d just said you were his mother and didn’t know who the father was, maybe I would’ve accepted that! I would’ve gladly helped you, Bell. I would’ve even considered adopting him since I already see him as a son! But to tell me he is biologically mine?” He shook his head.
The word adopt made Bella freeze. Her chest rose and fell quickly, disbelief spreading across her face. “Adopt?” she repeated slowly, her voice trembling.
Jake realized too late how his words sounded. Thɪs chapter is updated by.net
Bella blinked, her face going pale, her lips quivering. “You’d adopt him… but you won’t believe he’s yours p>
“Bella p>
Her palm cracked hard across his cheek before he could finish whatever words he’d been about to say.
The sound echoed in the room, sharp, and painful.
Jake froze, his hand slowly rising to his face, his jaw tightening as the sting spread across his skin. But he didn’t say anything.
“How dare you?” Bella whispered, her voice shaking with fury and heartbreak. “How dare you stand there and accuse me of trying to trap you with someone else’s child? You think I wanted this? You think I planned to raise a child after I lost my mom that way? You think I planned to hide him from his father, to carry that secret for five years? You think I wanted that, Jake p>
Tears streamed down her cheeks, her voice breaking. “I had forgotten all about you and settled into being both his mother and father until I saw you again. I’d wanted to tell you but I didn’t want you to have to reject him so I kept quiet. But after seeing how much you cared for me and him when you didn’t even know about his paternity, I decided to tell you. Not so you can be his father but because I believed you deserved the truth. Because I believed, deep down, that you’d understand why I’d kept him away. But you… you’re just like everyone else. Ready to believe the worst p>
Jake’s chest heaved. “Bella, stop twisting this p>
“No, you stop!” she cut in fiercely.
Jake nodded. “You know what? How about I take him right now for a DNA test so I can prove to you that I’m not his father? Maybe that’s the only way to get the truth p>
Bella stared at him for a long, trembling second, then laughed bitterly through her tears. “Get out,” she whispered.
“Bella p>
“I said get out!” she screamed, her voice cracking as she pointed toward the door. “Go! Before I say something I’ll regret p>
Jake’s jaw clenched, pain and anger warring in his eyes. For a long second, he didn’t move.
Then, slowly, he turned toward the door.
He paused at the threshold, his hand tightening on the frame. “You could’ve told me the truth from the beginning,” he said quietly, his voice rough. “But instead, you made me believe a lie p>
Bella’s lips trembled. “And you could’ve believed me when I told you the truth,” she whispered. “But instead, you chose to see me as your past mistake p>
For a heartbeat, they just stood there, two broken souls divided by pain and pride.
Then Jake walked out.
The door clicked shut softly behind him, and the silence that followed was deafening.
Bella stood there, her chest heaving, tears streaking her face, her hand still shaking from the slap. Her knees gave way, and she sank to the floor, sobbing quietly into her hands.
Her throat felt scorched from holding back tears, and her chest hurt so much she wondered if heartbreak could physically bruise you.
She’d imagined this night so many times before; telling him the truth, explaining everything, finally unburdening herself.
Yet, she had never imagined it would end with him calling her a liar.