<h4>Chapter 161: The Decision</h4>


    Hailee’s POV


    "You always do this," he said, his voice low but shaking with anger. "You pull me close, then push me away. Ten years, Hailee. Ten years I’ve waited, and you still won’t let me have even a piece of you."


    I swallowed hard, my back pressing against the counter. "Frederick, I—I didn’t mean—"


    "You didn’t mean?" he snapped, his eyes shing. "Then what did you mean? You kiss me, you let me touch you, you look at me like I’m the only one here—and then you say stop."


    His voice cracked, anger and hurt tangled together. "Do you enjoy this? Do you enjoy making me want you, then tearing it away?"


    My lips parted, but no words came.


    He dragged a hand through his hair, pacing a step before spinning back to me, his jaw tight. "I’m not your toy, Hailee. I’ve given you everything. I’ve protected you. Raised your boys. Stayed at your side when no one else would. And still—it’s not enough for you."


    My lips parted, but I didn’t know what to say. The words tangled in my throat, heavy as stones.


    "Frederick..." My voice came out small, broken. "It’s not like that."


    Hisugh was bitter, sharp, nothing like the calm voice he usually carried. "Then what is it like? Tell me, Hailee. Because from where I stand, it looks like I’ll never be enough for you. No matter what I do."


    I shook my head quickly, tears blurring my vision. "You are enough, Frederick. More than enough. You’ve done everything for me—for us. But I can’t just... I can’t force my heart."


    His eyes narrowed, pain shing across his face before it hardened again. "Your heart." He spat the words like they were poison. "Always them, isn’t it? Nathan. Callum. Dane. Even after all these years, you still give your heart to them."


    My chest ached, my breath catching. "I still love them," I whispered, the words cutting me open even as I said them. "I wish I didn’t. I wish I could give you what you deserve. But my heart—it’s still theirs. And I don’t know how to change that."


    His hands clenched at his sides, his shoulders stiff. For a moment, silence filled the kitchen, heavy and suffocating. Then his voice came, low and trembling. "So what am I to you, Hailee? A shadow? A safety? Someone to keep you warm while you dream of other men?"


    I flinched, shame burning through me. "No," I said quickly, my voice breaking. "Never that. You’re my friend. My protector. The father my sons never had. Without you, I wouldn’t have survived. I owe you everything."


    His jaw tightened, his eyes glistening with a fury he was too proud to let fall into tears. "But not your love."


    Tears slid down my cheeks as I didn’t know what to say. I wished I could love him... if there was a way to do it, I would. But the truth remained the same... I can’t stop loving those men. My eyes held that of a pained Frederick, whose eyes were glistening with tears... for the first time in ten years, this was the first time I was seeing Frederick this vulnerable, and it shattered me to realize he was in this state because of me.


    Swallowing hard, I tried taking a step closer to him, but he held his hand at me, and his pain now reced with anger. "Just stay away from me."


    With that, he turned around and stormed out of the kitchen. Where I stood, I copsed to the floor, pulled my knees against my chest, and wept. The tears wouldn’t stop. They poured hot and endless down my face, choking me, burning my throat. I pressed my forehead against my knees and let it all out, ugly, loud sobs that shook through me.


    Why was I crying? Was it for him? For me? For the boys? For the life I had ruined beyond repair? I didn’t even know anymore.


    All I knew was that I had hurt Frederick. The one person who never once turned away from me. And now, I had pushed him to a ce I’d never seen him go. A ce of anger. A ce where he wanted distance from me.


    And it killed me.


    I wished I could love him. I wished I could just hand him my heart like he deserved. But no matter how much I tried to bury it, my heart still belonged to them.


    I wiped at my cheeks, but more tears came. My chest ached, my head throbbed, and still I stayed there on the floor, rocking gently, whispering into the empty kitchen.


    "I’m sorry, Frederick... I’m so sorry."


    For more than an hour, I stayed there on the kitchen floor, drowning in my own tears until finally my body felt too heavy to cry anymore. My chest ached, my throat was raw, and my eyes burned. I pushed myself up slowly, using the counter for support, my legs weak beneath me.


    The hallway was silent as I walked back toward the boys’ room. Their soft breathing reached me before I even opened the door. Just the sound of it loosened something in me, reminding me of the only reason I still had the strength to keep moving.


    I stood there for a long while, my hand resting on the frame, watching them sleep. And then the thought came—the one I had been running from for years. If I stayed here, I’d only keep hurting him. I’d keep pulling him close, then shoving him away. I’d keep making promises I couldn’t keep. I’d keep giving him hope, only to crush it again.


    He deserved better than that. He deserved peace. A chance to heal. A chance to love someone who could actually love him back.


    And the only way that could happen... was if I left.


    I pressed my hand against my mouth, fighting back the sob threatening to escape again. But this time, the tears weren’t only for me. They were for him too. For the man who gave me everything and would never have my heart in return.


    "It’s time," I whispered to myself, my voice breaking in the dark. "It’s time to leave."


    The decision sat heavy in my chest, but it was the only mercy I had left to give him. If I stayed, I’d destroy him. If I left, maybe—just maybe—he could finally be free of me.