Marlin laughed looking so confident. “Oh no it doesn’t, Seth. Do you believe that your love is enough to protect her from the ones that I have raised? She will soon find out that no matter how broken it gets there’s always one person holding it all together and that will be me. ”Beads of sweat, forming on Seth’s brow, his hands were fisted at his sides, staring at marlin.“You’re crazy Marlin! Phoebe is much stronger than you think she saw right through you! She knows who you are and she will never be fooled by your lies or tricks!”Marlin's sneer widened. “Oh you haven’t won Seth, the game is far from over. While you’ve been focusing on Leo, he was a pawn. And now, you wouldn’t be prepared for the real plan.”Seth clamped down on his jaw hiding the fear that wanted to break through inside of him. “You obviously do not know me, Marlin; I will not allow you to bring down everything for which I work, and am definitely not going to let you take Phoebe.”Marlin laughed quietly, “And there
Phoebe looked intently at him with her eyes filled with tears that threatened to spill over any moment. ”I am so confused,” she said in hushed tones, she now held his hand tightly. "I feel so lost."Aidan moved closer towards her, and proceeded to say: ‘You must learn to stop running, Phoebe, you should stop pushing the people who care for you away’ True, Seth is by no means a saint, but he never stopped loving you and if you go away from him now, then there will be no one left for the rest of your life to bear the blame’.Slowly, the impact of what Aidan said reached Phoebe’s heart, and she cry quietly as she close her eyes. The war inside her heart was still going strong but at this moment she could not argue that Seth still had a part of her soul.“You have to apologize to him, ” Aidan suggested softly. “You should tell him how you feel. Do not let this develop to a halt because of fear. If there is a possibility that both of you can make it work, then you should give it another tr
Phoebe’s tears flowed freely now, each one a reminder of her own failings. “I know,” she admitted, her voice thick with emotion. “I was a coward. I didn’t want to fight them. I didn’t want to upset them. I thought if I just ignored it, it would go away. But it didn’t, Seth. And I see that now. I should have defended you. I should have been stronger.”Seth let out a dry laugh, though there was no humor in it. “Yeah, you should have. I stood by you through everything, every judgment, every insult, every time they tried to push me away. I stood by you, thinking you were worth it. But you never stood by me.”The truth of his words struck Phoebe like a physical blow, and she felt her legs buckle slightly. She caught herself, breathing deeply, trying to steady the overwhelming guilt that surged through her.“I know,” she whispered again, her voice barely audible. “I don’t deserve your forgiveness. I don’t deserve another chance.”Seth’s face softened slightly, though the pain remained. “And
Phoebe emerged outside and really felt the brunt of all that had happened come right on top of her. A cool breeze of wind blew on her face and wiped the emerging tears. She stood there shaking, unable to control herself after hearing the flood of Seth’s words that came to her. He’s picked another woman. Emma. It was over.As she stood right there just thinking of how everything turned out bad, she heard the door to the room open again.‘Wait Phoebe' Seth said so softly, it was barely audible.Phoebe stopped, unable to face him,but could not resist the urge to look back. Finally, she stood still for several minutes before slowly turning around, hugging herself, for the cold. Seth was standing with his hand on the doorframe, his expression a distorted puzzle of all sorts of feelings. Putting a hand through his hair he sighed and said, “I don’t know if I did.” “I wanted to believe that I am not harming anybody… but now that you are going away heartbroken it almost seems… like I hurt you.
Seth looked at her, startled by what she just said. The animosity between them grew and for the first time since the conversation started, Phoebe felt like she was regaining some measure of agency. She had always been passive waiting for Seth to decide for her, to choose for her. But now it was her turn.“I deserve better than to be a second choice for you Seth,” phoebe said with her voice calm even though she was boiling inside. “I deserve a person who doesn’t have to think twice if he or she wants me around.”Seth drew in a breath and stepped back as if she had thrown a punch between them. He opened his mouth to say something but no words were formed in his throat. All of a sudden, Phoebe was able to read the conflict in his face: the guilt, the confusion, the pain. But she knew that this was not only about him any longer.“But Emma might be the safe choice,” Phoebe continued, her tone less aggressive. “But you are not sure about her either You are holding both of us and waiting for
Seth slowly rose from the chair and began to walk around the room as his mind was churning with a whirl of feelings. He had loved Phoebe once, he had loved her with all his heart and soul and mind. But now? He did not know what emotions he had for her at the moment. Was it love, or was it just the lingering of the previous pain that had not been healed yet?The way Emma treated him was far different from the way Phoebe ever did; she had been kind, polite and caring to him. She never looked at him from the angle of how he was raised or the amount of money he had. She loved him with all his shortcomings and imperfections. Spending time with Emma was like starting a new chapter in one’s life, a way of establishing a healthy relationship.But despite all that, Phoebe still had the power over him and this was evident when he went to her house. This was like a man who no matter how hard he tries to progress, he is always pulled back by the past. Worse still, he had no idea how to go about i
A faint smile lit up her face as she completed her birthday schedule.She reluctantly paused for a second and looked at the notepad that lay in her hands. “Should I invite Seth?”She kept asking herself the same questions multiple times. Indeed it was painful as if she reopened an old sore but a part of her wanted him to find her happy, to see that she is in love with another man.“No,”Phoebe said loudly, being quiet all the time. She couldn’t invite Seth. It was time for her and she had to concentrate on her happiness this time. Seth would only bring back memories, she did not want to think about the past and she made up her mind to forget them. Her party would be a celebration of her freedom not a depiction of what had been before. She quickly wrote something else on the notepad She had written to remind herself to call for Sarah and ask her to check on the number of guests.Just then her phone beeped which jolted her off her thoughts. It’s a text from Christian.“Pretty excited to s
The tension rose higher and higher and when Christian tried to grab Phoebe’s hand to bring her to him and kiss her maybe to teach Seth a lesson, Seth was right in front of him, his hand outstretched to stop him. “No,” Seth replied in a very low and dangerous tone. His fingers tightened around Christian’s wrist in a way that was unkind and the two men were nose to nose, glaring at each other. Christian’s lips curled into a sneer. ‘Or what?’ He sneered, the fire of defiance burning in his eyes. Seth stared at Christian with fiery eyes. “Or maybe I will tell you to whom she belongs. ” The room stopped for them, the music and voices of people in the background becoming inaudible as the two men glared at each other. Seth’s fingers dug into Christian’s skin for a second before he let go of his wrist and took a step back but kept staring at him. Phoebe was standing between them this time raising both hand sideways l. ‘Enough!’ she yelled, her voice shaking with rage. ”This is not a ba