Ruin The Wedding (The Murphy Brothers #1)

𝐜𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭

"Merry Christmas!" 

Smiling, Fabian wished the same and kissed her on the lips. Then she stood up and went to take her usual bath before starting to get ready. 

Fabian, however, stayed in bed because it would take him about fifteen minutes to get ready and their guests wouldn't be here for another ten hours. Yes, guests. Usually, he had gone to his parents to celebrate Christmas even though he would much rather just go back to the office and do some work. 

But today was Christmas and unfortunately, Christmas meant family time. After getting engaged, Nora immediately volunteered to take charge of this which gave his mother time to just relax for once. Well, more like her cooks and housekeepers.

Nora, who apparently loved Christmas, had already put a lot of decorations in every room. There was a giant, well-decorated tree in their living room with gifts sitting under it while their cook would finish cooking their dinner. 

They had invited both of their families and somehow even Asher and Seth had promised to come although they hadn't been hiding their dislike for Nora. She would have probably gotten over it if they were unable to come but they had agreed to come for his sake. 

While Nora bathed, he took his phone from the bedside table, opened it, and searched for one name in his contracts. One name that he had no business still texting with.

Merry Christmas. 

No answer. Could she still be sleeping? He doubted it because it was already 7.45am and she had a baby, no, a young toddler at home. It had been a few days since they had last talked but it would be considered rude if he didn't wish her a Merry Christmas, right? 

Just as he was about to put the phone away, she texted back.

thanks, merry christmas to you too!

Are you celebrating?

yeah, we're going to my parents. you?

Nora wanted to invite our families here. 

For some reason, mentioning his fiancé to Charlie felt wrong almost as if he was doing something wrong which didn't make any sense. She knew that he was engaged. Besides, they weren't doing anything wrong because this was just texting. 

He still didn't want Nora to know about that because he could already see her reaction. Men and women could text and be friends without it meaning anything else. Not that they were friends but they weren't anything else either. 

Acquaintances who happened to text each other once in a while sounded better. That's all they were and that's all that they would ever be.

let me guess. you wanted to go to work?

No.

Okay, yes. But I didn't go. 

Have you been sleeping?

Three messages without even waiting for her answer. Jeez, he hadn't texted this way even with Nora or anyone else. It was as if he was a teenage boy talking to a girl for the first time. 

a little bit but the baby has been kicking a lot lately and i guess she's a night owl already

Another reminder that not only did she have a one year old daughter but she was also pregnant with another child. He didn't even like children. Why was he texting with her again?

And why did he do it again despite knowing her situation? Despite knowing his situation with Nora?

I'm sorry to hear that.