Chapter 17%
Troy stood there–stone–faced, but I could see it. The crack. The flicker of something in his eyes when I finally said the words that had been rotting inside me for years.
“If my love for you was ever a hundred… then you’ve bled every single point dry.”
He blinked. Slowly. As if my voice physically hurt him.”
“You married me because it was convenient. Because Bianca left. That’s ten points off.”
I took a breath. My voice was steady, but every sentence I uttered reopened an old wound.
“On our first anniversary, you were at a lakehouse with her You lied about a work retreat. That’s another ten,”
“You watched me spiral into depression, thinking it was normal. I asked for help. You said I was too emotional. Ten more gone.”
“She told me I was just a substitute. That she was your everything. You didn’t deny it.”
He flinched.”
“She hit me, Troy.” My voice cracked. “She drowned me and laughed like she owned you. And you–what did you say? Is it my fault? That the bracelet didn’t matter? And you made me apologize to her.”
The silence cracked between us.
“I kept a record. Every lie. Every slap of indifference. Every time I cried beside you and you didn’t even tum your head, I counted them all? Troy opened his mouth, but nothing came out. His hand hovered in the air, uncertain, as if reaching for me. As if that could erase it all! “There’s nothing left,” I whispered. “Not even hate. You drained it all.”
His throat bobbed. “Thalia, I know I messed up-
“You didn’t just mess up. You made a choice. Over and over again. You chose her.”
“I fix it,” he murmured. “I can fix us.“)
“I don’t want to be fixed. I want to be free.
1 stepped back when he reached for me. The heat of his skin made my stomach twist!
*Tm with someone now,” I said. “And he doesn’t make me feel like I’m hard to love.”
He froze 1
“I don’t believe you.”
“You don’t have to,” I smiled coldly. “But I’ll make sure you see it.”
I turned away, walking toward the stairs where Xander was waiting. He looked at me with calm certainty, his hand outstretched. I took it without hesitation.2
The moment we entered the theater room, the TV flicked on, and I didn’t hold back my laughter, my teasing, my warmth–not this time. Not when I knew Troy was still downstairs, hearing every second of what he threw away.8
“Nathan, you’re not even watching. That actor is cute–well, not as cute as you.” I teased, curling against him.
He leaned in, brushing his fingers against my cheek. “Flattery will get you strawberries.
“Teh. You spoil me.”
“Only you”
Downstairs, I knew Troy was drowning. Good. He should know what it felt mattered &
Years ago, I had begged him to watch a movie with me. He said he was busy.
Nike to be forgotten in the room where you once thought you
Now, I was the one who didn’t look back. But of course, nothing ever ends quietly Three days later, Troy was still here. He watched every time Xander kissed my cheek, every time I laughed just a little louder, clung to Xander just a little tighter. We made no apologies for it!
At breakfast, Xander would spread jam on toast and feed it to me. Troy stared at his coffee cup like it might suddenly explain where he’d gone wrong X
In the garden, Xander spun me around like we were kids again. I screamed and laughed, my arms around his neck, while Troy stood in the shadows, buming.
Even at night, Xander would kiss me right at my door, slow and deliberate. “Sleep well, baby, he’d say loud enough for an audience! Every night, Troy watched. And every night, I didn’t care.
“You’re really going to kill him, you know Xander murmured against my lips.!!
“Good,” I whispered. “He needs to know I’m not the same girl he ignored.”
But of course, Troy snapped eventually. The day of the charity auction, I spotted a sapphire necklace I liked–nothing extraordinary, but elegant
“Ten million,” Troy called out from the back.
Xander didn’t even blink. “Twenty”
“Thirty”
“Forty
Antist like that they were in a bidding war Over ma I didn’t want the necklara anumam
And just like that, they were in a bidding war Over me. I didn’t want the necklace anymore.
But when Xander finally won, I kissed him in front of everyone and whispered, “That’s way too much…
“You’re worth every cent,” he said, loud enough for Troy to hear “Besides, your husband’s got money
I heard Troy suck in a breath.
He could feel it now–the weight of the life he never gave me
Later, I overheard some women whispering.
“Isn’t that the cold Mr. Green? Why is he losing his mind over his ex–wife?”
“Apparently, she left him. Now she’s with someone who worships her.”
“Too little too late,” one of them laughed.
I wanted to laugh too. But it wasn’t funny!
It was justice. But the night ended in chaos.|||
Troy followed us back to the estate. I was upstairs, tangled in Xander’s arms, letting him kiss the parts of me that had gone untouched for years, when the door slammed open.
“What the hell are you doing?!” Troy’s voice roared.
Xander didn’t move. He turned, pulling the sheets higher over me and gave Troy the coldest smirk I’d ever seen.
“What the hell? Don’t you know how to knock? This isn’t even your house!,”
Troy was shaking with rage, and in a second, he lunged at Xander, fist flying!!
