Chapter 26
A few weeks later
“This can’t be happening right now!” I paced the room as my best friends sat on the couch, waiting for me to explain what was going on. Dinero had been MIA lately, and I knew it was because of that bitch. I worked too hard to get this man, and no one was going to take him away from me.
“Calm down, Harper. I’m sure things aren’t as bad as you’re making them sound,” Sasha assured me. It did nothing to calm my spirit because she didn’t know what was going on.
“Sasha is right. Dinero loves you. You have nothing to worry about.” Sienna assured me.
“No, he loves her,” I blurted out, reflecting on how he’d changed over the last few months.
“Oh, don’t be ridiculous. I’m sure it’s just a lot for him to deal with right now. He found out that he has children, and I’m sure that’s something he’s wanted for a while. Especially after—” Sasha halted her words, but I knew exactly what she was going to say.
After we lost my daughter, Milani, Dinero shut down completely. The first two years were the worst because he was still processing his grief. Then, afterward, he started to come around. I had been trying to get pregnant for the last four years, even going as far as poking holes in the condom but to no avail. Now this bitch was claiming to be pregnant with his baby, and I couldn’t have that. I played my role with Money, but I was working on a plan to rid myself of her for good.
“You don’t understand, Sasha. He’s been calling me by her nickname during sex,” I revealed, causing the two of them to stare at me in disbelief. Hell, I didn’t want to believe it either, but it was true. At first, I thought he had come up with some cute nickname to call me. We didn’t have nicknames for one another, so I thought maybe it meant we were finally getting closer.
My dreams were crushed when I heard him call her Sunny while they were on the phone discussing the kids. I stood there frozen as I realized just how careless my fiancé had been. He had been calling her name out since the moment he first reunited with her and never once thought or cared about how it would make me feel. I didn’t even think he realized he was doing it.
“Not only that. He fucked her recently, and now she’s claiming to be pregnant again.” The words tasted like dirt coming from my mouth. I wanted to cry when he gave me the news because I was completely blindsided. He didn’t even seem to care about my feelings at all.
“Look, there’s something I need to tell you. I wasn’t really sure what to say, so I’ve been holding off on saying anything. However, now I can’t really keep it to myself any longer.” My stomach dropped to my feet as he spoke.
“You know you can tell me anything. I promise this is a judgment-free zone.” I didn’t know if I was trying to convince him or myself.
“Alright, I’m gonna keep it real. I’ve been fucking my children’s mother for a while now. I figured you wouldn’t trip because we have an understanding when it comes to sex. However, things have changed, and I need to be honest with you.” Tears welled in my eyes as he explained the nature of his relationship. I thought he was done, but then he hit me with the final blow.
“She’s pregnant. Neither of us was planning this, but I’ll admit that I got so caught up in her being back in my life that I wasn’t careful. I have a lot of love for you, and I don’t expect you to stay after this. Trust me, I wouldn’t either. Even though we had an understanding, children were not a part of that agreement. I don’t regret my child, but I can acknowledge that this wasn’t what you signed up for. I’m not rushing you out, and if it makes the transition easier for you, I’ll even pay for your new place. I owe you that much.” Money stared at me with unemotional eyes as I sat there in shock. A baby? That meant not only was he fucking her, he was doing so without any protection, which broke another part of our agreement.
“Are you breaking up with me?” I asked for clarity. It sounded as if he had this whole thing planned out, yet he hadn’t confirmed anything with me.
“Given the nature of the situation, I think it might be for the best. I figured you would want to call everything off, and I wouldn’t blame you. The truth is, I still have a lot of feelings for Sunny, but she wants to keep things solely focused on the kids.”
“Well, I don’t want to end things. Yes, you made a mistake, but I still want to be your wife. We can get through this just like we’ve gotten through everything else. If anything, those feelings you have are only temporary. You were caught up in the past, but we are living in the present now.” Money stared at me but didn’t say much. It made me panic for a moment. Was this what he wanted? Was he hoping I would leave him before he could leave me?
“How far along is she?” The question came out before I could stop it.
“I’m not sure yet. I’m assuming a month or something like that.” He shrugged, resting his elbows on his thighs. He appeared to be stressed, but I wondered if it was from me or this situation.
“Is she not willing to get an abortion? Have you offered her any money to get rid of it?”
“Why the hell would I do that?”
“I mean, if she isn’t too far along, she can easily get an abortion. It would be the best decision for everyone involved, you know. Then the two of you can have a clean break and focus on the boys, like you said.” Hell, I would offer to push her down a flight of steps if it would help speed things along.
“Yeah, you must have had one too many drinks today. You already know I don’t believe in abortion, and I’m damn sure not about to kill my baby when they were made out of love. I ain’t no broke ass scrub. I can afford to provide for all of my children , and as long as that’s the case, abortion will never be on the table.” Money vented with a deadly glare on his face. Clearly, I said the wrong thing, and I wasn’t even sure how to fix it.
