A wave of weariness claims me. It all falls into place.
My father hiring Diana right as I took over.
My insecurities as a CEO making me depend upon Diana more and more, until I all but left my wife.
My family whispering, nudging, pushing me further and further away from the woman I love.
And I let them.
Ichosemy family’s approval over Mia’s peace. Over her heart. Over the life we promised each other.
I run a hand through my hair, my chest tight, my voice hollow. “I’m going to bed and then I’m leaving tomorrow.”
“It’s Christmas Day,” Mom protests.
Now, I do laugh, but this time it’s an uncontrollable roar. “Mom, the marriages of everyone in this family have just been under the spotlight, and they’re ugly as hell, and you want to celebrate Christmas? This family doesn’t need a chef cooking a gourmet meal; it needs a team of shrinks.”
Gianna scoffs. “Oh, come on, Aiden, all this for Mia? She wasneverone of us?—”
“Gianna, she shouldn’t have had tobe one of us. Her being married to me should have been enough.”
I look around at the people I’ve spent my whole life trying to make proud. All I see now are sharp teeth and vapid smiles.
Mia stood in this room alone for two years as my girlfriend and six years as my wife, and not one of them ever met her halfway.
And Istood with them.
I feel sick.
“What are you going to do now?” Diana asks, her voice still soft. Hopeful.
I meet her gaze and feel nothing. “None of your business.”
She steps toward me. “You love me, Aiden.” Her eyes are gentle. Before that kiss, I’d have fallen for it, hook, line, and sinker. “And I love you.”
“You told me your husband cheated on you; that’s why you got divorced.”
People like her, I’ve just realized, don’t love anyone but themselves.
She shrugs. “We both…there were mistakes made on both sides.”
I smirk. “Is that what your ex would say if I called him?”
She looks stricken.
An argument between Betty and Tristan distracts us. She pushes him and runs. But not away like Mia, but toward their suite.
“Betty, come on,” Tristan yells, and chases his wife up the stairs.
Patrick is slumped on a couch, snoring softly. Gianna is trying to get him up.
Good luck, sis.
Gianna came to me last week and asked for $100,000 for a business idea she had. I’d given it to her, too. She’s my sister. Didn’t think she’d lie to me.
“Get rid of the bitch,” Dad says before leaving the room and the wreckage. Mom follows him. She’s a good wife.
Mine is better. Mine has a backbone.
