Page 59 of Asphyxia
Adrian’s words alwayscut deep. I never understood how I could love a man like him so fiercely when all he did was instill fear in me.
“You don’t understand; you’re overreacting, Adrian. Please—”
“Her or me.” He clipped, no further explanation necessary on his part.
“What?” I blinked, taken aback by his demand, even though I knew what he expected to be my answer.
Shaking my head, I cleared my throat and attempted to process what he didn’t say—that I needed to choose between him and my sister, but we both knew that wasn’t a real choice.
“You need to decide, once and for all. Chyler or me.”
“That’s not fair, Adrian. I love yo—”
“If you loved me, this wouldn’t be a decision you’d have to contemplate. You should already have the answer.” Adrian wouldn’t let me finish a single sentence.
Constantly cutting off my words just as he wanted to cut me off from my only family.
I didn’t have it in me to give him the answer he wanted because, while I still loved him regardless of his poisonous behavior, I would never consider choosing a man over Chyler.
Blood always ran thicker than water; even though she wasn’t blood by birth, she was blood by heart, and no one, not even Adrian, could change that.
“Silence won’t save you, sweetheart.” Adrian wrapped his hand around my throat, and I gripped his wrist with mine. “Answer me.” He seethed through his teeth.
“C—Chyler.” I managedto get out before he threw me into the nearest wall, explosively enraged with my decision, seeing me as nothing more than a piece of discarded trash.
As I slid down the wall, I curled in on myself, terrified at what he would do to me now that I had given him the answer he didn’t want to hear.
But all Adrian did was adjust his cufflinks before exiting our home—exiting my life.
“She’sdoingitagain…”Alexis mumbled as she sipped from her coffee cup before setting it down gently on the table. She lounged back on the sofa, fanning her arms out behind her.
“Oh, leave her be, Lex…” Chyler sighed breathily, setting her stern eyes on Alexis. “Quit judging her, for fucks sake; this was supposed to be a casual brunch, not an intervention.”
“What? She keeps doing th—”
“Lex!” Chyler barked, cutting her off. “Enough. You’d act the same way if you—”
“If I what? Went through the same shit as her?” Alexis scoffed, rolling her eyes as she licked the corner of her upper lip. “Did you forget I was—”
“The reason we crossed paths with Adrian in the first place? Yes. I’m well aware thatyouwere thefucking problem.”
“Lex, Chy, stop with the bickering…” I spoke up calmly. “Can’t we have just one nice girls’ day for once? Without all the added drama and accusations? What’s done is done…”
My daydreaming and short attention span were becoming an issue, but I couldn’t help myself. No matter how hard I tried, my mind just wandered away on its own.
“You say that now, but what happens when you snap from all those repressed feelings? Ow!”
Chyler elbowed Alexis hard in her side as she spoke.
“What Lex means to say, but with poor fucking execution…” She glared daggers at her, and Alexis clamped her mouth shut. “Is that we can see when something is bothering you, and clearly, it hasn’t gotten any better since the last time we hung out.”
Chyler was right; nothing had improved since we last spent the day together, just the two of us—at least, not regarding my mental state.
Relationship-wise, things couldn’t be more perfect between Marcus, Dean, and I.
I had finally started allowing myself to believe in loving them—something I never thought I would come to terms with, not for a long time.
I always thought I would end up being the hopeless romantic, incapable of love.