“I wasn’t trying to offend you. I was only trying to come up with a resolution that would be good for all of us.”
“Yeah, well, that shit doesn’t work for me. Now, like I said before, you don’t have to stay and deal with any of this. I fully intend to be there for the pregnancy, and I’m sure that may make you uneasy. We can have Alyssa make up a post that explains that we ended on amicable terms and all that fancy-ass shit if it’ll make things easier for you. I want you to be comfortable in all of this.” There he went again with this breakup talk. It was as if he wanted me to say this was too much for me so he could end things. No fucking way. I’d done way too much to make him mine. He had no idea the lengths I’d gone through to make sure we ended up together, and I’d be damned if I let that little bitch win.
Scooting closer to him, I placed my hand on his before looking into his eyes. “I’m not going anywhere, Money. If you have decided to keep this baby, then I’ll have to adjust.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. I love you, and honestly, this is partially my fault. I opened our relationship up, so I guess this is a lesson learned for both of us. However, we’ve already invested a lot of time and money into this relationship as well as our wedding. I’m not willing to walk away from this, especially when I know we belong together,” I insisted, although his face didn’t seem the least bit relieved by my proclamation.
“Okay. I wasn’t exactly expecting you to be so cool about it.”
“I promise, we will be fine, although I think maybe you should have a sit-down with her so she understands her place. I am going to be your wife, and she needs to respect my role in your life. No late-night phone calls or asking for money unless it’s for the children. We should probably discuss an appropriate amount for child support too. The last thing you want is for her to think you are going to be funding her lifestyle. She is a baby mama. Nothing more, nothing less.” Money’s jaw flexed, and I realized I may have gotten a little carried away.
“Aye, I’ve got that handled already. I don’t need you to concern yourself with any of that. My family will be taken care of as I see fit,” he declared, sitting up on the couch.
“Oh, no, Harper. I’m so sorry,” Sienna expressed with a sad look on her face.
“So, what does this mean for you guys and the wedding? Are you still going to marry him?” Sasha probed.
“Of course, I am. Do you know how long it has taken me to get Money to this point? I have endured rejection and coldness from him for so many years. Now, I finally have the chance to have him to myself. I would be a fool to walk away from him.”
“What about the girl? I mean, she’s going to be around because of the kids. How are you going to manage?” Sienna’s questions were valid, and I had already come up with an idea of how to handle her. It wasn’t something I could share with them, though.
“I am going to trust in the love I share with my man. His feelings for her are only temporary. What we have is forever, and he will see that in his own time. Right now, I’m going to allow him the time to spend with those brats of his, and then once we’re married, I’ll suggest we move to a different state so we can put some distance between us and them.” Truthfully, if I could get rid of them, too, I would.
“I don’t know if that will work, babe. Money seems to have a really good relationship with his sons. Or at least that’s what it looks like in all of the photos he posts.” Her statement confused me because Money wasn’t very big on social media. He normally had his team take care of any event promotions, and he rarely made any personal posts on his page.
I used to get upset about it all the time because he had never posted about our relationship. Not even a birthday or engagement post. People on the outside would assume he was single had it not been for me leaking our photos to the paparazzi all these years. Money didn’t care to have the public involved in his personal life, so he generally kept everything to himself.
“What are you talking about? When did Money post about them?” I inquired. Sasha wasted no time pulling out her phone so I could see the pictures for myself. I stood there with my mouth jarred. There were multiple posts, including videos of him and the boys practicing on the field and working out in the gym. There were photos of them eating out and going to arcades together—things I had no idea he had even done.
“What the hell?” I whispered to myself while I continued to scroll through his page. He even had captions on the posts that mentioned their names and how much he loved them. Money had never done that for me. Even when Milani was born, he wanted to keep her off the internet. Who the hell was this person?
The more I scrolled, the more confused I became. Money appeared to be a completely different person than who I’d known him to be. His smile was as big as the sun in every photo, and you could see pride radiating from him in every video. I’d never experienced this side of him in all of the years we’d been in each other’s lives.
“Are you okay, love? You look like you just lost your best friend,” Sasha commented, reminding me that they were sitting here watching my reaction.
“I’m fine. He seems really happy with fatherhood, and I could never take that away from him.”
“I agree, and I love the fact that they are able to have a healthy co-parenting relationship. Mike and I can’t even be in the same room together, let alone go to games and outings with one another.” Sasha once again dropped a bomb on me, and I couldn’t help the way it made me feel.
“Wait, what? When did you see the two of them together?”
“Oh, I just meant the photos of them all hanging out. Did you miss them?” She scrolled through her phone until she found the pictures she was looking for.
