An age gap love story.
A brokenhearted billionaire.
A college girl.
*****
"Nevaeh," Aiden whispers, "can I rest my head on your shoulder?"
I nod, letting him rest his head on my shoulder. He closes his eyes.
"Thank you." He sighs in contentment. "...
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Olivia swipes her hotel room key and opens the door. She steps inside while I stay outside. The moment she turns around to face me, her eyes turn glassy.
This should be enough for her. Klein Enterprise manages many hotels, and one of them is here, in LA. She can stay here until her problem with Roman is settled.
"Thank you so much," she says. "I don't know what I would do without your help, although I don't deserve this. With how Roman left earlier, I don't want him to find me yet. I don't want to see him, at least not until I'm sure that he won't hit me anymore."
I nod silently, but before I can walk off, Olivia asks, "Are you okay?"
Her question snaps me out of my thoughts. I frown.
Worry crosses her expression. "You seemed off after I told you what happened on our wedding day. I know that you shouldn't have been reminded about that moment. I didn't want the truth to hurt you even more than before. I was just hoping that it would make you understand why I left."
Olivia startles and covers her mouth with her hand, as though she just realized how wrong her last sentence was. She quickly adds, "It doesn't mean that what I did was right. No, I didn't mean that. I had no excuse. What I did to you was unforgivable."
Little does she know that it's not what I'm worried about right now. This agony I'm feeling inside is because of Nevaeh. My feelings for her are now tainted with doubts.
It's like the other half of my soul is leaving. I don't know whether my heart can survive or not if I lose her.
I don't want to face it.
I don't want to accept reality.
"You're standing here before me, but it's like you're not really here," Olivia says. "Are you sure that everything is alright? Don't you have something to say?"
I shake my head. But then, after a moment of silence, I say, "I'll be back again."
Her eyes soften after she hears that. I turn my back to her, and while I'm walking toward the elevator, I can still feel her eyes on me.
After I reach the ground floor and step out of the hotel, I put my palms on my knees and let out a long, heavy sigh. It's not a sigh of relief. It's torture.
I'm panting. My chest heaves up and down.
Nevaeh.
I resume walking. The sun is setting down, and I should go to the airport because I promised her that I would be back. But now, my legs are bringing me to nowhere in particular.
Blindly, I drag my feet toward an alley, holding on to the brick wall to steady myself. I don't even bother to call the driver. I have no idea what the fuck I'm doing.
My phone vibrates inside my pocket, but I ignore it. I don't need to check the caller to know who it is. It's Ashton.
He's been blowing up my phone I wonder why the man hasn't hunted me down here himself and drag my ass back to Seattle.
