Always Been You

~Dante’s POV~

Whoever said, “When you love someone, you have to be willing to let them go,” was most certainly making fun of me. I did let her go to her boyfriend, or whatever the fuck she calls him. I just fucking let the love of my life go. The events of today reaffirmed the fact that Lola is the most important thing in my life. I seriously doubt that she will ever go through anything remotely comparable to what we did today with that dickhead. Why does he have to show up everywhere? Who told him Lola and I was here? I am confident that she will come back. It hurts that she chose him after what we’ve just shared. I am not going to fight for Lola; she knows where her home is. Her home is with me and our kids. If she wants to try a new dick, she can go ahead and do just that, but in the end, she will come back home to us. I went to bed with a smile, knowing that she would eventually come back; it was just a matter of time.

The following morning, I got up bright and early and headed to my personal jet without bothering to give Lola a call. The plane was flying back to New York City. My children were already asleep when I got home, so I didn’t wake them up. I blew each of them a kiss before retiring to my bedroom for the night. But how can I sleep? How can one pretend that they are okay when they are actually dying on the inside? Pain is all I feel-not the physical kind, but the emotional kind. The heart-wrecking, soul-destroying, and ego-destroying kind of pain.

Lola hurt my ego so much in front of another man, and right now, I feel like my heart is about to explode. I feel like I’m going to burst! Just when I thought we were making progress, this happened. Not having her around is a void in my heart that cannot be fixed; the only solution is that she comes back home. I have been many things, but I have never experienced a heart-wrenching pain like this before. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that she would end up choosing someone else over me. Why does it have to hurt so much? Will I ever be okay emotionally after this? This is like a hole that burns deep into your heart; a hole that makes you think there is no way in the world that you will ever be okay again.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

Just when I thought things couldn’t get any better, another man came along and stole my wife away from me, and I did nothing to stop it. Did I make the right choice? Are men not supposed to fight for their families? But I fucking stood there and did nothing but willingly offer her to her boyfriend. Not even the damn sleep is coming. I can only make out shades of red and darkness when I close my eyes. I have a lot of ideas on how to end that guy, but that would make Lola hate me. Half my soul is missing, and I will never be able to fill in the empty space. I went to my study and poured myself some scotch as I thought of different murderous methods I should use to end that fucking bastard, but then I realized that hurting that motherfucker meant hurting the love of my life. It hurts me that I believed the foolish proverb that says, “If you love her, you will let her go, and if she comes back, it means that she’s yours.” I let someone I loved go because I believed that saying. What if she doesn’t come back?

I down the rest of my scotch in one gulp because I don’t want anything to detract from the optimistic attitude toward my wife that I’m working so hard to maintain. The fucking heartache is unbearable. I know I’ve been hard on her for keeping the kids away from me, but I thought we had passed that chapter. I heaved a sigh and walked into my bedroom to get some sleep.

As I become gradually aware of the sound of my alarm, my eyelids begin to flutter open. I let out a muffled groan just prior to turning the damn thing off. I heaved a sigh, got out of bed, and looked at the clock that was hanging on the wall. It was 7:30 in the morning. I can, for the first time in history, make breakfast for my kids. Since their mother won’t be here, at least for now, I can bribe them with my cooking. I quickly exited the room and made my way toward the kitchen.

“Good morning, Mr. Monroe.” One of my helpers greeted me. I am such a bad boss at home that I don’t know most of my workers. So all I did was nod and go on with my business.

“Please skip breakfast for today; I will prepare it.” The look on her face conveyed surprise. Noodles are the only thing that they have ever seen me prepare, and that was over six years ago when Lola was still here, so this comes as a bit of a shock to them. Since she left, I’ve hated preparing it myself and have preferred to just buy and eat whatever nonsense people make. I looked around, not knowing what to prepare.

“Mia! Kai! Tyler! Come on, we are going to be late.” I didn’t fail to notice the bewilderment on either of their faces. I have never before taken either of them to a school.

I will never get used to the angelic quality of Mia’s voice when she says, “Morning, Daddy.”

“Morning, my princess, cereal to toast?” I decided to take advantage of the situation and ask,

She smiled at me and gave me a kiss while saying, “Toast, Daddy.”

“What are you guys going to have?”

“Cereal sounds good,” Tyler said, and Kai nodded. I made breakfast for them, and we sat down and started eating, then I dropped them off at their school. I went to work after seeing them off at their destination. As soon as I got to my office, I started going through some files. My office door was flung open as I was working on some of the files on my desk. Standing there was the only woman who could make me bow down and beg her to come back home, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to do that. She accentuated the curves of her breasts with a shirt that was high-waisted and a skirt that was worn at a high waist.

“Morning, Mr. Monroe. I would like for you to sign these documents.” I leaned back in my chair and took her all in. I am keeping my fingers crossed that they are not the divorce papers because there is no way that I will ever divorce my wife. After extending my hand to her and taking the file from her without uttering a word, I immediately began examining the contents of the file. It was the final agreement of the contract with the Suzuki family. I opened the drawer, took out a pen, signed the document, and then handed it back to her. After that, I closed the drawer.

“Is there anything else you would like me to assist you with today, Mrs. Monroe?”

“No, sir, that would be all for today?” That was her response.

“You are excused.” She nodded and walked away.

This is going to be fun. I forgot that, for her to secure the contract, she had to come back to work. I am going to be wooing Mrs. Monroe. I will remind this woman of the things she’s missing.

This is going to be a jolly good time. I let out a slow breath as I leaned back in my chair and grinned wickedly at the potentially disastrous plans for an office romance that I had in store for my devoted wife.