The choices we make [Completed]

Chapter 44 - Sorry not sorry

Chapter 44 - Sorry not sorry

"Hey girl! I just had lunch with your friend Patrick, and he said he can help introduce you to the wedding party. Isn't that great? I can start working on Sarah's wedding asap."

Olena read the message as she was waiting outside Levi's school, and her stomach dropped.

Here she was, thinking of ways she could avoid crossing paths with Patrick in the future, then Bessy went ahead and scheduled an appointment for her.

"Bess, tell him there's no need. If you're really tied up, I can go introduce myself to them. I don't need a chaperone."

"But he left already, dear. He said he would see you in his office at 9am tomorrow. Tell you what - why don't you two discuss this directly? I feel weird passing your messages back and forth. I'll send you his number, 'kay?"

Olena felt her mood sinking deeper as she read Bessy's reply. There was no way she'd call him. Besides, she didn't think he'd agree anyway.

If she ever harboured hopes that Patrick would choose to be the bigger man and let the past go, she'd better forget them now.

His offer to introduce her to his family's close circle was surely another veiled threat, just like the ones he had handed to her at the tailor's this morning.

He clearly hated her for running away and is now out for revenge - and it was easily handed to him on a silver platter.

If Olena had a choice, she would want to avoid any more encounters with him because he reminded her of the one mistake she did that cost her the life that she knew. And she didn't want Robert to find out that she had met Patrick, and then get the wrong impression.

But Olena was at a dead end.

If she chose to run away, Bessy won't be able to manage on her own and would have to sell out or buy her out and get a new partner. Or if she chose to stay but avoid Patrick, he could ruin her reputation - and their business along with it.

There was no other way but to cooperate and hope Patrick would eventually drop his idea of revenge.

Why did it have to happen now? Olena groaned to herself. Why now, when Dream Weddings had become a lifeline to her, and not just a hobby.

She had barely won custody of Levi back then, having had to fight fiercely to prove that she was capable of providing him with a good home and a good life. That - and with a bit of luck and support from a sympathetic judge - helped her win custody. Levi was barely 7yrs old then.

If she lost the business, who knows what Robert will do? True, he had been more civil this last year. Maybe because it has been a long time and he had decided to start forgiving her. Or it could be that having a new girlfriend had taken the edge off her Olena's betrayal.

But Olena couldn't shake off the cruel words he had thrown at her five years ago, when Olena had confessed her mistake and begged for forgiveness.

"I'm taking Levi."

It was her biggest fear - then and now. She would rather die than lose her son.

And she was always afraid that when Robert tried for custody again, she may not be as lucky. After all, Robert's family was more than financially capable of supporting Levi's education even through Ivy League schools. And his family was, without question, more stable than hers.