Page 133 of Crazy Thing

“I was going to surprise you with the news as soon as I was sure that the new deed was properly registered. I know what you heard last night, but I promise, I can’t ever sell the property for my own personal gain. The waterfall is not mine to sell.”

She’s silent, letting it all sink in.

I’m telling the truth and she knows it.

I try to stay quiet. I try to keep my mouth shut and let her process what I just said. But I’m dying to spill everything. I need Ziggy to understand my intentions.

I draw her attention back to the document she’s holding in her hands. “Turn to the last page,” I instruct her.

With a wary look on her face, she does so. Her eyebrows crinkle as she reads and re-reads the sheet of paper.

Ziggy shakes her head in disbelief. “It…it says…”

“It says I’m handing my fortune over to you, Ziggy Beaumont.I don’t need any of it, not if you aren’t mine. Not if you don’t trust me.I wantyoumore. All you have to do is sign,” I say softly. “And then everything I own is yours.”

“Why are you doing this?” she whispers.

“Because I love you, Ziggy. And the only thing I trulyneedin this whole world is for you to love me back.”

I know it’s crazy, handing over everything I’ve worked so hard for on a silver platter. But when I say I’d do anything for this woman, I absolutely mean it. She means more than all the money in the world. And this is the only way to prove it. Despite what Frank may think.

Ziggy silently reads over the document again. I’m practically bouncing on my feet, watching. Waiting. But her face is completely blank. I can’t tell what she’s thinking.

“I mean it. I love you, and I’m going to prove it to you,” Isay softly. “I want to put your name on everything. I want to transfer it all over to you.”

Her eyes fill with tears, as she continues to stare at the papers.

I instantly feel lighter, breathing a sigh of relief.

It worked.I’ve done it. I’ve won her back.

I step forward, ready to kiss her tears away, but I stop in my tracks when Ziggy suddenly rips the contract in half and lets the torn papers flutter to the floor between us.

I blink in shock. “What…? Why…? I don’t…”

“Yeah. You don’t get it. You never will.” She takes a step back. Then another.

“You’re right,” I say, exasperated. “Idon’tget it.”

I just handed this woman my entire life’s work on a silver platter and she’sstillrunning away from me.

“Look—I can’t do this. You make everything about money and now you’re trying to buy my trust.”

“I’m not trying to buy your trust. I’m trying to prove my loyalty!”

“You kept secrets,” she wails. “You knew how hard it was for me to trust you, and yet you chose to hide things from me. How do you expect me to trust you when you’ve demonstrated time and again that integrity means nothing to you?”

“Ziggy, no. I wasn’t…I just…Can’t you see that this is different?”

She keeps talking. “You are willing to do anything and everything to close a deal. How do I know that you won’t throwmeunder the bus to get what you want one day in the future?”

She’s still stepping away, shaking her head as tears continue to roll down her cheeks.

“I can’t do this. My heart can’t handle it. This whole relationship thing is not for me. Please just go back to ignoringme, like you have for the last sixteen years. Close the door behind you when you leave.”

And with that, she runs off, disappearing into the back of the shop, and leaving me completely and utterly lost.

Things between us were going so well. How did we even get here? How did I make such a mess of everything?

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