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At the sound of the pounding again, I slowly rise to my feet. I walk towards the door, every step feeling like there is concrete weighing me down. When I am in front of the door, I take a deep breath then yank it open, coming face to face with him. The sight of him makes my chest burn with rage.

He walks past me into my apartment. I slam the door shut causing the paintings on the wall to shift and turn to face him.

“What do you want?” I ask coldly, not even recognizing my own voice.

He looks at me with desperate eyes. “I want to talk to you. I want to ask for forgiveness.”

I nod. “Go ahead.”

He pauses, surprised at me actually giving him a chance. “Joyce, I’m so fucking sorry. I should have told you.” Yes, he should have told me. But he made his choice and I’m entitled to mine.

I stare blankly at him. “Okay.”

His eyebrows furrow. “Okay? Do you forgive me?”

“No. I don’t. You can leave.”

He takes a step towards me. “Baby—”

I raise a hand, stopping him in his tracks. “I have three degrees, you know. Three. And you still somehow played me for a fool. You smiled and laughed with me. Held me while I cried over my trauma from work and the emptiness of never having a family. But, you said nothing. Nothing that whole time.”

“Joyce—”

“You want to know what I’ve concluded, Aiden?”

He hesitates. “What?”

“That you never truly cared about me. Not in the way that matters.” I shake my head. “This was temporary for you.”

“That’s not true. I—”

I shake my head. “I don’t care what you have to say. Get out.” I try to walk past him, but he gently grabs my arm. I do a quick maneuver to twist my arm from his grasp.

Stepping out of his reach, I point a finger at him. “That’s the last time you ever touch me. Get out.”

“Joy—” he tries reaching out to me again. I take a step away back from him, his hands losing contact with me. I wipe the tears from my face that I didn’t realize were falling.

“Get the fuck out,” I whisper harshly.

He lets out a breath, and says, “Okay, but I’ll be back tomorrow.”

“Don’t bother. You and I are done. I’m your lawyer, and that’s it. Once this is all done, I’ll be glad to never see you again.” I didn’t mean that at all. I won’t be glad to never see him again. I’ll be in pieces. I didn’t realize the depth of what I felt for him until this moment.

“Can we—"

I cut him off. “No.” I point to the door and hiss, “Out.”

He looks at me for another second, then nods. “We will talk when you’ve calmed down a little bit.”

I cross my arms. “I’ll be calm when I never have to see you again.” Pain flashes across his face and for a moment I regret saying it. Only for a moment though because reminders of what he kept from me instantly floods my mind again.

He looks at me one more time then walks out. As soon as I hear the click from the door, I drop to the floor and start sobbing into my hands. Not even a minute goes by before there’s another knock at the door. Softer this time.

“Joy Joy. It’s me, Yirah. Open the door.”

“It’s open,” I call out weakly. The door opens and Yirah walks in. She lowers herself to the ground in front of me and wraps me into her arms.

“My sweet friend. I heard what happened,” she whispers.