“She hasn’t stolen me, Viv. I don’t want her. I only want you.” Resignation is clear in his strained tone. He knows I mean this. That there is no way to come back from this.
“I thought we meant everything to one another. I thought you were the one person I could trust with my life. But you've trampled all over my heart. You have shattered my soul and broken my spirit. I hate who I've become.” I gulp over the painful lump in my throat as I cut myself open and bleed in front of him. “I don't even know who I am anymore. I'm in so much pain, and I'm so lost, and you didn’t even see. You didn’t see or you chose to ignore it.”
He hangs his head, and it’s telling how he’s stopped trying to defend himself.
Exhaustion weighs heavy on my shoulders, and my knees feel like they could buckle. I have reached my breaking point, but I need to get this last bit out, because it’s the first step in starting to properly heal. “What if the roles were reversed and you were the one in my shoes? Have you ever considered that? How hurtful would it be if I were the one parading another man around in public as my boyfriend, shunning you and relegating you to the shadows in case anyone discovered the truth? Being victimized online and attacked when you have done nothing, abso-fucking-lutely nothing, but try to be a supportive partner? How would it feel to watch me kissing another man in public, knowing the entire world is watching and laughing at you for being such a gullible fool to believe I was faithful?”
I wrap my arm around my waist as pain lays siege to my body. “You cheated on me with her.” It all boils down to that. Tears roll down my face again. “You have publicly betrayed me. Slain me as skillfully as if you’d taken a sword and sliced me wide-open.”
Tears cascade down his face too, and his shoulders are slumped as he stares dejectedly at me.
“It’s time I put myself first,” I say, straightening up. “I need to protect my heart and my sanity, and you’re just not good for my health. I can’t be with you anymore.”
“No, baby.” He takes a step toward me, but I shake my head, warning him to stay back. “Please, Viv. Please give me one more chance.”
“You’re all out of chances, Reeve. I don’t want to be with you. I don’t want to see you or speak to you. I want you out of my life,” I add, sobbing. This shouldn’t be so hard. He cheated on me in front of the world. Cutting all ties shouldn’t feel like it’s killing me, but it does.
“I think it’s time for you to go, Reeve.” Mom steps up, pulling me into her arms. I cry into her chest, clinging to her like I used to do when I was a little girl and I’d skinned my knee, needing the comfort only a mother can give.
“I’m sorry, Viv. More than you can know. I’ll give you some space, but I’m not giving you up.”
“You don’t have a choice.” I lift my head, pinning him with bloodshot eyes. “You gave up on us a long time ago—you just didn’t realize it.”
Simon walks forward, rubbing the back of his neck. “Thanks for dinner, Lauren, and I’m sorry for all of this.”
Mom stares at Reeve’s dad with narrowed eyes. “Perhaps, if you were around more for Reeve, he wouldn’t feel like he needs to sell his soul to be a success just so you’d be proud of him. You’re not innocent in this either, Simon.”
Dad walks up, circling his arms around both of us, and I’ve never been more grateful for my parents’ love and support as I am now. I know this is going to be one of the most painful things I have ever done. I’m going to miss Reeve more than I can describe. But as he walks out the door with his father, I know there can be no going back.
Reeve and I are over, and there is nothing he can say that will ever change my mind.
25
In the two weeks that follow, I barely venture out of my house. Media vultures have camped outside the main gates to North Beverley Park, hoping to catch a glimpse of Reeve or me. The only time I left was to visit my ob-gyn to get tested. Thankfully, the tests came back clear, but that doesn’t prove or disprove Reeve’s claims.
Despite asking for space, my ex is bombarding me daily with gifts, flowers, and notes, and I’ve had to switch off my cell because I can’t read any more of his pleading messages. I asked Mom to deliver the flowers and gifts to a local nursing home and to tell him to stop sending them. Before he left to resume promotion for Twisted Betrayal, he dropped by my house a few times, but my parents are steadfast in honoring my wishes, and they turned him away each and every time.