Tears burned behind my eyes.
“You managed to hurt two women for years.”
“I love you.”
“There it is.”
“What?”
“Your emergency sentence.”
He blinked.
“The one you always use whenever I ask a question you don’t want to answer.”
His shoulders slumped.
“I do love you.”
“And Avery?”
He hesitated.
“I care about her.”
I stared at him.
“You proposed to her.”
“I know.”
“You’re planning a wedding.”
“I know.”
“You’ve been lying to both of us.”
His voice became desperate.
“I never meant for it to go this far.”
I leaned forward.
“When exactly were you planning to stop?”
No answer.
“After the honeymoon?”
Nothing.
“After you had children?”
Still nothing.
The silence answered better than any words could.
“I couldn’t choose,” he whispered.
My heart didn’t break.
It hardened.
“You already chose.”
“What do you mean?”
“You chose every single day you lied.”
He rubbed his face.
“I kept hoping the situation would somehow fix itself.”
“It did.”
He looked up hopefully.
“It fixed itself yesterday.”
His expression collapsed.
“You found each other.”
“Yes.”
He covered his eyes.
“I’ve ruined everything.”
“You ruined it a long time ago.”
For nearly a minute, neither of us spoke.
Then he whispered something that surprised me.
“I was terrified of losing either of you.”
I shook my head slowly.
“That isn’t love.”
He looked confused.
“It’s fear.”
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