*Ezra POV*

Although I was on my way back to Texas, I didn't feel like going back at all. That night memories were still hurting. I was sleep-deprived, had dark circles around my eyes but above all I was in pain. My heart was bleeding, I cried so much that all my tears have dried up. Nothing excited me anymore. Not even marriages. I insisted Mrs. Mills let me handle the marriage in New Orleans to run away from everything for time being. The entire week I felt suffocated and restless. I just wanted to finish my work and leave.

Well, my outside appearance looked fine by applying some concealers but the inside is completely exhausted. My body could shut down any moment but I could not sleep. My eyes were burning and had turned red due to lack of sleep but it seemed like even my sleep had broken up with me. So, I just kept my eyes shut pretending to sleep the entire flight. I just wanted to rest and forget everything.

____~•~____

The flight landed early in the morning. It was still dark when I collected my bag and went out of the airport to look for a cab. Tay offered to come to pick me up but I didn't want to bother her at such an odd hour. I was walking while blankly dreaming that I didn't even realize where I was heading until I saw him. His presence brought me comfort and pain. I didn't want to face him so fast, not when I wasn't stable, both mentally and physically. I quickly turned the other way but he caught up with me, "Where do you think you're going?" I ignored his question and just kept walking but he again came in the front and blocked me. "Please Ez come with me. We need to talk."

Talk? Really? After breaking my heart, he wanted to talk? "There's nothing to talk about. We are over." I tried to walk away but he held my wrist and tossed me over his shoulders while dragging my luggage with his other hand. I kept hitting him on his back and screamed for help but all my pleas and cries fell into deaf ears. I even tried to outsmart him when he put me down but he caught me on time and locked me inside his car. After putting my luggage in the backseat he sat in the car and drove off. "Why are you doing this Mike? At least be loyal to your love." How much I wished to be his love, but he made it pretty clear that I meant nothing to him.

"That's exactly what I am doing, my love." He said looking at me with so much passion and warmth that for a moment I forgot about everything. He wiped my tears which were flowing down my face. "Don't touch me." I shoved his hand away. As much as I wanted his warm touch to calm me down, I could not forget the betrayal.

"Please don't cry, Ez. My heart aches to see you like this. I just wanted to talk."

I sat there stupefied. His heartaches? What about my heart which broke into pieces when I saw him kissing Kiara that night? Instantly I felt like the scene from that night was replaying in front of my eyes.

I had gone to confess my love to him but thank god I saved myself from looking like a fool by doing that. That night I drove rashly and broke several signals. I was crying. I was angry. I was a complete mess but still made it to Taysha's house in one piece. I rang the doorbell and hugged her tightly when she opened the door. "Hey shhh... what happened? Why are you crying?"

I was a crying mess. "I sa..saw Michael ki..kiss..kissing a girl." She broke our hug and took me to the couch. She made me sit and brought water for me. I drank a little and kept the glass on the table. She asked me to breathe long and tried calming me down. She cooed soothing words to me but nothing worked. I started doubting myself. "There might be some fault in me that's why I was cheated on by my boyfriends. What do I lack that they go to other women? Am I not good enough?"

"Stop right there Ez. Never doubt yourself. You are a strong and independent woman. In fact, they don't deserve your love."

"Love? Am I still looking for it? No. It has only caused me pain. Maybe I don't have any luck with love."

"Don't say that. You will find your true love. Just don't shut yourself up. "

"I found my true love, Michael. I know it because he made me feel the emotions that others could not. He was it for me, Tay. But I guess it was only one-sided. Maybe I was just a time-being distraction for him. He has hurt me beyond repair. What do I do Tay? I have fallen hopelessly in love with him. I just want to run far away from this place." I couldn't come to terms with what happened just in a few hours. I prayed that I am just seeing a bad dream and it would all be erased when I wake up. But it was a dream seen with open eyes. The scene was just inked in my memory for the rest of my life. I was already missing being in Michael's arms. I was exhausted after crying for hours. I just wanted to sleep but I couldn't. I wanted my cuddles but no more.

I was brought out of my trance by a gentle tap on my shoulder. Michael has already parked and opened the car door for me. I came out and was mesmerized by the view. A beautiful sunrise by the lake and the house on the other side. The last time when Michael brought me here there was no house. It was made of glass. Everything was beautiful but it could not throw away the gloominess I was feeling. "Why have you brought me here? I thought you were taking me home?"

