Page 81 of Not Made to Last

“So…” Belinda says, her elbows on her desk while her fingers tap, tap, tap away. “I’m just trying to grasp the situation here…”

I hold back an eye roll. There’s nothing to grasp. Betrayal is a bitch, and I’ve suffered it twofold.

“As of right this moment,” Belinda starts, “who is Olivia to you?”

“She’s…” I don’t even know how to explain it, because I think, of everything, this is the part that fucks me the most. “She’s the only girl I’ve ever met who’s come even close to replacing Mercedes.”

“But sheisMercedes.”

“But she’s not,” I’m quick to argue.

“But sheis,” Belinda contends. “The only difference I can see is that Olivia isreal. She’s not some dream girl you’ve made up who only?—”

“You don’t get it,” I interrupt, and why would she?Howcould she? My frustration rattles through my rib cage, reveals itself in the way I ball my fists and the way I recklessly release oxygen through my airways.

“You’re mad?” Belinda says, and this is what she’s so fucking good at. Forcing me to face my flaws and then making me explain them away.

“Of course I am,” I spit out. “You have no idea what it feels like to know that every single person who’s important to me is here, with me, because I fucking pay them to be. You, Curtis, even Oscar!”

“You saved Oscar,” she points out.

I stop pacing, press the heels of my palms to my temple and groan, irritated.

Belinda stands, makes her way toward me, and it takes everything in me to stay grounded. Not to pull back from her closeness.

“Breathe,” she says, settling a hand on my shoulder.

I do as she says.

“One more time.”

I blink back the heat burning behind my eyes and nod, then finish the mantra she urges me to live by. “Every time.”

She waits; with the patience of a thousand saints, she holds on to my emotions, to mysanity,until I’m ready to reclaim them.

“I’m sorry, but I have to ask…” she edges. “Does the timeline of Olivia’s grandparents dying and her mother leaving match up with the proposition your mother offered her?”

I sigh, and that’s all she needs to witness.

“I really don’t want to take sides, Rhys, but maybe step away from your emotions for just a tiny second and try to consider what position Olivia was in to make her feel like she had no other options.” She pauses a beat, gauging my reaction before adding, “It must’ve been difficult for her… to know that her sole purpose in your life was to keep you above water. Right?”

I don’t respond.

“And to dedicate three years of her life to do that? There’s no way that she didn’t form feelings for you, too, Rhys. That’s impossible.”

“You’re missing the point,” I murmur. Every single person who isn’t me seems to miss the fucking point. “She’s had every opportunity to come clean and tell me the truth. And she never did.”

And I’ll never forgive her for it.

Done with the conversation, I head for the door, but stop with my hand on the knob and face her. “What are you going to do?”

“About what?”

“About her situation… at home…”

“You know that I’m a mandatory reporter… if there are concerns about the safety, welfare or well-being of a child?—”

“I didn’t ask for a summary of the handbook.”

---