"Why are you like this?!" she demanded, her fists pounding against his chest. "You said you don’t love me, yet you don’t want me to be with another man. You hate the idea of me marrying someone else, and you can’t stand it when I look at another man intimately. Why is that, Xander?! Exin it to me!"


    Her voice cracked as she hit him again, tears burning in her eyes. "Am I just some puppet you think you can control whenever it suits you? I’m a human being too, Xander. I have feelings. Please, spare me!"


    Tears pooled in Samantha’s eyes but she didn’t want them to fall, especially not in front of the man before her.


    "The day I confessed my feelings for you, you treated me like I was some piece of trash—like I wasn’t worth loving!" She yelled, her voice trembling with rage and pain. "After Arabe died, I gave everything I had to make you happy again. But I lost myself in the process. I lost my happiness because I spent every ounce of my energy trying to bring youfort."


    She hit him again, her hands trembling, but she didn’t care if he was in pain. She was hurting too—she’d been hurting for far too long. "And what did I get in return? You treated me like a toy. Why? Is that all I am to you? Is that all I’ve ever been? Some loyal dog to follow you around, wagging its tail because youmanded it?"


    Her voice cracked as the raw truth spilled out of her. "You took me for granted, and I let you. I let you treat me however you wanted, even when you were wrong. I still stood by you, defended you, supported you! But did you ever, even once, stop to ask if I was happy? Did you ever care? I followed you everywhere, and not for a moment did you think to wonder if I was happy following someone like you!"


    Her chest heaved as the storm of emotions consumed her, her tears flowing freely now. She had been holding this in for too long, and it was tearing her apart.


    Even though Samantha didn’t n for it to happen, tears poured out of her eyes uncontrobly, but she didn’t stop hitting Xander’s chest until he couldn’t take it anymore.


    He grabbed her arms and yanked them away from him, stumbling from the effect.


    "I never asked you to do any of that!" He yelled. "You did all of that out of your own ord, I never requested you to be by my side. I was happy on my own and you just popped out of nowhere, interrupting my peace whenever I wanted to be alone."


    Samantha stared at him with a shocked expression, unable to believe what he was spewing.


    Unable to hold it anymore, she reached out, smacking him across the face. She didn’t care if that would reset his factory or not, but she’d long been craving to do that.


    Xander was stunned when he felt his cheeks sting. This was the first time Samantha had ever raised his hands to hit him before.


    "That’s because you didn’t have to. I loved you, that’s why I did all of that, but what did I get in return?" Samantha slummed on the ground as she covered her face, tearing up.


    It had been over a decade since she’d confessed her feelings for Xander, over a decade she’d been following him like a puppy without caring about her future.


    This was the first time she’d ever expressed how she felt, now her shoulders felt light. So light she felt like she was floating.


    Xander stared at her without saying anything. Samantha stood up and red at him with so much hatred towards him he’d never seen in her eyes.


    "Even though what you do for a living was wrong, I still stood by you, and supported you but that’s enough because you know what?" She questioned, hitting him on the chest once more. "I have self-respect—"


    Samantha didn’t get the chance to finish her sentence when she suddenly felt herself being pulled in by Xander, and the next thing she felt was his cold lips crushed against hers.


    His movements had been so fast she hadn’t seen iting at all.


    Xander captured Samathan’s lips into a slow yet desperate kiss, not because he felt he needed to shut her up, but because he was suddenly tempted to taste those lips.


    However, she was too stiff.


    Samantha pushed herself from Xander, and the next thing thetter felt was another sharp pain on his cheeks. Samantha had pped him once again.