Jealousy reared its ugly head, and I could feel my ears growing hot as I saw the two of them together. Money took quite a few photos of them together. Some of them were off guard, so you couldn’t see her whole face, but others appeared to be of the perfect family. As I looked down at the comments, his fans and followers were saying how beautiful his family was. There were several comments saying his “wife” was gorgeous, which infuriated me to no end.
One of the photos caught my attention because it was an event I had asked him about. He told me he was taking the boys as his guests, but not once did he mention she was in attendance as well. I felt betrayed because Money had never lied to me in this way. Honestly, he never cared enough about my feelings to lie about anything, so this let me know things were different with her. I tried fixing my face so the ladies wouldn’t notice how hurt I was. Even though they were my friends, I knew how women thought. Some couldn’t wait for you to be humbled so they could feel superior to you. I needed to get my shit together so I could fight for this relationship as I’d always done.
“You know it’s okay to be hurt, Harp. At the end of the day, Money is your fiancé, and I’m sure it’s difficult to see him with someone else, even if they are only co-parenting,” Sasha assured me.
“Oh, no. I’m fine. I think the nerves and stress of the wedding are getting to me. I know my man, and he loves me. He’s doing the best he can to balance everything, and I have to do my part as well. At the end of it all, the two of us will be husband and wife. Then I’ll be the most important person in his life,” I reasoned. Truthfully, I wasn’t sure if I actually believed this, but I needed something to hold onto. Maybe once we made things official, I would be able to get him to step back from the kids. It was worth a shot at least.
The girls and I enjoyed the cocktails we prepared and gossiped about all the drama going on with the players and their wives. Even though Money had retired, I was still a part of the circle. Although our sisterhood was a messy one, it was one I appreciated. I felt at ease knowing they would never welcome another woman in his life. That would never be a problem, though. I would get rid of anyone who tried to get in the way of my lifestyle.
Since I figured I might need to spice things up in our relationship, I called in a favor to one of my good friends. Money needed to be reminded of who his woman was, and I had no issue reminding him.
“Mmmm, yes,” I moaned as Porschea pressed her face into my center. Her tongue lapped across my pearl as my head fell back. We were supposed to wait until Money got home, but those drinks had gone straight to my coochie, so we had gotten a little bit of a head start.
“Yes, right there!” Her plump lips wrapped around my clit as she gently suckled it. When they said women were better at pleasuring women, they were not lying. Money didn’t believe in eating pussy, and I hated it. I’d tried to talk him into it, but he wouldn’t budge on the issue. It was one of the reasons I brought up the idea of us having threesomes because it allowed us both to get what we wanted.
“Hmm, you taste so good, mami. I’ve missed you,” she moaned with her face covered in my juices.” Porschea and I had known each other since high school. Technically, she was the first woman I had a sexual encounter with. It was when I realized that I was attracted to both men and women. My parents were die-hard Christians, so they were completely against it. When they caught us together in high school, they banned her from my house and had the church pray over me for an entire month.
By the time I got to college, my father was going out of his way to try to set me up on dates with his players and any other available bachelor to make sure I didn’t fall into temptation. When Money came along, he all but forced me to be with him, but by that time, I had already been fucking multiple men and women.
Money wasn’t exactly interested in me when we first met, so I continued to do my thing until an opportunity presented itself. The only reason I even went after him was because I wanted to make my father proud. The boy I was originally with was a top pick and an NFL prospect as well, but after two seasons of poor performance, he was no longer a top recruit. My father told me to end things with him immediately and advised me to get with Money. It took a lot of hard work and finesse, but I finally snagged him.
When we first got together, I made it clear that he was free to do whatever he wanted, with whoever he wanted, as long as he kept things private. No dates, no public displays of affection. He agreed, and I thought that was what made our relationship stronger. Most men in this industry cheated anyway; I figured it would make our relationship strong.
Porschea and I had been messing around for years on and off, but since I would never be with her, she settled for these arrangements. Money enjoyed fucking the both of us, and it gave us a chance to be together without anyone judging us. In a perfect world, I could have them both. However, Money would always be my priority.
“Do I need to leave?” Money’s voice sounded off as he entered the room. His face appeared confused, but not in an angry way. Still, I pushed Porschea’s head from my legs so I could address my fiancé.
“No, baby. We were waiting for you to get home so we could show you a good time.” I purred, sliding from the bed before strutting my way over to him. When I placed my hand on his chest, he shook my hand off, taking me by surprise.
“I’m good. I’m not really in the mood tonight.” The face he made confused me, so I pressed him about it.
“We haven’t had sex in weeks, baby. I thought if I brought Porschea here, it would help spice things up. You’ve been distant lately.” Money stared at me, and I could tell he was holding back from saying something.
