Page 154 of From Rivals to I Do

myself no man will make me feel less of myself again, and that’s what Leo is trying to do to me.

“I’m sorry, Leonard,” I say, trying to keep my voice steady. “But I can’t do this. I can’t sit around and wait while you figure things out. It’s not fair to me. You know

what? It’s over. I’ll move out of your place by the end of the month, and you’ll also receive my resignation letter. I can’t deal with this anymore. Goodbye,

Leonard!” I say in one breath, still holding back the tears.

As I walk away from him towards the door, I feel the tears welling up in my eyes. I try to hold them back, but they come anyway, hot and heavy. It hurts to walk

away, but this is definitely for the best. It was already too complicated from the start.

I get into my car and drive away, trying to maintain my composure. But as I drive, the tears keep flowing, and I know that it is going to take time to heal from

this. I stop my car after a while and pick up my phone to call my mom.

“Hi, Mom. Can Charlee stay at yours for tonight?” I ask, rushing my words so she doesn’t suspect I have been crying.

“Yes, she can. Are you okay? You don’t sound okay, Ray. Do you want to talk about it?”

“No Mom, not now. Goodbye and thank you.”

And with that, I end my call drive home, and collapse in a flood of tears.

***

Leonard

“You let her go?” Ria says, walking towards me. “You have been in this house moping about and not listening to my advice to call her. She finally comes here,

and you let her go? For real, Leonard?”

“Ria, I have a lot on my mind,” I say coldly.

“No, you’re just trying to hurt someone that hasn’t hurt you. It’s her ex-husband that got your mother killed due to his carelessness. Not her, not her child,” she says, smacking my head. She is right, of course. Ria is, in fact, the only person that tells me the truth unprovoked.

“This girl obviously likes you, and you are going to throw it all away just like that? I’d do anything to find a man who likes me half as much as Rayne likes you.

Don’t throw a good thing away idiot” Ria finally stops.

Ria’s frustration is evident on her face as she stares at me, waiting for an answer. I try to sort through my thoughts. She eyes me back and forth as if waiting for a reaction from me. But this isn’t Hollywood. I am not going to run after a woman who just broke up with me.

Or is that what I am supposed to do? What Rayne wants me to do?

Ria starts to speak again. “What are you going to do now?”

“I don’t know.” And that is an honest response. I do not know what I should or want to do.

“Do you care about her?”

“Yes! With every fiber in me. Charlee too…” I say, shaking my head.

“So, why are you still in this house?” she asks confused.

“I don’t know, she just broke up with m…”

Ria cuts in.

“And whose fault is that?” She walks towards the center table, picks up my car key, and hands them to me. “I’m not going to stand here and watch you make a

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