A Decade of Devotion, Then Letting Go Chapter 2

I closed the bedroom door, locking Aidan out.

The next morning, an exquisite breakfast was laid out on the table with a sticky note attached.

【Honey, the team has a mission today. I had to leave early.】

I ate the breakfast, then packed up everything that belonged to me, and moved back to my parents’ house.

Aidan came home just as I was wheeling my last suitcase out the door.

He panicked, his brows knitting together.

“Lia, I already said I was sorry. Why are you still making a scene?”

I loved Aidan. I really did.

In my sophomore year of college, our entire class went on a camping trip. A freak mudslide hit, followed by a wildfire. I remember it so clearly. So many rescue teams arrived, but it was Aidan, and Aidan alone, who snatched me from the jaws of death. I can still see the image of him shielding me from the flames, his body a desperate barrier.

He suffered severe burns and lung damage, and spent a full year in the hospital recovering. It was a debt I owed him, one I never forgot.

So when we fell in love afterward, I tried my best to understand him. When he left me for Megan, I tried not to make a big deal out of it.

But this was different.

I looked at him, my voice quiet. “Aidan, I’m not making a scene. I’ve just given up.”

The panic in his eyes was palpable. His knuckles turned white as he snatched the suitcase from my hand.

“You’re not leaving. Lia, we’re about to get married. You can’t be this childish.”

A light rain began to fall outside. I’m a sentimental person, but I’m also cursed with a terrifying clarity.

I took out my phone and showed him the texts Megan had sent me.

“Do you really still believe her feelings for you are just sisterly affection?”

Aidan’s jaw tightened. “Regardless, you are not leaving.”

“Lia, you’re the one I love. I am absolutely certain of that.”

A bitter smile touched my lips. He’d said that to me so many times.

He was telling me he loved me while holding a single freesia, right after I’d seen a post of him giving Megan ninety-nine red roses.

He was kissing my forehead and telling me he loved me right after I’d spent all night stewing a pot of soup for him, only to watch him turn and carefully feed it to Megan.

He held me in his arms, overjoyed, when I presented him with a model airplane I’d spent three sleepless nights building for his promotion, only to give it to Megan because she casually mentioned she liked it.

He said he loved me, but he saved all his best for her.

As if to prove my point, his phone started ringing, a jarringly cheerful tune filling the room.

“Prince, your princess is calling!”

It was the ringtone Megan had set for herself on his phone. I’d been jealous about it for a long time. Aidan had just brushed it off. “Oh, come on, she’s just a kid. Let her have her fun.”

Megan was a year older than me. If she was a kid, what was I?

Her sickly-sweet voice filled the air. “Brother, has sister-in-law calmed down yet? You should bring her to the restaurant. I’ll apologize to her in person!”

Aidan hung up and turned to me, his voice earnest.

“Lia, Megan is getting married soon. She’s starting to realize her feelings for me aren’t romantic. Will you come have a meal with her? Please?”

When I didn’t move, his voice softened. “If you still want to leave after that, I’ll let you go.”