I Let Her Ruin Herself Chapter 16
She was barely recovering from one birth before she was pregnant again. Her body had been worn down for years.
After Derek got tired of her, he started seeing other women.
He had no job and no income. Whenever Mark refused to give him money, he would go home and beat Taylor.
The Spencers’ savings were drained quickly. Then Derek forced them to mortgage the house. During one argument, he stabbed Mark to death. He later pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and a weapons charge, earning a minimum sentence of nearly ten years.
Taylor lost her father and her provider all at once. That was when she started thinking about her acting dreams again.
She had no professional training and looked exhausted. No legitimate agency would sign her. She ended up at a small company that arranged for actresses to drink with clients at so-called “client dinners.”
“I tried to find you before,” she said. “But your family had moved.”
I let out a short, harsh laugh.
“Find me for what? So I could support Derek’s household?”
“I couldn’t believe it when I saw you in the news. I thought it had to be someone else with the same name.”
“Adrian, I know you always loved me.” She grabbed my sleeve. “I’m saying yes now. We can be together.”
“No, we can’t. I’m married.”
“I don’t need a title.”
“I need loyalty. And my wife deserves it.”
I pulled my sleeve from her grasp.
“Where are your three daughters?”
Her gaze slid away.
“My mom’s taking care of them.”
“You didn’t come here to ask for work, and you didn’t come to ask for help for your daughters,” I said. “You saw I had money, and you came to see if you could still use me.”
“You abandoned your parents when you chose Derek. After he went to prison, you abandoned your children.”
“Adrian!”
She lunged for me. Hotel security stepped in, and in the struggle, Taylor fell against a metal trim strip on the wall.
I held up a hand to stop the guards.
“Call the medics. Preserve the hallway footage and file an incident report.”