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Every last word is a slice of truth from the pieces of his plan for revenge.
All I can do is look at him and try to figure out what else we can do, but nothing comes, besides what I feel in my heart.
“I don't want to leave you.” My chest heaves at the thought.
Malik dips his head briefly. When he looks at me again, that deadness I witnessed weeks ago is back.
“If I love you the way I say I do, then the only way for me to show that is to set you free. I need to let you go so you can live the life you would have had if you didn’t know me. No one who claims to truly love you would want to put your life at risk, especially when it’s already happened. You know what I’m saying is true, so there’s no point arguing.”
“I don’t see it that way.” I blink back hot tears but fail. One slides down my cheek. He catches it, then holds my face.
“That’s the way it has to be. Thisway.” The tenor in his tone is final.
“So, this is it?”
“This is it. In a few months’ time, we’ll start the divorce proceedings, and we won’t see each other again.”
My soul weeps at the thought of not being his wife anymore.
Releasing my face, Malik picks up the envelope from the table and sets it in my lap.
“That’s an agreement for me to transfer my share of the assets we received after we got married.”
“You’re giving that to me?”
“Yes. I think your father would have wanted you to have it. The cartel will stay among the Knights, so you won’t have to worry about that. However, all profits will go to you. You’ll also get half of what I own personally.”
My lips part. I’m already choked up, but I’m more so at this gesture.
“That’s too much. You’ve already given me my dreams.”
“Well, this will ensure that you can do more than that.”
It’s more money than I’ll ever need in my life, but I want him more.
“What if all I want now is you?”
He shakes his head. “No. The guy you should be with will always put you first. He’ll spend every day trying to be the man you deserve, and most of all, he’ll protect you with his life. This is the right thing to do. You may not see that now, but it’s right.”
He sounds so convinced, as if it’s the only truth, but it feels as wrong as lies to me.
ChapterForty-Three
Malik
4 months later…
I’ve heard it said before that winning isn’t everything.
I never fully understood the saying until I lost Gwen.
Over the centuries, people have said so much about how to defeat your
enemy and how to stay strong when you are weak.
But very few, if any, teach you what you’re supposed to do once the war is over and you ended up losing along the way.
No one teaches you how you’re supposed to act when you end up being the loser in the end, nor what you’re supposed to do when you’ve fucked everything up and the vision you had of winning has been tainted by the hard truth of reality.
