Dumped My Cheating Ex. Now I'm Sleeping Next to a Billionaire CEO novel Chapter 1104

His words hit her hard. Teresa’s head snapped up, and her eyes filled with tears. “Of course I’ve thought about it. It’s just…” She trailed off, the rest stuck in her throat.

“What is it?” Andrew’s brow was tight with confusion and frustration. “What are you still worried about?”

Teresa opened her mouth but the words wouldn’t come. The truth was, she did want to marry Andrew. The thought made her happy. He had waited for her for twenty-eight years, loved her for half his life. But now that the moment was here, now that all the obstacles were finally gone and it was just a matter of getting the marriage license, something in her pulled back.

Maybe it was the scars left by her last marriage. Maybe happiness had come so suddenly that it didn’t feel like it could be real. She grabbed for the excuse that felt safest.

“Emmy’s still not fully recovered. And Joey and Dolly… the kids still haven’t been reunited with their mom.” She took a shaky breath. “At a time like this, I can’t just think about myself and my own happiness.”

Teresa looked at Andrew, her voice gentle, pleading. “I want to wait for them…”

Andrew cut her off, his words sharp and cold. “It’s always waiting. Always. How long are you going to wait? Are you planning to wait until I’m dead?”

His chest rose and fell, anger radiating from him. “I told you before, after we get married, I can move in with you. I can help with Joey and Dolly. I could love them like they were my own grandkids. I don’t see how that stops us from getting married.”

Teresa pressed her lips together, still holding on to her reasons. “But that’s not something you have to do,” she said quietly. “Andrew, you’ve already sent so many robots to Moonlight Bay to help. I’m so grateful to you for that. But I can’t be that selfish. I don’t want your later years spent raising someone else’s children.”

Andrew stared at her for a long moment, then let out a low laugh, full of bitterness and self-mockery. “Grateful. So in your heart, I’m still just an outsider.” His eyes clouded with disappointment. “So really, you just don’t want to marry me. Is that it?”

Teresa bit her lip hard, unable to get a single word out. She scrambled in her mind for something to say, something that would make him understand. She did want to marry him. But it all felt too fast, too sudden. She needed time to let it sink in. But her silence, to Andrew, just looked like agreement. Like rejection.

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