I thought saying those words for the first time would feel strange.
They didn’t.
They felt like they’d been waiting to find their home all these years and found it in her.
Stella squeezed her eyes shut. A broken sob bled through her lips, but otherwise, she didn’t respond to my confession.
It was what I’d expected, but agony twisted my gut nonetheless.
I allowed myself to look at her one last time before I walked out and closed the door behind me.
There was nothing else to say.
I ignored Alex and Ava’s curious stares as I left the apartment, my body numb. Pieces of my heart were scattered all over her room, and my mind had devolved into an endless loop of her tears. Even the blood seemed to have vanished from my veins, leaving nothing but cold emptiness behind.
There was nothing left of me when I took out all the parts that belonged to her.
I’m asking you to leave me alone, Christian.
Leaving went against my every instinct. Every molecule of my body demanded I stay and fight for her, to beg and plead until she forgave me.
But I had already crossed too many boundaries with her, and I couldn’t cross another one. Not when she’d explicitly asked me not to.
I’d meant what I said.
I would give Stella anything she wanted, even if it killed me in the process.