Among All The Stars I Found You Chapter 20
Preston moved to knock, but I stopped him.
“Let him have some time.”
“That wasn’t your fault.”
“Part of it was.”
I looked at the photograph.
“I thought because I wasn’t his biological mother, I had the right to decide who was better suited to take care of him.”
“I didn’t even say goodbye.”
Preston fell silent.
After a moment, he said softly, “That two million wasn’t to buy your silence.”
“But that’s what I said it was for when I asked for it.”
I took out my phone and transferred the money back to the account it came from.
Preston frowned.
“Selena.”
“That money doesn’t belong to me.”
“If I ever do leave, I’ll take what legally belongs to me from this marriage.”
“But I will never put a price tag on myself again.”
After the transfer went through, I felt a weight lift from my shoulders.
All my life, I had felt like I was indebted to other people.
I owed Patrick for a slice of cake.
I owed Mrs. Rhodes for my mother’s surgery.
I owed Preston a respectable wife.
But marriage wasn’t about repaying a debt.
And neither was love.
That night, I sat outside Leo’s door and told him everything.
“I went to Savannah because I thought that once Juliette came back, you would need her more.”
“I was wrong.”
“I shouldn’t have made that choice for you.”
There was no sound from inside the room.
I rested my forehead against the cool wood of the door.
“Leo, I didn’t leave you because of the money.”
“Even if you don’t forgive me, I need you to know that.”
I sat there for a long time.
Just as I was getting to my feet, the door opened a crack.
A small hand reached out and shoved a slightly crumpled drawing into my arms.
It was the craft he hadn’t been able to give me at the family dinner.
It showed three people.
The one in the middle was wearing a red dress. Above her head were the words: *My Mom*.Â