Chapter 11\u2013Lost\u00a0<\/p>\n
DARIUS\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I won\u2019t go back.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her words had me going very still, shock and a bit of anger rushing through my veins, but I refused to give up. This was just Sera being stubborn, digging her heels in like she always did when she felt cornered. She\u2019d come around once she realized how unreasonable she was being.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBe rational about this,\u201d I said, keeping my voice calm and reasonable despite how fast she was making my heart race. I took a slow step forward, crossing my arms over my chest as I held her uncharacteristically cold\u00a0<\/p>\n
gaze.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you really want to work, I can arrange something at my company. A comfortable position in public relations, maybe, or event planning. Something that won\u2019t stress you out too much,\u201d I considered the suggestion and it appealed to me the more I thought about it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was better to have her closer to Luna, closer to her family.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not running around with a man who I\u2019ve never met, letting him touch her and whisper in their ears in front of\u00a0<\/p>\n
everyone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She could work closer, to me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sera\u2019s eyes burned with something cold, her stance going rigid as she took a step back, creating more distance between us as though my proximity repulsed her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou mean I should continue submitting to you even at work?\u201d She tilted her head to the side. \u201cYou can\u2019t let go of the control you have over me, is that it?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her tone was not harsh, but it sparked something uncomfortable in my chest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t like how she was looking at me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Or how she was making me feel in that moment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Why does she speak like I am against her?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I just want what\u2019s best for her, for our family.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not what I meant.\u201d I loosened my tie, feeling suddenly warm in the hallway. \u201cI\u2019m trying to be supportive here. But running off to New York to work for some stranger when you could have a good position at Blackwood Industries\u2013it doesn\u2019t make sense,\u201d I shook my head, \u201cThis is unlike you, Sera.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not fair, Darius.\u201d Sera looked straight at me, and I could clearly see the struggle and pain on her face.\u201d You used to think I was a good wife and mother until I chose to do something for myself, until I chose my own happiness\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For a second, no one spoke. Had I really been so selfish as to leave my wife stranded at home? My breath suddenly began to swell. In the past, my competitors never fazed me in any business negotiation; I always came out on top. But with Sera, I was helpless.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 11 Lost\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
I rubbed my forehead, feeling a headache building behind my eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFine. If you insist on working for this Johnson person, at least you can do one thing to make this whole mess right.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou owe Vivienne an apology.\u201d The words came out firmer than I\u2019d intended, but maybe that\u2019s what she needed to hear. \u201cShe\u2019s been incredibly gracious about what happened in the greenhouse. She doesn\u2019t blame you for losing control, even though you hurt her pretty badly.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sera went very still. \u201cExcuse me?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cVivienne told me she doesn\u2019t want to press charges or cause more drama for our family. She knows you were jealous and acted without thinking. The least you can do is apologize and use your connection with AJ to help make her dream come true.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I watched Sera\u2019s face, expecting to see guilt or shame or at least some recognition that Vivienne was being the bigger person here. Instead, her expression went completely blank.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s been so understanding,\u201d I continued, warming to my theme. \u201cShe even told Luna that she forgives you completely. Can\u2019t you see how generous that is? How much she cares about keeping our family peaceful?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGenerous.\u201d Sera repeated the word like it tasted bad.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, generous. She could have made this much worse for you, but she chose kindness instead. That\u2019s the kind of person she is.\u201d I stepped closer, hoping she could hear the sincerity in my voice. \u201cMaybe if you got to know her better, you\u2019d understand why I\u2013why we care about her so much.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For a long moment, Sera just stared at me. I couldn\u2019t read her expression at all, which was strange. Usually I could tell exactly what she was thinking\u2013she\u2019d never been good at hiding her emotions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou really believe that,\u201d she said finally. \u201cYou actually think I hurt her on purpose.