Chapter 6
584words
I lifted my hand without thinking, ready to wipe them away, then remembered who I was to her now. I let my hand fall back to my side.
"What do you want?" I asked.
The distance in my voice cut her. Her eyes shimmered.
"Can we talk?" she asked quietly.
Talk? About what? About how she and Matthew had ended up playing house? About how she had betrayed me when it mattered most?
I did not have the strength for any of that.
She caught the disgust in my eyes and still forced herself closer.
I stepped back. I wanted no more ties between us. That single movement broke something in her.
"What did I do wrong?" she asked, her voice cracking. "Why are you treating me like this?"
I stared at the face that had haunted my dreams more times than I could count and finally spoke. "You didn't do anything wrong. I just don't want to be part of whatever you and Matthew have."
The moment I said his name, her expression darkened.
Before she could reply, a tall figure stepped out from behind us. "Alex, you're really holding a grudge. What happened back then was my fault, sure. But Lena was innocent."
That smug tone. It could only be Matthew.
I turned to leave at once.
Selena moved fast and blocked my path. "Wait! I need to explain what happened back then."
"Lena! I've been the one by your side all these years. Don't forget that!" Matthew blurted out. Even his voice shook. "It's all in the past. There's nothing to explain. I'll treat you better than he ever did. You have to believe me!"
She did not hear a word. Her eyes stayed locked on me. Even as Matthew's face drained of color, she did not spare him a glance.
"Back then, I helped him because I felt sorry for him," she said. "I ignored how you felt. That night, I bandaged his wound. I got caught in the rain, came down with a fever, and stayed over at his place. Nothing happened. I swear."
She sounded sincere. Every word rang true.
Unfortunately, it was too late. My heart had already shattered on the day she chose to defend someone else.
She grabbed my arm and repeated herself, convinced that everything between us had fallen apart because of misunderstandings. She believed that if she explained everything, we could return to what we were.
Her voice grew urgent. My pulse spiked.
"Why didn't you trust me?" At last, I asked the question I had buried for years. "He got hurt, and you left me alone at home. That day was our anniversary. When you felt sick, why didn't you call me? I could have come to get you."
Silence ensued.
For once, she had no answer. Maybe she had always carried her own bias. From the very beginning.
My head throbbed as I looked at the two of them.
My life had finally settled back onto its tracks. Why did they have to come and derail it again?
Now she claimed she could not live without me. She said she loved me. Then why had she not softened when I was falling apart?
It was all lies.
I stepped around her slowly and deliberately. She tried one last time to block me.
I leaned in and spoke softly into her ear. "Selena, don't make me despise you."
She froze.
