Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 98418 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98418 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
"I swear to god Lilly, I didn't deliberately betray you, even then, when you'd broken my fucking heart and you didn't want me." His eyes are glassy with unshed tears. I stare at him.
The broken look in his eyes causes me physical pain. I shouldn’t care but I can’t help it. His broad strong shoulders slump forward. This powerful, unbreakable man suddenly seems so fragile. I realise that I really do love him, which makes his betrayal so much worse. I realise that while I've spent so long trying to build my walls and keep the world out, Theodore Ellis has besieged me. He hasn't broken my walls down, no, they're still firmly in place, but he has scaled them and now stands next to me inside my fortress. He knows me, he sees through me and he loves me with a force that rivals the man himself, even when I've shut him out and hurt him. The worst part about this realisation is that it’s not enough. I'm not strong enough for this. I can't watch him have a baby with another woman, maybe that makes me a terrible person, but it just hurts too much.
"I love you Lilly, more than anyone or anything. I'd give up everything I have, everything I am for you in a heartbeat. I would never intentionally hurt you. I was drunk and broken because I'd lost the love of my life."
"And now I've lost mine." I whisper as the tears stream freely down my face.
"No Lilly. Please don't do this. Please. I'm so sorry." He shakes his head and now the moisture in his eyes spills over. It breaks my heart, but I need to quit Theodore Ellis. I've become addicted, dependant, but like all addictive things they're damaging. I'm already damaged. There are only so many ways one person can be broken. That which is broken cannot break, but sometimes it only takes a small tap to make a cracked vase shatter. We may not have been together at the time, but it doesn't make this any less painful.
"I'm sorry Theo." I touch his cheek and press my lips softly against his, my tears spilling onto his lips. I press my cheek to his and whisper in his ear. "I will always love you Theo. You gave me strength, but not enough for this."
I stand and walk away. I shut the door to my flat and slide down to the floor as I cry. I cry for the broken girl I was and the even more broken woman I now am. I cry for the loss of the woman Theodore Ellis made me, even just for a short while, but mostly I cry for the loss of my fractured heart which will always belong to him.
The End