Luke had been wrong. Sean had never given her anything as nice as the music box. In the beginning, she thought he just didn’t want to spend what little money they hadn’t sunk into the business on extravagances she didn’t need. Later, when they had more money, all the gifts had been work related. He’d get her a new cell phone or some new upgraded laptop. All the gifts were so she could work more efficiently, or do her job better, but she’d wanted something just for her, as a woman, as his wife.

The only piece of jewelry he’d ever bought her was her gold wedding band. She’d never had a diamond ring.

Birthdays and anniversaries they spent out to dinner at a fancy restaurant, which was nice but impersonal. It wasn’t the same as a gift chosen with love especially for her.

It hurt.

And Sean had done it to get back at her. Because although he’d had the idea for the business and loved wining and dining potential customers, she got the credit and praise for the programs. Clients started asking for her. And Sean didn’t like not being the center of attention or getting the praise he so loved.

Sean knew she wanted a family. He was only too happy to give her what she wanted so she’d be happy—and work more. He expected her to produce at the same level as before she had the boys. He managed everything during her eight weeks’ maternity leave with Jack, but the same burnout he’d had in school came back when he had to take over her projects during that time. He preferred being the salesman. The second she was back to work, he piled it on, despite her objections and pleas that he hire someone to help with the load. But they were barely getting by, with small margins on projects to build a name for the company and keep the investors happy.

When Nick came along, Sean gave her barely two weeks before he was pushing her to complete one very important project after the next. It seemed everything was dire. The work needed to be done better and faster than the competition could do it.

That’s when he stopped pretending her cared about her at all. He stopped treating her like a wife and treated her like an employee. He wouldn’t give an inch on her schedule and expected her to meet every deadline. When she didn’t, or took time with the kids, he’d yell at her, give her the cold shoulder, and argue with her, amping the enormous amount of stress and pressure on her.

He’d given her the family she wanted, hoping it would be enough to keep her happy and working. But Sean barely spent any time with the boys. They hardly ever did anything together.

And the dream of having the family she never had as a child evaporated and she knew her boys would never have that either with Sean.