If Your Heart Doesn’t Lean Towards Me I Don’t Want It Chapter 28
Ellis was ordered to compensate me for all related damages and to issue a formal written apology for the violation of my privacy.
It was raining when we left the courthouse.
Ellis followed us out.
Lucian opened an umbrella over my head but didn’t step between us.
He knew that this time, I could face this on my own.
Ellis stood in the downpour, his hair soaked in seconds.
“Coralie, can you give me five more minutes?”
I checked my watch.
“Go ahead.”
He froze, as if he’d prepared a thousand words but didn’t know where to begin.
“I always thought you’d never leave me.”
“You were always so gentle, so reasonable. You never made scenes like Tessa did.”
I asked evenly, “So because I was reasonable, I was supposed to come last?”
His throat worked.
“No.”
“It’s just… I took you for granted.”
“I kept thinking Tessa couldn’t live without me, that I had to take care of her. It wasn’t until you were really gone that I realized I was the one who couldn’t live without you.”
Rainwater streamed down his face.
“Coralie, I dream about that hospital room every night.”
“I dream about you grabbing my sleeve, telling me to stay with your mother. And I dream about you calling my name, saying the baby…”
His voice broke.
“If I had stayed that day, would the baby still be here?”
I was silent for a moment.
“The doctors never said that.”
“And I’m not going to stay trapped in that question with you, Ellis.”
He stared at me blankly.
“Did you ever love me?”
“I did.”
I answered calmly.
Something flickered in his eyes.
Then I continued.
“That’s why I gave you so many chances.”
“But that was a long time ago.”
The light went out.
Five minutes were up.
I turned and stepped back under Lucian’s umbrella.
Ellis didn’t try to stop me again.
At last, he understood that admitting I had loved him did not mean I would ever go back.