Page 45 of Ashes of Us
The door chimed behind us as we stepped out onto the sidewalk. Main Street was quiet this time of day, just a few cars passing, someone walking a dog across the street.
I crossed my arms and turned to face him. Still, I kept three feet of distance between us.
"Start talking," I said.
He ran his hand through his hair. Couldn't look at me.
"I fucked up. I know saying sorry doesn't—it doesn't fix anything. But I cheated on you. For months. While you were planning our wedding." His voice cracked. "You were making cupcakes at five in the morning and I was—" He stopped. Swallowed hard. "You trusted me and I lied every single day."
He finally looked up. His eyes were red.
"You keep saying that like it’ll sound different if you mean it harder." I shook my head. "But it doesn’t. It doesn’t change what happened, Liam. There’s no fixing it. No going back."
Liam nodded. "I'm not here to ask for anything. I just needed you to know it wasn't your fault. It was all me. You were always enough."
I stared at him.
He thought—what? That I'd been waiting a year to hear that? That I needed him to tell me I was enough?
"Are you fucking kidding me?" The words came out sharp, louder than I meant. A woman walking past with a stroller glanced over. I didn't care. "You think that's what I needed to hear? That I was *enough?"
Liam blinked. "I just meant?—"
"I know what you meant." My hands were shaking again but not from fear this time. From rage. "You think I've been sittinghere for the past year wondering if I did something wrong? If I wasn't pretty enough or interesting enough or—what? Good enough in bed?"
"No, that's not?—"
"I didn't open this bakery to prove anything to you. I opened it because you destroyed my life and I had to build a new one." I took a step closer. "I know what I'm worth, Liam. I figured that out the second I walked out of our apartment. The second I decided I'd rather start over with nothing than spend one more day with someone who looked me in the eye and lied."
His face crumpled. "Piper?—"
"You don't get to come here and grant me absolution. You don't get to tell me I was always enough like that's some gift you're giving me." My voice cracked but I pushed through. "I don't need your fucking validation."
He stood there. Just stood there and took it. Didn't argue. Didn't try to explain.
When I finally stopped, chest heaving, he was quiet for a long moment.
Then his eyes moved past me to the bakery window. I didn't turn around but I knew what he was seeing. Daniel, standing inside, watching us. Probably ready to come out here if I gave any signal that I needed him.
Liam's jaw tightened. His hands flexed at his sides, then stilled. When he looked back at me, something in his face had shifted. Shut down.
"You're right." His voice was quiet and flat. "You're absolutely right."
He looked at the bakery again. At the yellow awning, the logo I'd designed myself, and everything I'd built without him.
"I'm sorry." A pause. "I'm sorry I came here. I thought—" He stopped and shook his head. "It doesn't matter what I thought."
Another beat. He was looking at me but somehow past me at the same time, like he was already gone.
"I'm sorry for everything." His voice cracked on 'everything' but he kept going. "I won't bother you again."
He turned to leave. Took two steps down the sidewalk, then stopped.
Didn't turn around.
"He seems like a good guy." Barely audible. "I'm glad."
Then he walked away.
