“Have you talked to him?”
“No. There’s no point.”
“Are you sure? I know you. You don’t love easily. So, I know you must have had some pretty strong feelings him. I hate what happened, and hoped Sabrina’s marriage would last but I know my daughter.”
“Mr. Links, I’ve had some time to think about how things went wrong between Sabrina and me. I think the root of it is she just wants your approval. For some crazy reason, she thinks you love me more. And, I know she’s mentioned to me on more than one occasion that she didn’t think you were proud of her.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“I know. But, it’s what she believes.”
“She really thinks that? Then, I’m going to have to set it right with her.”
“Yes.”
Mr. Links looked around the apartment. “I was never any good at goodbyes. They always make an old man like me get emotional.”
Tasha smiled, “Me too.”
“Don’t forget about me. And, call me when you get settled.”
“I can never forget about you. And, I’ll call as soon as I get to Dallas.” Tasha hugged the man who had loved her through it all since she was fourteen years old. “And, Mr. Links…thank you for everything and I love you too.”
Chapter 33
Sabrina spent almost three hours in her home fitness gym trying to work herself into exhaustion hoping it would help ease her mind. It hadn’t.
Work hadn’t even provided the typical reprieve either. As a matter of fact, she’d walked past her home office several times and not once did she have the desire to go inside.
In the past, working always gave her a sense of purpose and direction. She drew strength from it. However, since moving back into her condo, she’d been unable to find peace in anything.
She’d called her assistant earlier to tell her that not only was she not coming into the office but that she would be completely unavailable for the rest of the day. Her assistant was so shocked that she was tempted to make a home visit to ensure Sabrina wasn’t being held at gun-point.
What irked Sabrina the most was that Tim wasted no time filing for divorce. A couple of days after their fight, his lawyer contacted her lawyer wanting to settle it as quickly and quietly as possible. They were even willing to add a financial incentive outside of the prenup to do it.
It pissed Sabrina off because she knew that he was doing this to protect Tasha. He had enough dirt on her to leave her with nothing. Well, not exactly nothing. She would have been a fool to not have taken advantage of the opportunities that being married to him gave her. So, she may not be getting exactly what was spelled out in the agreement, but she wouldn’t be leaving the marriage empty handed either. Especially since Tim had been willing to exchange two million dollars for confidentiality and expediency. Her lawyer wanted five million.
Sabrina plopped down on her sofa and mumbled to herself, “No matter what everything seems to always revolve around Tasha.”
She was still reeling from her betrayal with Tim. Never in her wildest dreams would she have expected Tasha capable of that type of betrayal.
“I guess she had us all fooled. I wonder what daddy thinks about his little precious Tasha now?”
Everyone had flaws including Tasha. No longer could her father prop Tasha up as the model daughter anymore. And now Tasha can finally understand when two people fall in love how shit can happen.
Even though she never said it out loud, Sabrina always knew that Tasha thought she was weak and lacked discipline when it came to men.
“I didn’t lack discipline. I grew up and learned from my mistakes.” Never would she fall that deep in love again like she did in college. Sabrina still remembered falling in love in for the first time with Ryan. Ryan Witherby.
Sabrina had been having trouble with one of her math classes. Ryan had been a math tutor at the learning resource center. That’s how they’d met. She’d been immediately drawn to him which surprised her because she’d never been attracted to a white man before. Thinking back on it, it was his wicked smile and sparking gray eyes that first got her attention. But as he continued to tutor her, it was his intellect that really drew her to him. He was a pre-med student.
It wasn’t long before they started dating hot and heavy. Sabrina still held a dull ache in her chest thinking about him. He’d made promise after promise after promise to her. She believed every one of them. And, wouldn’t her father would be so proud that she’d met a wonderful man that was going to be a doctor!
Even though Ryan and Sabrina used condoms most of the time, there were a couple of occasions where things had moved way too fast and they hadn’t. She got pregnant.
The memory caused Sabrina to absently rub her stomach. And, her throat started to thicken.
Sabrina didn’t feel the least bit scared or nervous. In fact, she was ecstatic that they were going to have a child together.
Ryan held her in his arms as he explained his feelings to her, “Sabrina we’re not ready to be parents yet. You’re still trying to finish your degree and I’m still trying to get into med-school. The
