Carpathian Wolf: A BBW Wolf-Shifter Romance (Shift Your Fate Book 0.5) by Cara Wylde Read Free Book Online Page B

just really busy. His father works late too. Has been spending most of his life in his office, and my mother-in-law told me she got used to it. It’s a risk you take when you marry a rich, successful man. No, I don’t think he has someone else.”
    “Okay…” Rebecca wasn’t convinced, but she didn’t know Stephan, after all, so there was no point in insisting. Also, she reminded herself this was about Amber, not about her. If two of her ex-boyfriends had cheated on her, it didn’t mean all men were the same and Amber’s case was in any way similar.
    Amber rubbed her temples and ran her fingers though her coarse, black hair. It looked as if it had been recently dyed, but Becca noticed black wasn’t a good color for Amber. It made her look a bit old and tired.
    “I don’t know… Sometimes, I feel like it’s all my fault. Especially when I think about getting a divorce.”
    “You’ve been considering a divorce?”
    “Yes! God, that’s so awful of me!”
    “Awful? How?” Becca leaned over the table to look straight into Amber’s eyes. “Amber, you’re not happy with him. In fact, you seem to be utterly miserable.”
    The woman was silent for a minute, then bit the inside of her cheek and finally whispered: “It’s a risk.”
    “How so?”
    “Rebecca, I’m 34 and I have an 8-year-old daughter to raise. Divorcing Stephan is a huge risk.”
    “Everything is a risk.”
    “No. You don’t understand. I’ve been married to him for 10 years. I’m not young anymore, Rebecca. What if I never find someone else? What if I never re-marry and Ava will be forced to grow up without a father?”
    “No, you don’t get it. What people don’t understand is that every choice they make is a risk. Yes, divorcing him means taking the risks you’ve mentioned, but not divorcing him means taking other risks, maybe even greater than the first ones. Think about it: what good does it do to Ava if she is raised by a father who is never there? In fact, that means you’re going to be the one who raises her anyway. What does Ava have to learn from him and your marriage? That it’s okay for a man to ignore his wife? His family? That it’s okay for a woman to never be loved and cherished by her husband as long as he provides for her? And when she grows up and sees that you stayed married to her father only for her sake, how do you think she’ll feel? Knowing that someone sacrificed their happiness for you… Can you imagine the guilt? Even if you think you’re taking the easy way out, every choice you make is a risk.”
    Amber looked at Rebecca, her sea-blue eyes wide, and her mind taking in what the blonde had just said.
    “You… you might be right,” she muttered.
    Becca opened her mouth to better explain her reasoning, but was interrupted by the huge shadow of someone who had just decided to stop by their table. At first, she thought it was the waiter, but when her chocolate eyes met Emil’s dark green ones, Becca’s breath hitched.
    “You…”
    Emil smiled sheepishly. “Hi.”
    “So, you came to say goodbye? I hope you’ll have a nice trip.”
    Amber looked from Becca to the tall, incredibly handsome man, then back to Becca. She had no idea who the guy was, but she guessed her new friend had a good reason for not mentioning him.
    “Actually, I came to tell you I’ve decided to stay one more week.”
    “Oh?”
    “I want to take care of selling the inn and the tour company myself. My assistant is great and everything, but I just want to make sure the business is in good hands.”
    “Is that the only reason?”
    Emil rubbed the back of his neck. “And I still have to show you the rest of Segesvar.”
    As hard as she tried, Rebecca couldn’t hide her satisfied grin.
     
    ***
     
    Emil had tried to leave Segesvar and Rebecca behind. He had really tried. The night before, when he had left her at the restaurant, hurt and baffled, he had gone for a long run, then back to the inn to pack the rest of his things.