Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 26246 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 131(@200wpm)___ 105(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26246 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 131(@200wpm)___ 105(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
No, no, no!
Kyara somehow found the strength to wrench her mouth away from his and press her hands against his chest. She tried to push him away even as her tears fell faster, but he didn’t budge at all, and instead his hand came up and cupped her chin, and he made her look into his eyes...
Oh, those eyes.
Oh, if only.
“Come back to me,” he said hoarsely.
She could only cry harder as heartbreak threatened to swallow her alive. “I c-can’t.”
“Why?” he demanded rawly.
“I j-just—”
“He’s cheating on you, dammit!”
“I k-know.”
Lyrius couldn’t believe what he had just heard...but the way she was looking at him now told him he hadn’t imagined anything.
“You...know,” he repeated hollowly. “You know he’s cheating on you and yet you’re still choosing to stay...because you’re in love with him still. Is that it?”
Kyara could only cry.
“I’m s-sorry.”
Because her boss...wasn’t even trying to hide anything now.
“Why can’t you choose me?” he demanded tautly. “Choose me, and I’ll—”
“I’m sorry,” she sobbed out. “I’m so, so sorry but I can’t choose you.”
Choose me, Kyara.
Choose me and I’ll handle the rest.
Choose me and you’ll never have to be afraid again.
She didn’t know what the rest of his sentence had been going to be, and she struck out every version her brain tried to supply because every version was the version that would have undone her.
The way he was staring at her now, like she had stabbed him over and over—
“I’m so, so sorry.”
And then she was pushing past him and running away because she had no choice.
If she’d stayed another second, she would have surrendered. She would have been a coward and chosen her heart over saving him.
I’m so, so sorry.
Her heart broke to pieces as she dashed into the elevator, and as soon as the doors closed, she crumpled to the floor, sobbing her heart out. All she could see in her mind was the look on his face when she’d told him she couldn’t choose him.
He really believed she was choosing Cyrus over him.
And she had no choice but to let him think that.
Because she loved him.
Chapter 13
SLEEP ELUDED LYRIUS the entire night.
All he could see was her crying face as she rejected him—the wet lashes, the shake of her head, her hands pressed against his chest like she was trying to push something heavier than him.
I can’t.
I’m so, so sorry but I can’t choose you.
Because apparently, no matter what he did, she was still choosing the boy over him. He’d begged her. He’d as good as told her he loved her. He’d told her Wallace was cheating on her, and she’d said I know, and she’d still chosen the boy...over him.
Why can’t you choose me? Choose me, and I’ll—
He didn’t even know what he’d been going to say after that. He’d never gotten to finish the sentence. She had run before he could, and the unfinished half of it had sat in the back of his throat all night like something he’d forgotten to swallow.
He squeezed his eyes shut, but it wasn’t enough to escape the memories.
Kyara’s lips might be the sweetest thing he’d ever taste, but the sight of her running away from him had also destroyed him in a way that nothing else in this life could ever do.
It was already past lunchtime when Lyrius had done all the work he could remotely do from his apartment, and he had to force himself to show up at the office. While the last thing he wanted was to see Kyara and Wallace together, he also didn’t want to give either of them any reason to think he was an emotional coward, unable to handle the sight of their fairytale romance.
Lara could’ve cried in relief when the elevator doors opened, and it was her boss who finally stepped out. “Where have you been?”
Lyrius raised a brow at the unusual shrillness of Lara’s tone, and equally unusual was the way she’d almost tripped on her own feet in her rush to get to him.
“I can’t believe you’d choose to be late now of all—”
He cut her off, asking curtly, “Is there some kind of emergency?”
“Absolutely!”
Lyrius, seeing that his assistant was about to shove her phone straight into his face, simply sniped the device from her hold.
“Look at it!”
Lyrius could only wince at how Lara was shrieking at every word. “Whatever this is—”
“It’s about Kyara!”
Lyrius was about to look at Lara’s phone but stopped the moment he heard her name. “I don’t need to hear anything—”
“You don’t understand!” Lara was so, so tempted to give her boss a good and hard shake. “You really need—”
“You’re the one who doesn’t understand,” Lyrius snapped.
“No, I mean it—”
“I told her I love her,” he snarled. “I told her he was cheating on her, and she still fucking chose him. That should be easy enough for you to understand so if you don’t mind—”