“Yeah, well, we’ve both been busy. I’m cool. Don’t let me stop you. I do need to holler at you about something, though.”
“W-what is it?” My heart damn near leaped out of my chest. His face was unreadable, so I had no idea what he might need to tell me. I just hoped it had nothing to do with that girl. I doubted he would up and leave me for her, but I wasn’t confident that he wouldn’t consider it.
“Hey, Porschea. We’re going to go downstairs and talk for a moment. You can stay if you would like, but if you have somewhere else to be, I’ll understand. We’ll try again another night.” I put on the best smile I could in front of Money, but I had a feeling I would need her to stay after this talk.
“Oh, I don’t mind waiting. I don’t have anywhere else I need to be.” Money glanced between the two of us but didn’t say anything else. I followed behind him like a lost puppy as we made our way downstairs. Money seemed different, and it scared me. It was like he was changing into someone I didn’t recognize, and it bothered me how insecure it made me feel. I watched him take a seat on the couch, so I sat right next to him.
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
“How long have you been off birth control?” His question took me by surprise.
“W-what do you mean?”
“I mean, I ran into Dr. Burton, and she mentioned how she couldn’t wait for us to get pregnant. She seemed surprised when I mentioned that you were on birth control.” Sweat beads formed as I began to panic.
“Well, she shouldn’t have been discussing my medical status with you because it’s a HIPPA violation,” I countered.
“Does it look like I give a fuck about any of that? When were you going to tell me you stopped taking birth control?” The crease in his forehead told me that he was upset, so I tried to answer the question the best I could.
“We’re getting married soon, so I figured that we could start trying for another baby. I mean, you’re having one with your baby mama, but we don’t have any together. Do you know how that looks?”
“What does that have to do with you going off birth control without telling me? I made it clear where I stood with that subject, so why would you go behind my back and do some flawed shit like that?”
“Because I deserve the right to have your baby! How is it fair that she gets to carry your child, and I don’t?” I shouted, instantly regretting the decision once I saw his jaw flex.
“We have a child together. The one you refuse to acknowledge. Now, I thought I made myself clear, but it’s obvious you misunderstood. I don’t want any more children. I have four children. It doesn’t get more complete than that.”
“What about me? How is this gonna work if I want more children and you don’t? Am I supposed to accept that and agree to live life with no children of my own?”
“Only you can decide what you’re willing to deal with. I’m simply telling you my plans. If you want more children, by all means, we can let this go. I don’t want to stop you from having the life you want.” There he went with that bullshit. Every time we got into a disagreement, he would threaten to walk away. Of course, I never pushed too hard, but I was desperate to become his wife. As long as he was still willing to go through with it, I wouldn’t dare mess it up.
“Okay, I’m sorry. I’ll make an appointment to get on birth control next week. I don’t want to lose you, and I hope you understand what I’m sacrificing. Now that we’ve gotten that cleared up, do you want to come upstairs to relieve some stress? It sounds like you could use a night of fun.” Now more than ever, I needed to step my game up in the bedroom so he wouldn’t find himself back in her bed.
My mother taught me that a woman wasn’t supposed to do too much in the bedroom. You were supposed to lay there and allow your man to do all of the work so they felt dominant. I’d taken her advice over the years, but I couldn’t say that it’d been helpful. With the fate of my wedding and relationship on the line, I might have to come up with a better plan if I wanted to keep my man.
“Naw, you can go ahead without me. I have some things I need to take care of. I’ll be back in a day or so.”
“Wait, you’re leaving?”
“Yeah. I came here so I could figure out what was going on, but I have some things I need to handle.”
“And they require you to stay out all night?” I shrieked. It was like I could feel him slipping through my grasp. Clearly, I needed to put some things in motion to ensure this problem didn’t get too far out of hand.
“Yeah. I’ll check in with you tomorrow.” Money got up from the couch before I could even say anything else. He grabbed a duffel bag that I hadn’t even noticed before he headed out of the house. I couldn’t believe he had walked out of here as if he hadn’t dropped a big ass bomb on me.
Getting up from the couch, I stood by the door, watching him pull off. Once I could no longer see his taillights, I stormed up the stairs. Nothing seemed to be going in my favor at the moment, and it wasn’t right. Pushing the door open, I was startled to find Porschea in the middle of the bed, playing in her wetness.
“Come sit on my face so I can make you feel better,” she commanded. Between the sight in front of me and the tension I had building in my body, I needed this night more than I originally thought. Deciding to put my issues on the back burner, I removed my robe and climbed her body until my pussy was hovering over her nose. Porschea wasted no time swirling her tongue between my folds. My hands gripped the headboard and as I let her to lick all my worries away. Tonight, I would allow her to please my body until I couldn’t take anymore, and tomorrow, I would put my plan in motion to get Charae and those bastards out of our lives for good.