Total pages in book: 157
Estimated words: 150968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 150968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
I trust him.
He won’t break us.
Grayson makes a pained sound in the back of throat. “We belong on two separate paths, Riley. I’ve thought about it, but this is not working out for me anymore.”
My throat closes and I lose the last breath I’ve been holding. Lurching off the bed, I start pacing my room. “Listen, I’ll come to you. I’ll book a flight right now. Are you listening to me? We can talk about it, Grayson. If this long distance relationship is not working anymore, I’ll drop out of Harvard and come back to home. To you. We will make it work. We can make this work. We just saw each other two days ago! Why are you saying all of this now!?”
I’m rambling at this point and barely making any sense even to myself, but I can’t stop.
I can’t fucking stop because I feel my heart being ripped out of my chest and I’m desperately trying to hold on to the sweet, treacherous hope that Grayson’s love had filled me with. But everything is jaded now and I don’t know how to handle that.
“Riley—”
“No.” I shake my head, tears burning the back of my eyes. “Don’t do this, Grayson. Don’t do this to us. Please.”
“It was fun while it lasted,” he says and his words are too cruel and Grayson is not a heartless man.
My eyes close, a heart wrenching sob spilling from my lips. “You promised…”
He lets out a cold, humorless chuckle and it decimates me. “I guess I am a liar.”
“You promised me!” I cry out.
“I’m protecting you, damn it!” he bellows back to me.
My body crumbles and I collapse on the floor. “What?” I choke breathlessly.
Grayson spews out a harsh swear. “I will only hurt you more in the future, Riley. You have a soft, gullible heart. You believed what you wanted to see, but I’m not that man. You romanticize me, you created this perfect illusion in your head that I am the perfect man for you. But I am not him. It’s not my fault that you fell for someone who was not real. It was your own damn delusion and you recklessly got your heart involved.”
The last of my hope disintegrates into ashes.
Time slows.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The beat of my heart resonates between my ears.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
“W-what?” The world sways as numbness takes over my body. “You said you love me.”
“I did… but love is not always enough. Only fools believe that love fixes everything.”
He did…
Not he does.
He did love me.
Only fools believe that love fixes everything
The crack widens. The wound deepens.
I have so many questions, but I can’t speak anymore. My throat closes, and I forgot how to even formulate simple words. My lips are numb, and there’s a heavy tightness in my chest that restricts my breath. A thick pressure circles my neck, like a tight noose.
My heart weeps and a lonely tear slides down my cheek. I don’t even have the strength to cry. My soul bleeds, the fragmented pieces of it decaying into nothingness.
They say pain comes in waves. Whether it’s emotional or physical.
The first wave hits me unexpectedly. It’s a brutal one. The harshest wave, a hurricane of unbearable agony and disgusting misery.
I barely float above the surface of sanity before I drown, before I am swept by the tidal waves of anguish. They engulf me. And then I’m…
Sinking to the bottom of the dark abyss that resides in me. A place I haven’t visited since the day Grayson kissed me. A place I left behind because Grayson filled me with… hope.
I can still hear his deep breathing over the phone, but it no longer brings me comfort. If anything, it only torments me more. “Why are you doing this?” I whisper brokenly.
“Because when love grows dull, it’s easier to end it instead of trying so hard to ignite something that’s not there anymore.”
My lips part into a silent cry.
“Goodbye, Riley.”
“No… Grayson. GRAYSON!”
The call ends and then he’s gone.
With a grievous scream, I throw my phone at the wall and watch it crack. Collapsing, my body sinks into the ground and I lay there, listlessly. The dam breaks open and I let out an anguished sob. My chest rattles with broken, guttural cries.
It was all lies.
Grayson Hale is a wretched liar.
And I believed everything he said, like a gullible girl in love.
He tore my heart out, slicing it with his betrayal and his pretty lies, leaving me to bleed while desperately trying to hang on to the remnants of his damnable love.
My broken cries turn into me gagging. Acidic bile rises in my throat, and I stumble to the bathroom, crawling when my knees weaken and I can’t hold myself upright. I barely make it to the toilet before my stomach churns and I start retching violently.
The devils on my shoulders are laughing now. Taunting me.