One Good Reason

Prologue

LAWTON HARVEY

Ambling through the foyer of my house, the sound of glass shattering had me slowing my stride. With the amount of armed guards stationed outside of my estate, the person responsible for the chaos couldn’t be an assailant.

Beside myself, the only soul who had the capabilities of coming and going at their leisure was the woman whom I had spent the past six years in a relationship with. Muffled rants of rage and the sounds of sniffling greeted me the instant I stepped into the living room.

Standing in the middle of the room was her, with her back to me in the pink silk robe I had gifted her last year when we went to Vail for Christmas.

An empty bottle of Shiraz sat on the only piece of furniture that she hadn’t damaged.

Her hair was disheveled and all over her head.

The longer I stood there watching, the more I realized how violently her body trembled.

She’s hurting.

Instead of making my presence known, I chose to stand stoic by the door and away from the mess that was being made. My stillness was mainly out of fear that she would halt her destruction of some of my most expensive items and divert it toward me.

Almost instantly she felt me, that fact being known when she did a full spin and pointed the Louisville slugger in my direction. Her brows dipped in confusion as I stared at her passively.

Unsure of what her next move was, I carefully slid out of my coat and tossed it on the mangled Italian leather sofa.

This was the end and I guess to make herself feel better, she decided to leave me with a parting gift.

I wouldn’t object. After all, I was inadvertently the cause of her pain and suffering.

“And you’re just going to stand there?” she scoffed, having realized that I wouldn’t give her the reaction she was seeking.

“Would you prefer if I called the police and have you thrown in jail for vandalism?” I countered, knowing my words had the potential to send her spiraling.

Dahlia was baiting me and instead of giving her what she wanted, I chose to take the nonchalant route.

“Six years Law,” she huffed. “Six long years.” The long came out with an exasperated sigh. She was tired, this much I knew to be true; tired of something that she willingly stayed in after knowing my views on the situation wouldn’t falter.

“Six years Dahlia that you didn’t have to stick around for. I’ve given you several chances to leave. Offered to buy you a house wherever you wanted. Hell, I even offered to upgrade your Range. I gave you the option of comfortability because I knew we didn’t share the same desires,” I expounded.

“You thought you could make me have a change of heart. I was never untruthful. I gave you monogamy for six very long years, even after making it painstakingly clear that it wasn’t something I desired. So, my question to you is why now?”

“Why now?” she scoffed. “Are you that fucked up in the head that you can’t see the damage you’ve caused?”

“Damage I’ve caused?” I repeated. Clearly, we had two different experiences in this relationship. Pressing my palms together firmly, I stepped over the glass and walked closer to her.

“When we first got together, what did I tell you Dah?” Instead of responding, she hung her head in shame. “Dahlia, what did I tell you?” I quizzed again.

“You really don’t care, do you?” she asked, looking defeated.

“You know I care. Me not bending to your will doesn’t mean I don’t care about you. I love you and my actions have always aligned to express just how much,” I admitted, trying to sound as genuine as possible. After all, I did love her, just not in the manner that she wanted.

“I should’ve listened,” she murmured to herself.

“When they told me, you wouldn’t commit to me…

I should’ve listened. I stayed and prayed that somewhere in that tattered heart of yours, something would have connected.

Silly of me, huh?” she chuckled bitterly, swiping away the snot that had seeped out of her nose.

Holding my hands out with my palms up, I waited for her to receive the hug I was desperately trying to give her.

Nibbling on her bottom lip, her head shook vehemently. She didn’t want me to touch her, and I wouldn’t. “Was I not enough?” she finally wailed.

“It’s not you Dahlia,” I admitted. Guilt plagued my heart when realization hit me like a ton of bricks. This was the end. All the conversations where she would sit up and beg for more and I repeatedly denied her of such ran through my mind.

“You are so arrogant, Lawton Harvey. And I pray you’ll run across a woman that makes you fall madly in love with her. I hope the same woman brings you to your knees. I don’t wish ill on anyone, but Lawton, I hope you reap what you sow.”

Maybe I had broken her.

My intentions with Dahlia were always clear and concise, I made sure of that. Somewhere along the way, her desires changed. We had a plan; a plan that she had long defaulted on. I knew that and instead of ending things with her, I sat by and waited for her to make the first move.

