He Left Me Broken Now He Wants Me Back Chapter 18
The lobby fell silent.
“That’s what my family calls me. We’re not related. We’re not family.”
Mia’s expression flickered through a series of emotions. When she looked at me, a flash of pure hatred crossed her face.
Rowan continued, his voice cold and even. “And don’t show up here unannounced again. This is a place of business, not your living room.”
“Why are you suddenly being so cold to me?” Mia finally snapped, her voice rising.
Rowan frowned.
“We were never that kind of ‘anything.’ If you continue to disrupt the performance, I’ll have security escort you out.”
Mia clenched her jaw, shot me one last venomous look, and stormed out with her crew.
Rowan turned to me.
“Are you hurt?”
I pushed his hand away.
“No.”
“I bought a ticket for tonight’s show. I came to watch, not to follow you.”
“Do whatever you want.”
He watched me for a moment, then said suddenly, “I’m sorry. I used to believe what other people said about you instead of believing you.”
“From now on, I’ll only believe what you tell me.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“And who taught you that line?”
He hesitated.
“Trevor Hale.”
Trevor was a friend of his from middle school, a man famous in our social circle for his revolving door of girlfriends.
“You asked the wrong person for advice.”
Rowan looked genuinely confused.
“What else did he teach you?”
“He said that when your girlfriend is talking, you need to actually listen. And if she tells you she needs something, you shouldn’t start by questioning whether it’s necessary.”
Rowan sounded like he was reciting from a textbook.
“He said that when your girlfriend tells you something hurts, she’s not always asking you to fix it. Sometimes she just wants you there, because she trusts you.”
“Enough.”
I pressed my fingers to my forehead.
He kept going anyway. “I used to think adults should be able to handle minor illnesses and injuries on their own. I thought that was being independent.”
“But when you actually stopped needing me, it hurt.”
His voice dropped.
“I wanted you to need me. Even if it was just sometimes.”
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.
After a long silence, I finally found my voice. “That’s not possible anymore. Find someone else to need you.”
I turned and walked away, my pace quickening with every step.