16%
I didn’t even get the chance to read the second message before the sound of the door opening behind me caught my attention.
“Clayton? You just left. Why are you back already?“%
But no one answered.”
Puzzled, I turned around to see what was going on and froze the moment I locked eyes with Rusty. His eyes were bloodshot, and for a second, it felt like the blood in my veins turned to ice.”
What the hell was he doing here??
Rusty looked like he’d just seen the light at the end of a long, dark tunnel. His eyes were glassy with emotion, nearly overflowing.
He rushed toward me, and before I could react, his arms wrapped tightly around me. His voice was low and shaky, like wet paper barely holding itself together.
Gone was the refined, image–obsessed Rusty I used to know. His usually perfect hair was a mess, his suit wrinkled and muddy at the hem. But he didn’t seem to care. If anything, his grip only tightened like he was terrified I’d disappear all over again.2
“Shannon, I finally found you. Every second since you left, I’ve been worried sick. I couldn’t stop thinking about you. What if your eyes gave you trouble again, and I wasn’t there? What if you felt scared and alone?”
Anyone else might’ve been moved by the sight, by the sheer desperation in his voice.”
But me?
All I felt was disgust.
I shoved him away hard, catching him off guard. He stumbled back, barely managing to stay on his feet.”
Then I wiped every spot he touched like he was some kind of stain I needed to scrub off.”
Anyone else who treated Rusty that way would’ve been made to beg on their knees. But now, he just stood there looking wounded, eyes fixed on me like he couldn’t comprehend how I could be so heartless.
I closed my eyes for a second to get a grip on myself. I kept my tone calm, but the sarcasm in my voice slipped out anyway.
“Rusty, I did you a favor when I left. Now, you’ve got your perfect wife and sweet little kid. Shouldn’t you be living it up? Why are you still thinking about your ‘ex–wife who wasn’t good enough‘?”
* – P 3 I 2 S F S
His face paled. It was like my words physically knocked the air out of him.”
I pointed at the door, gesturing for him to leave. But he grabbed my arm and hoarsely, tremblingly begged, “Shannon, please. Don’t say that. I can’t take it.”
“It was Gale,” he blamed. “She seduced me. Everything I did that hurt you, she was behind it. I swear, I won’t let her get away with it. And the kid, it didn’t make it. It died in an accident. So now, there’s nothing standing in our way anymore.“>
His cruelty caught me completely off guard.
This was the same man who crushed my heart underfoot just to keep Gale happy, and now he wanted to throw her under the bus to win me back?
He was even using the death of his child as leverage.”
The nausea hit me hard, and I had to choke back the urge to gag, right in front of him.”
“Yes, Gale did horrible things. But are you innocent, Rusty?” I countered. “Wasn’t it you who orchestrated my early labor and risked our baby’s life just to give her a better shot at getting pregnant?“}
“You made my blindness part of your sick game. Don’t act like she forced you. You’re Rusty, for God’s sake. Who the hell could force you to do anything you didn’t want to?”
My words finally broke him. He crumbled, rambling excuses I couldn’t even process, clinging to my hand like a lifeline.”
The old me, who used to love him, might’ve caved at this moment and let herself believe his regrets were real.” But that girl was gone.“]
I didn’t even bother wasting emotion on him anymore. I just sighed and peeled his fingers off mine, one by one.
With a flat tone like I was talking to a stranger, I said, “If I could go back in time, I swear, I would never fall in love with you. This life is over, Rusty. And if there’s a next one, I hope we never meet,”
The look on his face said it all. Like he’d just been struck by lightning. He stood there, shattered, probably even imagining the sound of his heart breaking.
But I didn’t care.”
I turned and walked away, letting his sobs fade behind me.”
I didn’t even look back.!!
But when I opened the door, I froze again as I faced Clayton, standing right there on the other side.
