The Heiress' Revenge

Chapter 203: Letting Go

Ariana’s POV

The door slammed open so hard the walls shook. I spun around from the table, and Dante was standing in my doorway with his chest heaving.

He looked like he was going to be sick, as the world had ended, and he was the only one who knew it.

"How dare you?" he said with his voice low and dangerous. "How dare you sign those papers. How dare you give up on us? How dare you throw away everything we fought for?"

I crossed my arms with my face cold. "I didn’t throw anything away. I made a choice to let you go and be happy. A choice to stop being the reason your life is chaos."

Dante walked toward me, his steps heavy. "We had a promise. You said you’d come back. You said you’d never leave again. You said you’d stay with me forever. Those were your words. Your promise. Your vow."

I stepped back, placing distance between us. "People break promises, vows... people change. I’ve changed. I’m not the woman you married anymore."

Dante grabbed my arms with his grip firm and desperate. "Look at me in the eyes and tell me you don’t love me. Tell me you don’t want me or need me, and I’ll leave. I’ll walk out that door, and I’ll never come back."

I looked at him with the words stuck in my throat, burning my tongue, but I forced them out. "I don’t love you, I don’t want you, I don’t need you. Now let go of me."

Dante’s face crumbled, his hands fell away from my arms. "You’re lying, I know you’re lying. I can see it in your eyes. The same eyes that used to look at me like I was your whole world, the same eyes that used to light up when I walked into the room. The same eyes that cried when I was hurting... You still love me. You’re just too scared to admit it."

I shook my head. "I’m not scared, and I’m certainly not lying...I’m done. I’m done with you, with us. I’m done with the pain and the chaos and the destruction... I just want to be left alone."

Dante reached for me again, but I stepped back. "Please, Ariana. Please don’t do this, don’t push me away. I can’t survive losing you again. I barely survived the first time."

I laughed. It was a bitter sound. "You survived just fine, you were going to marry Natasha and were going to have a baby with her and were going to build a new life, you have a family."

Dante’s face went pale. "How do you know about that?"

"Your mother told me, and I saw it... You don’t need to lie to me anymore"

Dante shook his head. "That’s not true, I never wanted any of that, my mother arranged everything, she forced me into it. I was going to call off the wedding I was going to tell Natasha the truth. I was going to—"

"You were going to what?" My voice was sharp. "You were going to come back to me? After you have already started a new life? After you have already made a new family? After you already moved on?"

Dante grabbed my hands. "I never moved on, I never stopped loving you, not for one second. Natasha meant nothing to me. The baby was a mistake... it wasn’t supposed to happen, my love, please just listen to me, please"

I pulled my hands away. "But it happened, and now there’s a child involved. An innocent child who deserves a father and a family. I won’t be the reason that child grows up without a father."

"Ariana—"

"No." My voice was final. "I signed the papers, and the divorce is final. You’re free. You can go back to Natasha.... You can be a father to your child and take care of the kids back home, please"

Dante’s eyes were wet. "I don’t want that life, I want you. I’ve always wanted you, only you."

I walked to the door and opened it. "You need to leave."

Dante didn’t move. "I’m not leaving until you tell me the truth... not until you tell me why you’re really pushing me away."

I turned to face him. "You want the truth? Fine then...I’m with Phillip now, he makes me happy, he makes me feel safe, and he doesn’t come with baggage and drama and a mother who hates me... he’s simple, kind, and everything you’re not."

Dante’s face twisted. "Phillip? The brother of the woman I was supposed to marry? You’re with him?"

I nodded. "He’s been there for me... and honestly, I want him, I see peace with him, and that’s what I want for myself...."

Dante’s hands clenched into fists. "You’re lying. You’re just saying that to hurt me."

I stepped closer to him. "I’m not lying, I’m with Phillip, and I’m happy. Happier than I’ve been in years. So please, just go, go back to your life and leave me alone."

Dante stared at me with eyes that were broken. "I don’t believe you, I know you. I know your heart, and I know you still love me."

I felt the tears come.

I pushed them back. "Believe what you want. It doesn’t change the facts. I signed the papers, and our marriage is over. There’s nothing left between us."

Dante shook his head. "I’m not giving up on you. I’m not giving up on us. I will fight for you every day for the rest of my life if I have to."

I pushed him toward the door. "I don’t want you to fight for me, I don’t want you to love me. I don’t want anything from you."

Dante grabbed the doorframe, holding on. "Ariana, please just tell me the truth, why you’re really doing this."

"The truth is, I don’t love you anymore. I don’t want to be with you. I’m tired of pretending. I’m tired of pretending to be someone I’m not, I’m tired of pretending to feel something I don’t. So please just go let me live my life, and you go live yours."

Dante’s face crumbled.

His hands fell away from the doorframe.

He stepped back, looking at me like I was a stranger.

Like, he didn’t recognize me.

Like I had killed something inside him.

"Okay," he said, his voice was barely a whisper. "Okay, I’ll go, I’ll leave, I’ll let you live your life, but know this... I will never stop loving you. I will never stop hoping. I will never stop wishing that one day, you’ll come back to me."

He turned and walked out the door.

I closed the door behind him, leaning against it as I slid down to the floor.

The tears came.

They poured out of me like a river. I put my hands over my mouth as I tried to hold in the sobs, but I couldn’t.

I had hurt him.

Again.

I had pushed him away.

Again

I had chosen to be alone.