"This is home, Ez. Our home. Let's go", he said pointing to the house on the other side of the lake and dragged me towards the small wooden bridge.

I was way too tired and not in the mood for jokes. Our home? I tried to take my hands out of his grip but he only tightened it more. "Just come inside and have a talk. Then I will drop you wherever you would like to go." What was the use of futile protests now Ezra? Who told you to zone out in the car? This place is in the outskirts and there's no guarantee that you would get any cab to go back to the town so early. So, I just followed him inside.

If the exterior was beautiful then I didn't know how to describe the interior. The openness of this beautiful glass house reflected the beautiful landscape and natural beauty all around. The large lake on one side of the house was another breathtaking view you get from throughout the home. Michael took me upstairs where there were bedrooms, while downstairs was the main sitting areas and living space. We walked to the last room where I stood stunned at the door. There was a big photo frame of us from the adventure trip on the wall above the bed. He pulled me inside when he saw me standing at the door. "And this is our room, Ez."

Now that I was looking at everything closely I realized that it looked similar to the design I gave to Michael a few months back for his new hotel. The color combination, even the furniture was all same. At that time he laughed at my amateur work but he turned it into this beautiful room with little upgradation. "What is all this Michael? Why are you doing this?"

"Because you talked about it with so much enthusiasm that I didn't feel like throwing your design. I gave it to an interior designer who refined your work and here it is."

I just glared at him. What does he take me for? He thinks that he could have a relationship with me and go on fucking other girls behind my back. "Not this. You wanted to talk so let's talk. I saw you kissing Kiara outside the club that night."

"Little correction Ez, she kissed me." I was annoyed. He definitely takes me for a fool. She kissed him or he kissed her, doesn't matter. The fact was they kissed or maybe spent a night together after I left because he never called me back. Seeing my expression, he went on explaining what happened that night. "Kiara is my ex-girlfriend. "

My heart softened a little after hearing that. He had told me about his ex. They were high-school sweethearts. They even went to the same university. He had some tiff with his family so he didn't take any financial help for his studies. He joined a local strip club to support himself. The paycheck was good and everything was going well. He really loved her and wanted to propose to her on the day of their graduation. But on that day he found his best friend Cade and her boning each other in his apartment which he used to share with him. It turned out they have been fucking each other every night when he was out there stripping in the clubs at night. When he confronted them she turned everything on him saying that he also fucked those whores in the club. But he never had sex with them, he just stripped for them. She knew that. He never hid anything from her. Even she and his friends who knew about his part-time job came to that club to see him perform. They enjoyed watching him and she loved the attention. She was proud that when all the eyes were on him he had his eyes only for her. He truly loved her but she broke his heart. They parted ways on a bitter note. He continued working as a stripper and then opened his own club with his friends Mark and Stella.

"She came to the club a few times asking me to get back together. Apparently my once upon a time best friend Cade cheated on her for some mediocre model. It hurt her ego. She left me to be with him because he was rich. Eventually, she got the taste of her own medicine. A few months back she got to know about us and me owning the club. From that time she was pestering me to get back together. She is a charmer and tried to ignite the feelings I once had for her. I won't lie, I did have one night stand with her but that was before we got into a relationship. After that never. That night also she came with the same intention. She was pissed that I left the stripper job for you. She forcefully kissed me and tried to have her way with me when I turned down her offer. That's when you might have seen us and assumed the worst. Trust me Ez since we started dating I didn't have sex with any other women. I made love only with you. Because I LOVE YOU."

That caught me off guard. He loves me too. I was overwhelmed with various emotions. I felt like crying for my stupidity and the pain I caused us. He went near the bed and took out a box from the bedside table. He came before me and opened the box. The tears I was holding before flowed down. There it was the infinity bracelet I designed for him as a remembrance of my confession. But there was also a heart-shaped pendant with a similar infinity in the middle with our initials carved on it. He wiped my tears, took out the pendant, and walked behind me. He brushed my hair aside and put it around my neck. He kissed my temple. "Because I already know your answer. " I couldn't stop the dash of red that appeared on my cheeks. Next, he pushed the box in front of me. "Please."

I took out the bracelet and turned around to face him. He put his right hand forward. I blushed and put it around his wrist. "I love you too Mike. "

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