Chapter 81

You get to choose

Rowan.

“Are you going to brood forever?” Gabe asks in annoyance.

I don’t pay him any attention. Just continue staring at the amber liquid in my glass, contemplating how

things went downhill with Ava so fast.

I’m not naïve enough to think that she was acting irrationally. She was acting like a normal person would.

A person who’s been hurt over and over again by people she loved. (2)

There’s this strong need inside me to soothe her pain. To take all her hurts away. To heal her. How can I

do that, though? When I’m the one that fucking put it–there in the first place.

“You can’t continue like this, Ro. If she’s not giving you the time of day, then leave her the hell alone!

Emma wants you for crying out loud. Hell, It’s not like you’re lacking when it comes to the women that

want you,” he grumbles, plopping his ass down on the chair. 2

I don’t acknowledge his stupid tirade. Instead, I send him a glare. “If my current mood bothers you so

much, you can fucking leave.”

He doesn’t understand, and I am in no mood to make him understand. My entire being has recently

decided that it doesn’t want Emma. Nor does it want any other woman who is not Ava.

I used to despise her. Used to think that there was no way I would ever want her. Famous last fucking

words because she’s all I think about right now. She’s taken over every inch of my thoughts and

fantasies..

Karma sure is a fucking bitch, ain’t she? Just when I finally acknowledge that I do want her, she decides

that she wants nothing to do with me. The fact that she’s having a baby with another man

is proof enough of her determination to move on.

I used to be the only man that has ever touched her. The only man she knew quite intimately. I never

used to take that for the fucking gift it was. Now, someone else knows how she tastes, and I fucking hate

that Ethan gave her something that I used to deny her while we were married.

Shaking those thoughts away, I stand up and walk to the large windows of my office. Thinking of any

other man touching her drives me crazy. It’s pure fucking torture. I guess now I have an

inkling of how she felt when I used to hold Emma between us.

1/4

+15 BONUS

Fuck! How can I make her see that I don’t mean any harm? That I don’t want to hurt her, instead, I want

to heal what’s broken

You want to heal what’s broken, yet you can’t accept that you love her? A voice taunts. ‘When are you

going to realize you just don’t do such things for a woman unless you fucking love her?

I ignore those words. Refusing to drown too much in them

Yes, I did feel something for Ava. I’m not even sure when or how they developed. Even if I were to

tell her that right now, do you know how insincere those words would seem? She probably wouldn’t even

believe me. Not after how I have treated her for the past nine years.

My door opens, but I don’t turn.

“Now, what has gotten you in such a foul mood?” Gabe asks.

I don’t need to turn around to know that it’s Travis he’s talking to. We’ve been friends since we were all in

diapers. We know each other like the back of our hands.

“Ava”

Her name makes me turn around. My focus on Travis.

He looks tired, lost, and utterly defeated. He has lost weight these past few weeks, and it’s

worrying all of us.

“What happened?” I ask, my voice sounding gruff even to my own ears.

“I went to ask her for help concerning the company. She refused.” He sighs.

I’ve told him I could help, but he refuses. The Howell’s kept to their promise. Sharp Corp was sinking and

if nothing was done soon, it wouldn’t last even two months before it completely

collapsed.

The only reason our company was still standing was because we were as powerful as the Howell’s. Their

pulling out and getting their loyal investors to do the same hadn’t affected us that much.

I wasn’t foolish enough to think it would end there. They may not have been able to destroy our

company, but I’m fucking sure they’ll look for another way to get their revenge. I won’t even fight. them.

They were right to come after me. I deserve everything they plan to do to me for the way I

treated their daughter.

“Is that what has you so dejected? That she refused to help you.” Gabe looks at him in sympathy.

2/4

+18 BONUS

Travis lets out a long, tired breath. “No. It’s what she said She said she didn’t consider me her family. In

other words, I was nothing to het”

I see the pain it causes him, but I don’t feel any sympathy for him. We were horrible to her. Her treatment

towards us was less than we deserved.

“What did you fucking expect? I keep asking you guys that question,” Gabe grumbles.

“I know. I don’t know why I keep expecting her to be as she was. Every trace of the old Ava is gone. The

only time you see glimpses of her is when she’s with Noah.” Travis slumps in his seat, looking defeated.

My phone rings, drawing my attention from their conversation. I didn’t recognize the number. For a

moment, I thought of ignoring it, but I thought otherwise.

“Didn’t I tell you I’d get back at you” the familiar voice says.

“What the fuck do you want?” I ask angrily, not in the mood to fucking play his damn games,

Ronny also known as Reaper chuckles. “Don’t you want to know what, or more specifically, who I

have?”

I’m not one to be fazed, but damn it. Reaper was a crazy fucker. The fact that he sounded so cocky

worried me.

“Spit it out, Ronny, I don’t have all day”

My voice was calm, but a certain kind of panic was rising inside me. He had someone I cared

about. That alone was starting to drive me crazy.

“Since you’re so eager to know, I’ll tell you.” He pauses as if trying to rise suspense, but all he was doing

was pissing me off. “I have two beautiful ladies with me. The love of your fucking life and

the mother of your kid”

My heart stops for a minute before it starts to beat erratically. Travis and Gabe must have sensed

something was wrong because they stop their conversation and focus on me.

“What do you want?” My whole fucking body was frozen as if I was encased in a block of ice.

“It’s simple really. I want you to choose who gets to live and who dies. I’ll spare the one you choose

and kill the other one. Aren’t I being nice? You get to walk away with one of them instead of me

killing all of them”

3/4

Fuck‘ This was worse than I expected The fucker was clearly out of his fucking mind.

Remember, time is ticking “Tick, toc, tick, tock,” he says right before the lines goes dead.

“What is it” Gabe asks me, seeing my bothered look.

+15 BONUS

“Ronny has Ava and Emma” I pause, taking a deep breath to try and calm myself. “He asked me to

choose.”

“Fucking shit!” Travis shouts, his voice reverberating through the room.

This shit was fucked up.

I was going to do everything to get them both back safe and sound. But if push came to shove I knew in

a heartbeat who I would choose. Only problem is, would I be forgiven for costing the other her life