He Chose Her, So I Jumped Chapter 07

He Chose Her, So I Jumped Chapter 07

Marceline gritted her teeth, lunged forward, and ripped the rings from his hand.

“Did you hear me? Go online and clear my name right now. Tell everyone Elowen did all of this, or my life will be ruined forever.”

Her words finally dragged Cassian back to the present.

As he stared at the woman before him, she felt like a stranger.

Marceline had always been the woman he idealized, and one small kindness in their youth had stayed with him for decades.

At a single request from her, he had willingly abandoned everything to remain at my side, watching me only so I couldn’t cause trouble for her.

He knew perfectly well that none of it had anything to do with me. I was a victim too.

And still, he had done it.

Because he loved Marceline.

But she had always remained out of reach, shining for everyone but him.

After everything he gave her, she never once turned back to truly see him.

She treated him like a tool and remembered he existed only when she needed something.

Elowen Hartwell had never treated him that way.

I had major depressive disorder. From the moment he took over my treatment, I attempted suicide at least ten times, and every time he brought me back.

He had watched the emptiness slowly leave my eyes until they shone again, filled entirely with him.

He had even considered forgetting Marceline and starting a new life with me.

Then Marceline came to him and stirred up memory after memory from their youth. Once again, his heart tipped toward her.

He had planned to marry me after the scandal faded. He would finally give Elowen Hartwell a home.

But a condition he thought was under control suddenly deteriorated. Even as a clinical

psychologist, he failed to see it before I jumped without hesitation.

The sight still haunted him.

“Cassian Whitmore! Have you forgotten what you promised me?”

“You said you’d keep Elowen under control and stop her from coming after me. So what the hell are you doing now?”

Marceline shook with rage, then flung the matching rings away with all her strength.

They struck the floor and rolled out of sight. For the first time, Cassian turned his anger on her.

“You know why she died. If you hadn’t kept pushing her, how could she have ended up there?”

“The miscarriage and the online harassment were all your doing, weren’t they?”

He had known everything. He had simply chosen to indulge her.

He had stood by as she drove me step by step toward death.

Marceline suddenly laughed.

Her eyes were swollen and bloodshot.

“Do you really think all of this was my fault?”

Scorn filled her voice as she rose and advanced on him, delivering each word like a blade.

“You were the one who lied to her all these years, weren’t you?”

“You knew I was posting those comments online. You pretended not to see it then, so why are you playing the good man now?”

He had known what she was doing. His silence had been permission.

Now that Elowen was dead, he wanted to dump all the blame on Marceline. What gave him the right?

With every sentence she spoke, Cassian’s face lost more color.

By the time she finished, he was white as paper.

His lips trembled as he tried to explain.

But the truth stood before him, and nothing he could say would change it.

He had no idea where Marceline had thrown the rings. He searched the room in a daze but couldn’t

And them.

Marceline was right. All three of them had made my death happen, and none could escape/

responsibility.

His face turned ashen. He lowered his gaze and spoke hoarsely.

“Everything I posted online was the truth. I failed her…”

“I’ll make amends in my own way. You will too.”

“You owe her that.”

With that, he picked up his packed suitcase, walked pass her, and left.

At the front door, he stopped.

A photograph was taped there, the only picture ever taken of the two of us together.

I was beaming at the camera, my face bright with hope for the life ahead.

at forth of lo

Cassian wasn’t even looking at the lens. There wasn’t a trace of love for me in his eyes.

Now that photograph was the only proof our relationship had ever existed.

He carefully tucked it into his pocket. Ignoring Marceline’s heartbroken screams behind him, he

took his suitcase and walked away.