I shoved William away as soon he kissed me. He couldn’t just do that when he was jealous! I glared at him angrily and stood up from the couch. “I am sick of your sudden mood changes. I can’t divorce you, William. So why can’t you just leave me alone until I can? Honestly, what have I done to you? I’ve told you that I had nothing to do with bullying your sister. So why do you persist on torturing me? Why, William? Tell me!”
He had his back to me, and I yanked his shoulder to make him face me. I was stunned at the look on his face. He looked broken and absolutely devastated. His eyes were shining with so much despair that it almost made me regret snapping at him. Almost.
“William?”
He shook his head, rubbing his face, looking frustrated. “I can’t hide this from you anymore. It’s breaking me apart. I can’t do this to you.”
“What are you hiding, William?”
He ran his fingers through his hair and groaned. “I like you, okay?”
My jaw dropped open. Did he expect me to believe that? With everything that had happened?
I slowly sat down on the ground and placed Jonah on my lap.
“You,” I said carefully. “Like me?”
He nodded like he was talking to a five-year-old. “I do.”
“Then why do you act like an as—butthole?” I asked, rubbing Jonah’s back.
His face turned red. “I have to hurt you. It’s to protect you!”
“What are you talking about? That doesn’t even make sense! It’s a paradox!”
He shrugged with exhaustion and gave me a sad look. “It all started when my parents told me about our engagement. I was mad because I didn’t want to get married at the time. I eventually got over it, until Kelly told me some things about you. She told me that you bullied her in high school and that you were the reason she got fired from her job.”
“And you believed her? Without even checking your facts?” I asked incredulously.
He sighed. “Well, she is my sister. I trusted her enough to think she wouldn’t lie to me about things like this, but obviously I was wrong.”
“Yeah, you were.” I frowned.
“Anyway, so that day we kissed, I went and told Kelly because I felt like I betrayed her by doing that, which is why I sort of just walked away. I started thinking about everything that had happened and how you were and I just began to doubt everything Kelly said. You didn’t match the description she gave me at all. Kelly must have realized I wasn’t really interested in getting revenge anymore so she blackmailed me.”
“What did she use to blackmail you? Your company or something?”
He looked me in the eye. “You. She said that if I didn’t follow through with the plan, then she would hurt you.”
“How would she hurt me, and how do you know she was being serious?”
“She’s got her ways, and I knew she wouldn’t back down on her word. She’s strict when it comes to promises.”
I suddenly felt very irritated. “You couldn’t tell me all this before, William? It’s not like she would have known.”
This honestly would have saved me a lot of heartache and anger if he had just told me before. I might have even helped him. Maybe.
“I wanted to, Heather. I really did. But she would find out I told you somehow,” William said, running a hand through his hair in frustration and kicking the floor a couple of times.
I frowned. “Then why are you telling me now if she could find out?”
“I am telling you because she’s not in the country right now. She went to Greece this morning with Natasha, so she probably won’t bother me for another week or so. I’m guessing she thinks it’s pointless to tell me to continue terrorizing you when I don’t want to.”
I nodded slowly.
This was a lot to process. I had no idea whether or not I could trust him, but a part of me did.
“Heather?” he said hesitantly.
I raised an eyebrow.
“Is it too much to ask for a second chance?”
I bit my lip. “William, I just need to think about all this. I need time, because right now, I don’t know if I should believe you and give you a second chance or not.”
He nodded. “I get it, don’t worry.” He walked to me cautiously and kissed my forehead before looking into my eyes with a sad smile.
“I’m so sorry, Heather. I would do anything to change time or keep you out of this World War K,” he said, pulling a stray strand of hair away from my face. I looked away, and he sighed, making his way upstairs.
I sat back down on the couch and looked at Jonah. “Why is life so complicated, Jonah? I don’t know what to do. Do you?”
He blinked and sneezed. Well, that answered my question.