Darius simply stared, certain he hadn’t heard her right. Had she just asked him to marry her?
“You said you need a mother for Sofia,” she rushed on, “and I need a husband in order to adopt Abigail. It would be an advantageous match for both of us. I promise to be a good mother to your daughter and do my best to be a good wife to you as well.” Her brown eyes swam with a mixture of hope and what looked like terror.
Terror that he would say yes or that he’d turn her down?
Darius dragged a hand over his jaw, then got to his feet and walked unsteadily to the window, his heart beating too loudly in his chest. For a few seconds, he simply stared out at the buildings in the distance.
How did he begin to process this? If she’d asked him before he’d learned about her past, his answer might have been very different. But now, all he could think about was her lack of faith in him. Everything he knew about her had been thrown into question, leaving him confused and unsure if he could trust himself. More importantly, he had Sofia’s best interest to consider.
When at last he turned to face her, he kept his expression as neutral as possible. “Do you remember why I wouldn’t marry Meredith? Because she’d deceived me about her pregnancy?” He pinned her with a hard stare. “It turns out you haven’t exactly been honest with me either.”
The blood drained from her cheeks, and she closed her eyes. “Meredith told you,” she said flatly.
“She assumed I already knew.” He paced behind his chair, tension twisting his insides. “I don’t understand, Olivia. After all the conversations we’ve had, why did you never tell me you’d had a child? That you were once one of those women in trouble, which was your real reason for opening Bennington Place?” Despite his best effort, hurt and anger laced his voice.
When she opened her eyes, misery swirled in her gaze. “I . . . I was ashamed. Afraid I’d lose your respect. And your friendship.”
“You must have told some people. Like Ruth.” He stiffened. “And probably the doctor. Why was I so different?” He hated the petulant tone to his voice but couldn’t seem to prevent it.
Olivia stared at her lap. “Ruth knows my story, or most of it. As for Dr. Henshaw, he figured out a large part of it on his own after he treated me when I was ill. But I never told him or Ruth the full extent of what I went through. I’ve never told anyone that.” Her lips quivered as she got to her feet, looking ready to bolt.
He moved toward her, needing more answers before he let her go. “Your fiancé, the one who died in the war. Was he the father of your child?”
She nodded. “He’d already left for duty when I found out I was expecting.”
Tension seized his muscles. What type of cad made love to his fiancée and then left her to face the consequences of their actions while he went off to war? Darius couldn’t imagine how hard it must have been for Olivia to break the news to her parents. “Meredith said your family disowned you. Did you have the baby in a maternity home?”
“No.” A stricken expression crossed her face. “I didn’t have that option because . . .” She bit her lip. “Because my father had me arrested.”
“Arrested?” Disbelief roiled in his gut. “What on earth for?”
Her gaze remained fused to the floor. “There’s a little-known law where a woman can be charged with being incorrigible if she’s pregnant, unmarried, and under twenty-one. The authorities had no choice but to incarcerate me.”
“He had you put in jail?” Darius’s mouth fell open before he clamped his jaw shut. He must look like a fish the way his mouth kept gaping open.
Olivia nodded. “I was sent to the Mercer Reformatory for Women.”
Darius scrubbed a hand over his eyes. How could a father treat a daughter so cruelly? Nothing could make him betray Sofia that way—ever.
“Did you give birth in jail, then?”
“No. When I went into labor, they took me to the hospital.” She wrapped her arms around her middle. “I got to hold my son for about five minutes before the woman from Children’s Aid took him away.” Moisture glinted in her eyes, and she blinked hard several times.
His own throat grew tight just thinking about it. How could anyone be so heartless to a young mother? No wonder Olivia wanted to provide a safe haven for women. To allow them the option of keeping their child if they chose to.
If only she’d been given that chance.
His shoulders sagged as the anger seeped out of him. This woman had endured so much heartache. It was no wonder she wanted to keep Abigail after losing her son that way.
Slowly he came around the desk. “I feel terrible for everything you’ve gone through, Olivia. I see now why it would be hard to share such a painful story.”
“Thank you.” She still wouldn’t look at him directly.
“I also understand why you want to keep Abigail. I wish . . .” He shook his head. What did he wish? He had no clue at this moment, except that he wished he could erase her pain.
When Olivia raised her head, the raw anguish on her face sent a spasm through his chest.
“It’s all right, Darius. I had no right to come here and burden you with my problems. The truth is . . .” Tears swam in her eyes, highlighting the amber flecks in their depths. “I don’t deserve to be a mother or a wife. I don’t know what I was thinking.” Her voice broke on a sob, and she rushed to the door, flung it open, and dashed out.
“Olivia, wait!” He ran after her, but she was already halfway across the outer office.
She bypassed the elevator and raced through the doorway