\u201d There was a crack in her voice, a glimpse of the Sera I knew in her eyes when she said those words. It wasn\u2019t a question, it was a statement and I didn\u2019t like the look in her eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I felt a pang in my chest, I couldn\u2019t tell what it was, but I knew I had to be softer with her. She was my wife, despite it all.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think you were upset and you acted without thinking. It happens. But Vivienne\u2019s being incredibly mature about the whole thing, and you should match that energy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not a child who needs a lesson. I will not apologize for something I didn\u2019t do and then use my job to help the woman who\u2019s already taken up my position in my family, how could you ask that of me?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sera breathed hard. Her voice was raw.\u00a0<\/p>\n
No, Vivienne didn\u2019t replace her. It was Sera who chose to leave everything she had behind.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My jaw clenched. \u201cVivienne is just a friend.\u201d I repeated, somehow I was beginning to sound like a broken record.\u00a0<\/p>\n
How much more convincing will it take to make Sera trust me again?\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter fost\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivienne wanted me back, but God, I told her no.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It took all my willpower to think about my wife, child\u2026 the responsibilities I had towards them, duties I simply couldn\u2019t abandon\u2026it took everything out of me to give up on the woman I once loved deeply that it left a permanent scar.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I made a choice. I chose my family. But why was my wife making everything so difficult now by pulling away from me?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Why was she making me feel like my choice was foolish?\u00a0<\/p>\n
She used to trust me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What\u2019s so different now?\u00a0<\/p>\n
She looked pale and exhausted, and did not answer, as if she had decided to give up. My heart was beating much faster than I thought it would.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLuna needs you. I need you. This whole AJ thing\u2013it\u2019s not real life, Sera. Real life is our family, our home, our responsibilities. Come home where you belong. Luna is asking for you every night. Don\u2019t you care about that?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her eyes suddenly opened wide. I had shaken her decision, I thought.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI miss Luna.\u201d 1\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCome home. Stop this foolishness and come back to your family.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMy family.\u201d She looked at me for a long moment, and I had the strangest feeling she was seeing me clearly for the first time. \u201cThe family where I have to apologize for things I didn\u2019t do and help another woman seduce my husband because she\u2019s dying and that makes her more important than me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe family where my four\u2013year\u2013old daughter tells strangers she wants a new mother while my husband stands there and smiles.\u201d Her voice was getting stronger, more sure. \u201cThe family where I\u2019m supposed to be grateful for scraps of attention and never, ever cause any inconvenience by having feelings or opinions or a life of my own.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSera-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cA family where my choice to is being dismissed as \u2018not real\u2018 just because it isn\u2019t what \u2018you\u2018 want for me.\u201d Each word hit me like a punch. \u201cSera, you\u2019re twisting everything around-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, Darius. I\u2019m seeing it clearly for the first time.\u201d She stepped back from me, and the distance felt like a canyon opening between us. \u201cI will never apologize to Vivienne for something she did to herself. I will never help her career, and I will never come crawling back to be your convenient, grateful little wife who accepts whatever scraps you throw her way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The hallway suddenly felt too small, too warm. \u201cYou\u2019re making a huge mistake.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe. But it\u2019s my mistake to make.\u201d She turned to walk away, then stopped and looked back at me. \u201cTell Luna I love her. Tell her I\u2019m working hard to build a life where she can be proud of her mother instead of ashamed of\u00a0<\/p>\n
3\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter Lost\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s not ashamed-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Sera was already walking away, her black dress swishing around her legs as she disappeared back toward the ballroom.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stood alone in the hallway, my reflection staring back at me from the dark windows. For the first time in my life, I felt like I\u2019d just lost an argument I didn\u2019t even know I was having.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And I had no idea how to win it back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Souls Remember What Matters \u2014 Corey Gibson 11 Chapter 11\u2013Lost\u00a0 DARIUS\u00a0 \u201cNo, I won\u2019t go back.\u201d\u00a0 Her words had me […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-day-i-signed-the-papers-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23457\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}