When There Is Nothing Left But Love

Nora drooped her shoulders and stared glassy-eyed at me.

My lips pressed into a thin line. I averted her stare by looking over to Holden, who was staring back at me with an uninterested expression. His eyes bore into mine, hinting that he wanted no part in any of this.

Then Nora’s hand clamped around my wrist, and her nails tore my flesh apart like a bear trap while she wailed, “I’m begging you, Scarlett. I’ll do anything you ask me to; I’ll even convince my grandpa to hand over the Oberick family business to you and Ashton. Please, Scarlett, I’ll do whatever it takes as long as you promise to help Armond. Just this time.”

An oncoming headache pounded at my temples, drawing my brows into a deep frown. “What are you thinking! Do you even know what you’re saying? How could you sacrifice your pride and get on your knees for some heartless, uncaring man?”

Nora’s eyes swelled and darkened into a deep red. “Scarlett, you’ve misunderstood Armond. He’s not the villain that you say he is. You’ve got it all wrong. I’ll call him over, and he’ll explain how things actually went down.”

At her bold correction, that annoying headache grew into an electric pain behind my eyes. I couldn’t help but bark out, “How dare you expect me to forgive him? You think you know everything, huh? Well, your loverboy orchestrated the car accident and abducted Ashton, then almost froze him to death in the refrigerating chamber. He did all that to obtain trading rights to the Taylor family’s port. Do you know that? How would you feel if you were in my shoes? If you knew that Armond did all that to Ashton, what would you truly do? Here you are, preaching to me about how he’s misunderstood and asking me to forgive him… but have you ever considered my feelings?

yet you put me through the pain of losing my child. All because you called me, saying that you were drunk at Imperial Hotel. You knew that I would go to you. Then you used my kindness against me and caused my miscarriage… Do you even know how much the baby that you murdered meant to me? The doctors say that I’ll never be able to conceive again, and it’s all because of your phone call, that one dreaded call that stole my child from me. Tell

I misunderstood the whole situation and acted

 The woman before me

if they were going to fall out at any moment. She gripped white-knuckled onto my clothes and begged, “I know what I did was wrong, but it’s too late to change anything now. Scarlett, please, I don’t know what to do anymore… Tell me, what do I do for you to give Armond the contract? All I want is to help the man I love to get through this hardship in his life.

recognize my cheerful and carefree friend. Her tear-strewn face felt so foreign to me. It felt like I had never really known the real her, and now her facade was peeling away to reveal

Nora that I knew. Something lodged at the back of my throat as

found myself asking a question that even I couldn’t

solemn weight, “Yes. He’s all I want, and I’d rather

Because love isn’t one-sided, nor is it unrequited. Are you absolutely sure