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Color drains from his features. "Don’t say that." His voice is hoarse like he’s been yelling, or maybe it’s all the lies he’s told me.
"You did something unforgivable. You betrayed my trust."
"I didn’t have a choice."
"You could have come out and told me you liked me."
"Liked you?" He pronounces the words like they are something foreign.
"And maybe, we could have gone on dates."
"Dates?" The furrow between his forehead deepens.
"You know. Dinner, a movie…? Like normal people."
"Normal people." There is a strange look in his eyes, something I can’t quite place. A mix of surprise and disbelief.
"Yes, normal people. People who respect boundaries and know they can’t just plant cameras and listening devices on others. People who think of more than running a company, and who don’t earn billions and make more in one day than most of the planet does in a year. People like me."
"You’re wrong."
"What do you mean?"
"You’re not a normal person," he says through gritted teeth.
"Of course, I am."
"You’re the most genuine person I've ever met. The most honest, the most generous, the most empathetic. You care about others more than yourself, and that is not normal. Not even faintly normal. People are selfish and cruel and hurt others to get what they want."
"Like you hurt me?"
He winces. "I… I didn’t want to hurt you. Quite the contrary. I wanted to make sure you got everything you wanted."
"I didn’t ask for all this." I wave a hand in the air. "All I wanted was a home of my own, a family, a man who loves me."
"I—" He swallows. "I…care about you, Belle."
"You have a funny way of showing it."
"It’s the only way I know."
"And I’m sure you’re going to use the incident to justify the way you turned out. You’re going to tell me the incident is the reason you're an uncaring, unfeeling, calculating person…who I hate."
"You don’t hate me."
"I do now." I pull the sheet off the bed and wrap it around my shoulders.
His features take on a dissatisfied look. He seems like he’s about to say something, then draws in a sharp breath. "Everything I did…was from a place of wanting to woo you."
"Clearly, we differ on that definition," I scoff.
"Give me one chance." He shuffles his feet. "Just one chance to win your heart."
"Why should I, when all you’ve done is lie to me and make me believe in a relationship which doesn’t exist?"
"But it does. Everything that's happened between us—all of it is true. From the first moment I saw you, I knew there was no one else for me but you. I recognized you, Belle. I knew we had a connection. I knew I had to have you in my life."
"And me? What about me? You didn’t think about what I wanted, or what I needed—"
