Acceptance - Chapter 1

“You cannot force me to have a conversation, Ayden. Get out of my way.” Irene turned the handle of her bicycle but Ayden jumped in front of it the way he did for the last couple of times.

“I am not forcing, Irene. I am urging.” He held his hands up in the air, taking a step closer to her. “Please?” His voice softened, so did the expression in his eyes.

Momentarily shutting her eyes, she turned around her bicycle, to make a quick escape from him. She had just pressed her right foot on the pedal when his high pitched apology stilled her on her place.

“I am sorry.”

Though she didn’t turn back at him, she could feel him advancing towards her. Perhaps, he stood just two steps distant.

“I am sorry, Irene.”

She heard him again and that was when she got off her bicycle, put it on the stand and moved to face him. “What are you sorry for, Ayden? Tell me, what are you sorry for?”

The woman was terrifically mad at him. Damn you, Ayden Webley. Why did you even let it happen? Her eyes were so intimidating at that moment that no words could come out from his side for several seconds.

Folding her arms across her chest, she stared at him with those eyes holding tremendous pain in them that made him feel so guilty that he couldn’t keep looking at her. He had to shut them to take a moment to pull himself together.

“We are over.”

He heard her saying what he was most afraid of hearing. She was breaking up with him and well, why not? He deserved it, he felt.

“Out of everything, Ayden – out of everything – this was the most hurtful thing that you could do to me. You set up a guy to woo me to see if I’ll betray you for him or not? You… you made him act that ultra-rich way, didn’t you? You think so low of me, Ayden? So low? Three years. We have been together for three freaking years and yet?” Irene’s eyes began welling up with tears but she held them back with great difficulty.

“Irene, no,” Ayden’s voice was barely audible. His palms covered his face. He was guilty of doing what he did. He should have never agreed to Ash in the first place. Ash… Ashton Garrick was his best friend. Ash had been pestering him from quite a while to spy on his girlfriend, Irene reasoning that she could cheat on him. Wuxiaworld for visiting.

“Irene, Irene, I am sorry,” he held her hands, apologizing earnestly. “I am sorry. I know I have been a jerk in doing what I did. I accept it. I was insecure. You are,” his palm caressed her cheek, “so beautiful. You always were and I… an ugly overweight creature.” His gaze dropped to the ground. “I thought -”

“And you thought that would make me give in to other guys who would hit on me? Really, Ayden? Three years… such a long time. Had I had to do that, I would have done that long ago. It breaks my heart to hear you say this.” Irene pulled her hands from him as she turned around, wiping the tears that escaped her eyes.

“I’ve always told you that I have looked at you the way I haven’t, at anyone. I’ve told you that I find these chubby cheeks cuter than a baby. More than anything else – I have always told you how much I love you. I have, haven’t I? Haven’t I, Ayden?” She no longer cared about her wet cheeks. She let the tears flow without making an attempt to hold them back or wipe them. She turned herself to him, exposing her broken and vulnerable self to him.

His heart went heavier watching tears trickling down her cheeks.

“I am sorry,” he mumbled another apology, not knowing what else he could say for what he had done had no forgiveness, not in his dictionary at least but still a part of him wanted to seek her forgiveness for hurting her had unsettled him. Every second seemed suffocating to him and every breath, difficult.

“That’s it, Ayden? That’s it? You think you can get away with this sorry? No, you can’t, Mr. Ayden Webley. You cannot.” Stepping towards him, her both palms landed on his chest, giving him a push.

Her raging soul wasn’t going to calm down. Not anytime soon definitely.

“Are you hearing me? You cannot.” Balling her hands in fists, they began hitting him. The anger, pain, and anguish built inside her that she had been suppressing were resulting in a heart-wrenching breakdown.

A flood of tears gushed down her cheeks and it broke something within him.

She grabbed the hold of her bicycle to support her trembling legs. Her entire body was shaking as she couldn’t stop crying.

There had been quite a lot of ups and downs in their relationship of three years but that day, Ayden had completely broken Irene and he knew that he did. He had never seen her as shattered as he did, that night. She was torn apart and he was the one who did that to her and that made him feel awful.

He couldn’t even collect proper words to form any justification. His act anyway had no justification, he believed. He took a step towards her and his hand rose to hold her arm but it stayed in the air for a couple of moments before he pulled it to himself.

He hadn’t thought that the situation would go that out of control. Ashton had assured him that he would take care of everything but he wouldn’t blame Ashton either for it was his mistake. He was at fault. No matter what anyone said, he should have never agreed to do something that he knew would hurt his girlfriend to the extent where it would put their relationship at the stake. He had made a choice and he would have to face its repercussions.

“I am sorry,” was all that he could whisper.