Chapter 20
From the day Seraphina received the divorce papers, she knew that once Cassian learned the truth, he would ask this question.[]
After all, in his world, she loved him to the point of no return. That’s why he dared to use the excuse of “not done playing around” to cheat and have affairs.
He thought her love for him was unshakeable. And even if it transferred to someone else someday, it would only be love turning to hate, born from revenge.]
He was trying to use this excuse to comfort his own excessive indulgence.
-See? No one’s truly faithful. Everyone cheats. Everyone eventually gets bored.]
-Anyone else in your position wouldn’t be able to control themselves either, they’d make the same choices.
-Even the woman you once tried to settle down for, the woman you loved, can’t remain faithful to you. Why be so hard on yourself?]
-Love’s not meant to last forever anyway. Why waste your youth being loyal to one person? Better to play the game while you can, then find someone compatible to settle with when you’re tired.
Right?]
That was the twisted philosophy Cassian had adopted after their wedding–and used to justify every betrayal.]
Seraphina didn’t see it clearly at first.
Not until she stormed into Zayden’s life and offered to be his sugar mama, did she first experience this feeling.
The difference was, she still carried guilt about betraying her
marriage.
She wanted to get back at him while also hating herself for being unfaithful.]
She hated herself for even trying to stoop to his The guilt gnawed at her, day after day. Her love had been pure. His wasn’t. Why should she rot in the same
emotional sewer just to prove a point?
Then came the car crash. []
Seraphina finally saw through the illusions trapping her and found
a
way to free herself.
Love, hate… none of it mattered if you were dead.
When people died and became ashes, nothing remained.
What was the point of wasting your one and only life on someone who wasn’t worth a damn?
She was only 27. Why should she tether her future to someone like Cassian?
This was the answer Seraphina wrote for what seemed like an impossible marriage puzzle after her brush with death.]
So after recovering, when Zayden once again acted cute and said he wanted a real relationship, she agreed.
She decided to forgive herself, to pull back from the cliffs edge, to stop letting herself become as promiscuous as Cassian.]]”
She still had the courage to start over and a man who actually loved her.[]
She still had a bright future.]
She and Cassian were never the same kind of people.[]
So now that times had changed, Seraphina finally had the chance to speak those words she’d kept hidden in her heart for so long.
Right in front of Cassian, word by word, resounding clearly.
“Revenge? Sure. I thought about it but then I realized–if I sacrificed my entire life just to get back at your fake, cheap love. That’s just sad. I chose Zayden because we love each other. That’s it. No agenda. No games.”
“In ruy world, it’s strople. If you love some one, you stay. If you don’t, you leave. You don’t need all those excuses to cover up the fact that you just stopped loving me. You just needed to tell me once that you didn’t love me anymore, and I would have willingly left.“]
“But you kept dragging it out, refusing to let me give up hope. That year of marriage to you was the darkest year of my life. But it’s over now. I’m done. I’ve finally decided to set myself free “0
“Maybe there really is love like yours in this world–able to love many people at once, dividing your heart among many people. Maybe someday the world will embrace open marriages you advocate.“]
And maybe you’ll wake up one day and try to be a decent husband to someone.”
Chapter 20
“But
none of
that matters
to
- me. Cassian
Blake. Because
you
and I were
never meant to walk the same
path.
Not before,
not
now,
and not ever.
