Chapter 14
A s Carlos headed to Layla’s table, she had to keep herself from rolling her eyes.
She never thought a time would come where she’d look at her husband and not feel anything but love.
Even the first time he cheated, she still loved him.
Loved him so much it hurt, and she questioned how she could love him after what he’d done.
But as she looked at him now, the main thing she felt was indifference.
Not hate and definitely not love…
but indifference.
At that point, Layla didn’t give a damn how Carlos felt.
She was going to do what was best for her and Dior.
He could agree and they handle this with peace or they could take it to court.
Carlos’s smug grin had Layla sucking her teeth and twisting her mouth to the side to keep from calling him out on it.
She stared at him, head tilted, as he sat across from her.
“Where’s my daughter?”
“At the community center. I find it funny that you love asking where she is when she’s not with me, yet you don’t even call to check on her or speak to her on a daily basis. Do you really even care about her wellbeing, or do you just hate seeing me out and about without her?”
Carlos grinned with one side of his mouth as he relaxed in his seat.
“So what if I don’t like the idea of my wife living life without me? Is that really such a bad thing?”
“Yes, it is. You’ve made it clear that you do not want to be with me. I no longer belong to you, Carlos.”
With a sigh, he looked around the halfway crowded Panera Bread dining room.
“Honestly, I guess I’m just used to how things used to be,” he confessed.
“You being home with our daughter. I wasn’t hands on because I didn’t have to be. You took care of every-fucking-thing.”
“You don’t think I deserve a break?” she asked quickly, voice slightly raised.
“For fourteen years now, my life has revolved around the both of you. And I’ve been okay with that because you were at least giving the bare minimum of your presence. Now that I’m getting some help and living for myself you’re acting a whole ass! I could understand if Dior was being abused or neglected but she’s not. She’s progressing and happier than she’s ever been. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
His head shook softly before he pinched his chin.
“Is that what you wanted to talk about?”
Layla chuckled as her irritation rose.
She was unsure why she thought this conversation would offer her some insight on the man she thought she knew better than anyone else once upon a time.
“No.” Layla paused, wanting to make sure she was ready to make the offer that was about to come out of her mouth.
“I’m willing to give you the divorce now instead of waiting for Dior to finish her first year of high school. I do have a few stipulations, though.”
He grimaced before his expression went blank.
Rolling his tongue over his cheek, Carlos blinked rapidly.
“I didn’t expect you to be so willing to end our marriage.”
“Our marriage has been over for a while now, Carlos. I’ve been trying to hold on to it because I thought things would get better, but we’re beyond that now.”
“Why? Because of him?”
Layla squeezed the back of her neck and looked away briefly.
“Because I deserve to be free and so do you.”
Carlos’s head bobbed once.
“What are your terms?”
“You put the house in my name and never try to put us out again. That’s my daughter’s safest space. You will not take that away from her.”
A few seconds passed before Carlos agreed with, “I was out of line for that. Done.”
“You have to pay the mortgage and property taxes for the next two years. I want to go back to school and finish my degree but I will find a work from home job in the process. It would help me out if I didn’t have to pay all the bills so I could find a job that won’t be super draining and mentally taxing because I will still have Dior full time. I was able to make your house a home for all these years because it, along with Dior, was my only responsibility. If I have to work now, I won’t have as much time and energy.”
“I can do that.”
“The last thing is that we set up court appointed schedules for Dior, and you will have to also become involved with her program. Anyone that you want around her will have to meet with Andres as well, including Jasmine.” She sat up in her seat, voice lowering as she tried to remain calm.
“I don’t know what the fuck you thought you were doing speaking about and to my daughter like that the other night, but it will not happen again. No matter how much you want to believe Dior is a normal girl, she’s not. You can’t talk to her like she is or expect her to talk to you like she is. This is beyond her control, and I’m not going to let you make her feel uncomfortable whenever she’s around you. I will keep her away from you before I let you do that.”
Carlos’s head shook.
“I can agree to everything except that nigga. You gotta get somebody else to help out.”
“Why? Dior is comfortable with him. She’s safe with him. She trusts him.”
“I don’t give a fuck. I don’t want him around.”
“Okay, so we can just not have him around you.”
“Nah. I don’t want him around period.”
Her head shook as she stood.
Not once did she think he was capable of having so much coldness in his heart.
“Why not, Carlos?”
“Because I don’t like him.”
“So what! Grow the hell up. It doesn’t matter if you like him or not. He’s the best at what he does. You’d know that if you kept up with Dior’s progress.”
“Like I said… I don’t want him around.”
As she stared into his eyes, Layla waited to find something to make his words make sense.
The longer she looked at him, the more Andres’s words made sense.
“This isn’t even about Dior, is it? You don’t want Andres around me.” Carlos smiled and clenched his jaw, remaining silent.
“You know that I… I feel something for him and you hate that, don’t you?”
“I saw you kiss him at Ruth’s Chris.”
Layla chuckled with a shake of her head.
“You’re willing to risk your daughter’s progress just to keep me from moving on? Never mind the fact that you’re engaged to someone else.”
Carlos stood and made his way over to her side of the table.
“The question is are you willing to risk her progress for that nigga? If that’s all you really care about, there should be no issue for you to find someone else.”
“But he’s the best…”
“There’s always someone better. You have one week to decide.”
He tried to place a kiss to her temple, laughing when she pushed him away.
Layla’s body shook as she watched him walk away.
Realistically, Layla was going to do whatever was necessary for her daughter.
However, Carlos’s confident saunter out of the café had her wanting to do whatever it took to prove he wasn’t running shit.