“If you’d told me this a year ago, we could’ve work something out.” I exhale impatiently. “You said you were going to be the husband I deserved when you proposed. You said you would never let me feel lonely or alone, and that you’d always be on my side.”
“Yes. I said that. And I know there were missteps, but I’ve been working on it.” His wide eyes say, Can’t you see that?
“No. You haven’t. That’s why I divorced you.”
“You gotta give me a break! I’m a beginner at this. I need more time to master those skills.”
“I don’t think so. You were very good at making me feel valued and loved when we were dating. But after we got married, you changed.”
“No, I didn’t! That damn lawyer is gaslighting you. I love you, Sierra.”
“Then what are you willing to do to win me back?”
He stares like I just asked him to recite the entirety of War and Peace. “Do you want me to take you to Japan?”
I shake my head. He hasn’t changed, not even a little. “That’s what I thought. Goodbye, Todd. If you ever show up here—or at my house—again, you’ll be arrested for trespassing. I’m also going to have my lawyer get a restraining order. Instead of harassing me, you should focus on getting that job in Boston.”
“Linda won’t like this,” he says.
“Linda can go hang herself for all I care. She’s not my mother. And she’s not my family.”
“But—”
“If she thought she could manipulate me through you, she should’ve at least coached you to be nicer.” There’s no other reason for her to want us to be together. She wouldn’t have bothered if Grandma hadn’t left me all the money.
He flinches. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Then you’re an idiot.” I turn to Dan. “Let’s go.”
Dan puts a protective hand at my elbow and we start walking toward the entrance to Silicone Dream. Todd takes a step after us.
“You go on,” Dan says to me, then turns to Todd. “Go ahead, asshole. Give me a reason.” He flexes his hands and takes a step toward Todd. “Please.”
I walk the rest of the way to the building unmolested and enter the lobby. Our huge purple clock is right there in front of me. This is where I met Griffin for the third time. He looked so pissed off and determined never to see me again.
I don’t know if that was a sign that we weren’t going to work out. Even though the universe kept throwing us together, we ended up not connecting in the end.
I shake off the gloomy thought. So what if it didn’t work out perfectly? I’m not going to regret our time together. He made me feel like the center of his world, and I loved everything we did together, including the babies we’ve created.
It’s good that I found out he loves his career and anonymity more than me before I made a bigger emotional investment. But that doesn’t lessen the pain from the fact that I’m always going to be number two with the man I love.