I interrupted him, my tone cutting, “Alvin, you’ve hardly kissed me, haven’t you2”


    His face twisted with a mix of rage and embarrassment.


    We’d been in a rtionship for over three years, but apart from holding hands and the asional hug, there was almost no real physical affection between us. Even the rare kisses were just pecks-on my hand, my cheek, my forehead—and when our lips did touch, it was only a brush, as light as a butterfly’s kiss.


    That reality seemed to hit Alvin hard. He went quiet, his anger building, Finally, he let me go, running a hand through his hair in frustration. “Fine, yeah, I’m a bastard. I kived her in a moment of weakness, but it didn’t mean anything”


    Does sleeping with her make it mean something?” I shot back, my voiceced with sarcasm.


    Alvin seemed to snap then. “Is that what you think of me? That I’m some kind of filthy animal? If I were that kind of guy. I’d have already slept with you. Wouldn’t we be here talking right now if I had?”


    I paused for a second, caught off guard, but then Iughed.


    He thought that if he’d slept with me, I wouldn’t be making such a fuss? What was he thinking? That it was some ancient rule that once a woman slept with a man, she couldn’t object?


    I didn’t engage with that, instead cutting him to the quick. “But you’re not interested in me, are you? You didn’t sleep with me, did you?


    And just like that, his words became my weapon.


    Alvin’s eyes narrowed, his voice cold. “Zoe, you’re saying there’s no going back, right?”


    “We’re already separated. It’s you who keeps clinging to the past, forcing me to bring it up again,” I reminded him.


    “Separated? Alvin scoffed, “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to. You broke up with me to be with Josh. You two were already seeing each other in Tideport, weren’t you?


    I wasn’t surprised he knew about Tideport. His mother had mentioned it before, but I didn’t expect him to jump to such conclusions about Josh and me.


    “If you want to think that way, go ahead. But just so you know, Josh and I got together after we broke up, not like you, sneaking around with someone else’s wife while he was still alive,” I said, my words sharper than ever.


    Alvin’s face twisted in anger, but I could tell he was rattled by my usation about Thea.


    Maybe guilt was eating at him, or maybe something else.


    “So now you’re defending Josh, trying to keep him here so you can have a private little love affair under the guise of work, right? Alvin used, his tone venomous,


    1 didn’t even hesitate. “Mr. Dolton says what goes, right?”


    Alvin’s face turned beet-red, and he jabbed a finger at me. “Zoe, I’ll make sure he’s gone, make him disappear from the industry. Do you believe me?


    “Yeah, I believe you,” I said, looking him dead in the eye. “If he goes, I go. If he disappears, I’ll disappear too.”


    Alvin’s hand shook with fury as he pointed at me, but I wasn’t done yet.


    “Alvin, you’re the one who betrayed me. You’re the one who turned everything into a mess. Now I’m trying to let you go, and you keep dragging me back in. Don’t you think you look pathetic?”


    “I’m trying to save you from making a mistake!” he shot back, his voice cracking. “You have no idea how deceitful men can


    be


    “No need to imagine it. You’ve already shown me,” I retorted, and his fingers clenched around his cor.


    I could see the shock in his eyes, like he’d never expected me to view him this way.


    I took a deep breath, cutting through the tension. “Alvin, I’m telling you clearly-if Josh goes, I go. If you want to move him, I’ll follow. I’ll make it crystal clear for you.”


    I turned away without looking back, but I could feel Alvin’s presence behind me, deted. I didn’t see the look in his eyes- the one that seemed to say he had lost everything.