Chapter 421: Don't Leave Me (A side Story)

Willow did not expect to run into Jeremy at Connor's party, in fact she had not even known he knew the man. She was aware that he knew of the Lamar's, but Connor had never come up in conversation between them, and she knew he must have come to celebrate for a reason. To Willow, that reason could only be Claire, who was a respected socialite.

"Where is Claire?" she asked, and as expected, she received silence from the man.

The first time Jeremy had slept with Claire, he chalked it up to a moment of weakness, which Willow forgave because she could not give him the satisfaction he craved. The second incident took some time to get over, the third made her worry, and after that she stopped counting.

"I told you; she was a mistake."

"A mistake that you enjoyed repeating." Willow pried herself away from Jeremy, because in truth she did not blame him. She was always up or down, and she could not give him the stability he wanted. A night of passionate kissing should turn into love making between people who appreciated one another, but for Willow, it always ended before it began.

Willow left the dance floor, making her way back to Mina, but her friend was gone. She frantically checked the surrounding area, then the stage, noticing that Olivia was also gone, and she wondered if the women had stepped to the restroom. Willow made her way in that direction, fully aware that Jeremy was following her.

"I didn't come here to fight," he said. "I wanted to tell you something before you found out from other people." Willow paused.

"How did you even know I would be here?"

"One of my father's clients. They saw you and called me." Willow rolled her eyes, hating the circle that she seemed unable to break out of. It was not strange for Jeremy to have acquaintances within it, but for Mina to have also been pulled in felt like karma was punishing her for hurting her family.

"What do you want to say?" Willow asked, and Jeremy guided her to another room with no people who could overhear. He sat her in a chair before kneeling down in front of her, and Willow was scared he was going to pull out a ring.

"Claire is pregnant." Willow's heart thudded in her chest and tears fell without them waiting for her to blink.

"Is it yours?" she asked, not knowing where the question came from or why.

"I don't know." Willow wiped her face, ruining her makeup in the process.

"How would you not know?" She genuinely needed to understand, because as far as she knew, Claire was just as in love with Jeremy as she was, and the woman would not have stepped out on him.

"It's only been three months; she isn't far enough along for prenatal testing, but her family has been making noise. They want me to marry her if the child is mine, but I don't want to marry someone I don't love." Jeremy tried to use his finger to wipe some of Willow's makeup away, but he only made it worse.

"And if the baby is yours? What would you expect of the woman you claim to want to marry?"

"Because I think she loves me, I know she will also love my child." Willow let out a short sob, not liking the phrase 'my child' coming from Jeremy's lips without her being a part of its creation. She liked children and was not opposed to being with a man who had one, but she was not sure she could help raise a baby who was created while she was still in the picture.

"I can't," she whispered. "It'll happen again and again, because you and I both know I can't satisfy you the way she can." Willow did not want to call Jeremy out on the obvious lie he was telling her as well. If he truly doubted paternity, she was almost certain he would not have even bothered to come and find her, because the misunderstanding would have cleared itself up on its own.

"There is one option we haven't tried." Willow looked at the man, fully aware that he meant drugs. It was not the first time the offer had been made by the man, but Willow was afraid that she would become dependent on them, and she did not like the idea of being under the influence any time she wanted to touch her man. She adored Jeremy, and she wanted to experience him without medicinal aid.

Willow reached out to hold Jeremy's cheeks. She studied his face, taking in his beautiful dark skin, his short curly hair and his almond shaped eyes that were so deep a brown that they appeared black. She now understood Oric, closure was important, she needed it with Jeremy, and he needed it with her.

Willow brought her absolutely heartbroken face close to his and pressed a kiss on his lips, letting it linger before speaking with their faces still pressed together. Her lips quivered from the pain she was feeling. To keep him would be being selfish, to not just him, but also to Claire, who she knew had no reason to lie. She released her words slowly, hearing her own voice crack as the sentence she was trying to make got stuck in her throat. She finally settled on something simple, not wanting to keep the man on hold any longer.

"Goodbye." Willow felt the man's grip tighten on her thighs and she could see the unmasked hurt in his expression.

"Don't leave me," he pleaded. "I didn't mean for it to happen. I was weak and I made a mistake." Willow smiled at the man, choosing to ignore his words, and grateful that the room they had chosen to speak in was deserted.

"You will be a good husband and an amazing father, but no part of that future is with me." Willow stood up and Jeremy remained in the kneeling position; almost as if he were afraid that standing would make Willow's words real.

Anytime Willow left in the past, she never gave words of parting. She would always come back, but this time was final. There was a child involved, and it did not belong to her. Although she had been unable to be intimate with him, she did not want to be reminded of her inability by being forced to play stepmother to an innocent life that deserved a complete family.

"Don't treat Claire the way your father treated you and your mother," Willow said. She could see the large droplets of water hanging off Jeremy's chin, but she did not dare look directly at his face. If she did, she would have been tempted to push everything aside and agree to the man without weighing the consequences.

Willow left the room in a hasty fashion, knowing that her face was a mess, and fully aware that there were people who had waited to see her look so broken for a long time. She was fortunate though, and she only passed a few caterers on her way back to the room where she stayed with Mina.

The walk was a short one, but halfway there, Willow was unable to hold back the flood of tears that had been wanting to release themself since Jeremy's confession. She loved him, she knew she did, and she regretted never telling the man how she felt.

Willow's mind began to torment her, telling her that if she had just opened her heart up to Jeremy, and told him how she felt, Claire would not have been able to find a way into his bed. She pushed open the room door, wanting nothing more than to just sink into the bed and cry, but a nightmare greeted her instead.