Chapter 56
Chapter Fifty-Six
Ava
W hen Viktor says he’ll do what needs to be done without marrying Fiona if the child is his, I swear I felt like my world exploded. I wanted to believe that Fiona was lying. That it was another ploy to get between Viktor and me. But all my fears became a reality. Viktor doesn’t love me. If he did love me, he wouldn’t have betrayed me. All those late nights, I worried about the dangers he was facing, only to find out he was fucking her. Now he wants to stand in front of me and tell me it wasn’t his fault that he was drunk. What he has done is unforgivable. I can’t stand here and pretend that any of this is okay. He grabs my arm to stop me as I turn to walk away.
“What? You aren’t capable of being a one-woman man. It’s not in your DNA. I should have known. I was fooling myself,” I tell him, pulling my arm back and going back to packing.
“You aren’t going anywhere until I explain what happened.”
“There’s nothing to explain. It doesn’t matter what you say. This was just pretending for you. It was a job.”
“You aren’t allowed to leave. Your debt is barely halfway paid. It’s only been six months.”
I turn to face him. “Seriously?” I hiss. “After everything you’ve put me through, you’re going to blackmail me into staying with you? You can’t be that big an asshole.”
“Ava,” he tugs me.
“What more do you want from me? I’ve given you everything. My dreams, my love, fuck, even my soul. I have nothing left to give.” I can’t help the tears.
“Ava—”
“Viktor, this wasn’t meant to be forever. You reminded me of that every single day since this arrangement started. I’m the one who forgot for a second that I’m just an employee. That this was just an arrangement. My father’s debt would be paid off if I gave you a year of my life. It’s fair to say our year has come to an end—my debt has been paid in full. I’m never getting back the time we spent together. I can live with that. But I refuse to give you any more. I thought I could do this. I thought you had changed. But this was never real for you. You wear a veil, not letting anyone see who you truly are. But I finally see you for who you really are. A man who takes without regard for others. Someone who only cares about himself.” I see anger and pain cross his eyes.
“You’re making me out to be a monster. I fucking love you. I made a mistake.”
“What do you expect me to do? Stay here and be your mistress? Watch as you have a child with another woman?” I close my eyes and take a deep breath before I open them again. “You don’t even know what you want. You’re being cruel, keeping me here after what you did. Were you ever going to tell me, or were you taking it to the grave?” Tears leak from my eyes and drip off my chin. “I didn’t want to admit it, but I knew this day would come. I prayed I’d be wrong. I can’t keep making excuses for your behavior. You’re selfish.”
He grabs me and draws me to him. “I love you.”
“If you did, you wouldn’t have slept with her, and she wouldn’t be carrying your baby. I thought you were incapable of hurting me. I thought those days were behind us. But you aren’t the man I thought you were. You’re the man who has broken me. I knew, whether I was willing to admit it or not, that you were going to break my heart, and you have. You broke me. There’s nothing left of me.”
I either free myself from his grip, or he lets me go. I don’t know or care. I trusted that despite all our differences, he would always be true to me. But it was all a lie. We were lying to ourselves. They probably laid in bed laughing about me. Every time I look at him, I see her in his arms. There’s no way I can stay with him. I won’t survive it.
“It’s better this way. You can finally find peace with your father. I won’t be the reason you can’t sleep at night. You won’t have to give up anything more because of me.” I add, zipping my case without looking at him.
“I…” He starts but stops.
“She’s having your baby. I’d never get between you and your baby. Your father made himself clear. You must do the honorable thing, and as much as it pains me, he’s right. I love you, but you must let me go.”
“I won’t.”
“I can’t stay here. I can’t look at you and not picture you with her. It’s time for me to go.” I take off the ring that held so much promise once upon a time. A future that will never come. I take a step toward him. I give him a gentle kiss on the cheek. “Goodbye.” I leave, setting the ring on the dresser.
If he says anything, I don’t hear him. I run downstairs, where everyone is standing, staring at the stairs. Fiona has a smirk on her face. Tina is standing by Anita, and they are consoling each other. Oliver is waiting for me. He takes my case from me, and we walk outside to where an SUV is waiting. We don’t say anything. He opens the door, and I slide into the SUV. I see Viktor standing at the front door. Who knows why? I look away, unable to take it. As the door closes, Viktor moves for me.
“Ava,” he calls out.
“Go,” I tell Marco. There’s absolutely nothing Viktor can tell me that will change our reality.
I don’t belong here. It’s over. We’re over.
“Where to, Ms. O’Brien?”
“Away from here.”
“Where?” He asks again.
“Home.” He looks at me. “My dad’s place.” He nods.
It feels like a lifetime ago. It’s been six months since our arrangement started. I believed Viktor when he said I was his and claimed I was the only woman for him. I believed him when he said we would spend our life together. At least, that’s what I told myself. This fairytale needed to come to an end. I need to face reality regardless of how much it hurts.
Forty minutes later, Marco pulls into the projects. I thought I’d never set foot in this place again. The drive was quiet apart from my cell ringing, which I put a stop to quickly by turning it off.
It feels foreign to be here because this isn’t my home anymore. It’s like I don’t belong here. The truth is, I don’t know where I belong anymore—I have no home. I take a deep breath and get out of the SUV with my case in hand. Upstairs, I open the door to find the apartment quiet. Dad isn’t home, which I’m grateful for.
Inside, it smells both familiar and different. I walk to my bedroom, set everything on the bed and sit. What am I supposed to do now? I don’t have a plan. For the last few months, the plan was to marry Viktor and live happily ever after. How wrong I was. I let the tears out. I thought I could live with a criminal, pay off a debt, and not fall in love. The joke is on me. He belongs to someone else.
I knew who he was from the very beginning. To think he could change was ignorant on my part. One thing is clear, I can’t sit here and wallow. I need to leave this place and move on. Viktor will come for me. He is not going to sit back and let me have my way. Viktor is incapable of letting anything go. I must go far away from his grasp. A place where I can live my life free from him and the pain he always seems to bring me.
I take my laptop and start searching for a job. Anything will do. I just need to get out of the city and start fresh somewhere Viktor can’t find me. Where I can forget the last six months. Close a chapter that should have never started. But all the crying has exhausted me. I’m not in the right mind frame to do anything tonight.
My problems are all going to be waiting for me in the morning. Staying up isn’t going to change my new reality. I’m just torturing myself. For the first time in my life, I wish I’d never met Viktor. I wish I hadn’t intervened in my father’s affairs.
This was all because of a hundred thousand dollar loan that should never have been mine to pay and an arrangement I should’ve never agreed to.