While trying to prevent breaking her heart, I left the decision making up to her and it’s come down to this very moment. “I’m sorry that you feel that way, Dah. If this is the end for you, I can’t do anything but respect it.”

“You damn right!” she spat. “I would say I’m sorry about your house but I would be lying.”

“What do you need from me to make this transaction run smoothly?”

“It’s always business with you,” she scoffed. “I’m not an acquisition, Lawton Harvey. I’m a person… a person with feelings.” Her shoulders dropped with a sigh. “In other words, I don’t need anything from you. As far as my things go, I trust you to have them delivered to my condo.”

“I can handle that,” I nodded.

“I was good to you. For you. You couldn’t see it, or maybe you did and just didn’t give a fuck.”

“You want marriage and kids, Dahlia. Neither of those things I desire to have.”

“Right,” she huffed. “And since I’m never going to change your mind, I’m done Lawton. So very done with you and this.” Silent tears escaped her eyes as she gave me one final look before turning and walking away.

My heart thumped wildly in my chest because the fear of being alone was crippling.

For six years, I’ve enjoyed the time we spent together.

I enjoyed making memories with her. Whatever she asked, I gave.

Whether it be my time and attention, or the multitude of businesses that I invested in all for the sake of her happiness, I gave.

In the end, none of it was enough. Dahlia wasn’t willing to accept me for who and what I was, just like I wasn’t willing to give her the two things she desired the most.

Peering around the wrecked living room, I shook my head and left the room. I needed a drink, something stiff with longing effects. Snatching open the liquor cabinet, I fished out the four-thousand-dollar bottle of whiskey and popped it open.

After dropping the large, round ice cube in the glass, I poured a shot and hurriedly downed it. My thoughts were loud and overpowering. The selfish part of me wanted to beg Dahlia to stay while my rationale side was saying to let her go.

It was never my intention to cause her any grief. I only wanted to give her a life of luxury a life that she would have never been able to afford. The more anguish set in, the more shots I consumed.

Before long, the sound of bags being drug down the stairs jarred me from my head. Turning in the direction, I waited for her to make her final descend.

When she stepped around the corner fully dressed and pulled together, one wouldn’t believe not even an hour ago she had redecorated my entire living room in a fit of rage. Her hair was now thrown up in a slick ponytail.

The white button up she wore was perfectly tucked in a pair of tan chino pants. On her feet were the black and tan Chanel Espadrilles I brought home from my business trip to New York. Her face showed how void of emotions she now was.

“You can accept this as my resignation from the LH Youth Center. Or not,” she shrugged.

“Just know that I no longer want ties to anything dealing with you. Per our agreement, I will be expecting my money to be wired to my account. Once our business ties are severed, Lawton Harvey… I want nothing else to do with you. If you so happen to see me out in public, please, I beg of you… go the other way.”

“I’ll get with my accountant and have the money sent over ASAP,” I readily agreed. Feeling the need to speak my peace, I followed up with, “For what it’s worth Dahlia, I do love you. I admire the woman that you’ve grown to be.”

“The woman you made me, you mean. You love me, just not enough to give me what I want. She really fucked you up. Of course, you can’t see it because you have this sick admiration for her. That woman is going to be your downfall, Lawton. You just wait.”

Paying me one last look, Dahlia blew out the most dejected huff and walked out of my life for good.

* * *

The day after my breakup with Dahlia, I found myself sitting behind the large red oak wooden desk in her office. I was under the impression that this would be her first stop after leaving my house yesterday.

Knowing her mindset, I purposely showed up a few hours before the center opened. If she had indeed stopped by and wreaked havoc around the place, I planned on having it cleaned before the staff showed up for their duties.

I got the surprise of my life when I walked in and everything was intact. Her personal items were missing from the walls, desk, and bookshelf, but that was as far as it went.

After reaching out to my accountant, I decided to stick around for the day to handle a few housekeeping things.

Shortly after eight a.m., the staff slowly but surely started to trickle in.

Rossi, Dahlia’s assistant, and right-hand was the first face I came in contact with when I stepped out of her office.

Doing a double take, he shrieked. “Mr. Harvey, I wasn’t expecting to see you here this early. Is everything okay?”