The Accidental Wife by Sara Islam

Chapter 40

| saw fear in Juhan's eyes when Rosie gasped in surprise. He was scared that she might reject him, but | knew my

daughter. She was just shocked. She had always wanted to meet him and since | had never given her a specific

tfor meeting him, she was startled. "He is finally back?" she exclaimed as she looked at me, letting go of the

teddy bear the was holding.

"He is finally back | nodded vigorously. "He cto see you this morning in the amusement park, but didn't want

to tell because he saw how much you were enjoying your day."

Rosie didn't say anything; however, she got up from her place and made her way towards him. Julian knelt in

front of her and | watched the way the two of them looked at each other. Could he see that she had his eyes?

"Do you plan on going to that place again you were in?" Rosie quietly asked him. She made guilt eatalive

without even knowing.

"No. I'm done working there. | don't want to work there anymore," he told her, smiling

She didn't say anything but slowly closed the gap between them as she wrapped her linte arms around his heck.

| saw the way his eyes glistened as he took her in his arms.

Looking at them maderealize the cruelty of my actions and | wondered if | would have done the sthing

if 1 could turn back time.

"Are you going to live with us!!" my daughter excitedly asked Julian, startling me. 1 hadn't prepared myself for

that question.

"No, cupcake, but you can cto my place whenever you want," he told her. The way Rosie started playing

with her lingers toldthat she did not like his answer.

"Aren't you at least going to stay the night?" Her voice got quieter. If somebody had the ability to makedo

anything, it would be Rosie.

"He can stay here for the night if he wants," | blurted and he looked atin surprise.

"Please stay!" she begged him.

"Can't say no to you, Rosie." He grinned, picking her up. My daughter grinned as she lazily wrapped her arms

around his neck.

"Are you two ready to have dinner?" | asked them, getting up from my place.

"Yes!" Rosie nodded vigorously.

"I can't wait to eat your food again," Julian said, lookingin the eye. | looked down, not knowing what to tell

him.

I would be lying if | said that | didn't notice it, but | saw the way he was looking at me. It was the sway he

once used to look at me, as if there was nobody else in the room but me.

| put the plates on the small dining table, then reached for my phone.

"Hey Matt! Just wanted to let you know that Rosie has finally met her father and she insisted that he should stay

the night."

| didn't want to keep something like that away from him. | knew that he wouldn't like the idea, but | couldn't tell

Rosie no. It was her first tto sec Julian and | wasn't going to prevent her from spending the night with hirn.

"Mommy, aren't you going to sit down?" Rosie asked. | looked up and saw her sitting beside Julian.

"Sorry, sweetheart. | was sending a text to Man," | told her, making my way to the table.

"Your boyfriend?" Julian inquired and all | did was nod. His face said it all. He wasn't fond of the fact that | had a

boyfriend, but he needed to understand that I was no longer his "Do you live far away?" Rosie asked Julian.

"Not that far, cupcake," he assured her.

-Rosie, if you want to see Daddy at any time, just tell MHr addressing the two of them with what | said.

and | will take you to see him. He is also more than welcto see you here. | was

"You don't know how much I miss your food," Julian told me. He used to tellthat he loved my cooking more

after our divorce. | always wondered if anything between us was real. ne more than

anything in the world, but

"Enjoy your meal." | offered him a polite smile.

| didn't know how | was supposed to act around him. There were so many walls around us that he wanted to

bring down, but I couldn't do that. He needed to suederstand whitever we once had was meant to stay in the

past. da we were rating.

ag, the dombell rang

| got up from my place and in ide my way towards the door. | looked through the peephole and frowned.

Chapter 40

when | saw Man What was she doing here?

| opened the door with confusion obvious on my face. When | sent him the message, it wasn't an invitation for

him to join us. | just wanted him to know that my ex was here. | would want to know if he had his ex over "What

are you doing here, Matt!" | calmly asked him.

"You have your ex over and you think | would stay calm?" he was trying to control his anger, which was

unjustified in my opinion.

"Yes, because supposedly, you trustand you should know that | won't cheat on you" | pointed out, folding my

arms over my chest. His tense bly relaxed and guilt took over his face.

"| trust you. | didn't mean it like that. I just.. | don't trust him. | don't even know who the man is," Matt said,

taking a deep breath.

"You know him. You know that Rosie's father is Julian Kensington," | reminded him. | didn't exactly tell him who

her father was before, but it was easy for him to put two and two together. When | revealed my identity, he

found out who my ex was. Before that, | didn't tell him anything about my old life.

*And as far as | know, the man is still in love with you I hated that he was right.

"But I'm not in love with him. Matt, and you know that." | wasn't in love with Julian. What we once had died the

moment he accusedof cheating and threwout

"Has he tried anything!" Matt asked, Impatience evident in his voice.

"Anything like what?" | frowned.

"Like kissing you." He was blunt.

"No, Matt He respectsand my wishes," | jumped to his defense. "Mait, | promise, I'm fine. Julian won't do

anything. He is here for his daughter, not me. Had it not been for Rosie, | wouldn't have let him stay. | know that

if | ask you to stay, you will, but there will be tensi He stayed silent for a few moments, then finally nodded. He

approached me, tookin his arms, and kissed my lips. | kissed him back, but I hated the foreign feeling that

took over me.

"Goodnight, Amy," he said, smiling at me.

| closed the door and made my way back to Julian and Rosie.

"What took you so long?" Rosie asked me.

"It was Uncle Matt," | told her. Julian's eyes met mine and | saw the control he had ove his emotions.

"Is he going to have dinner with us?" | shook my head at her question

"Am | causing you trouble?" Julian asked.

"No, everything is settled. Matt trusts me." | didn't even realize how he might take what | had just said. | didn't

mean it in any malicious way

After my relationship with Julian, | realized that the thing I started to look for in people was trust. What he has

done traumatizedbecause | realized that throughout our relationship, there was always ssort of distrust.

| remembered our first Thanksgiving and how he "I'm glad that you've found your happiness," Julian said with

pure sincerity in his voice.

As the night passed, | couldn't help but wonder if | had truly found my happiness