OLIVIA


    I thought my husband would be offended and wouldn’t want to ept the gift from my father. I thought that his pride as man would be bruised, but that was far from the truth, Marcus surprised me and epted. I offered him a warm smile; it seemed as if we were bing more like a real family.


    However, I didn’t understand Nick’s behaviour. Why was he opposed to my father giving me a gift, what was that any of his business? The man had no right to interfere in my affairs, but he inserted himself and was now in the middle of it.


    I nced over at him, and he looked sad. “Nick, can I have word with you?” being alone with him made me ufortable however, the issue with him needed to be addressed. Things could not continue the way they had been. That was my home, and he was the fact of my child. We could not afford to be at odds with each other.


    He followed me to the salon, I took a seat and looked out at the city. For the first time in months, I found myself breathing freely. “You know, I remember the time when I looked forward to seeing you, to having dinner with you at the end of the day, to start our own family.” I nced at him with a smile on my face.


    Things between us weren’t all bad. “We had good times Nick, and I still remember those times. However, they remain a part of my past. I wouldn’t change anything about what happened between us, my time with you gave me our son and I wouldn’t change that for the world.”


    “Olivia…” my name came out as a whisper; I offered him a smile waving him off. “Even after we divorced, you still looked out for me, and I appreciate that. but I it’s time you moved on. There is no longer Olivia and Nick Jone anymore.”


    I paused letting my words hang in the air. “Our chapter ended a long time ago, it’s time for you to let go now, Nick. You and I will never go back to what we were. It’s time for a new chapter in your life as well.” I stood and went to stand by the rail then turned to look at him.


    He looked hurt by my words, I didn’t know what he was expecting, we had been divorced for a couple of years now and I got married again. Did he think there was still a chance of us getting back together?


    The man was delusional, truly. “I want us to set some rules to make things easy for us, you, Samuel and I.” he looked up at me, eyes blood shot red, pain written all over his face. It was as if we were only breaking up then.


    “I need you to call in advance when youing to visit Samuel. Even then, I don’t want you staying in my house during your visit. I want you to take him, go somewhere with him then bring him back home. You are only allowed toe into my home and stay for a couple of hours when my husband invites you for whatever. However, even then, I don’t want you staying longer than you should.”


    The man looked so broken that I even felt as if I was being too harsh on him. but I believed I was doing what needed to be done. Moreover, I felt that if I wasn’t honest with him, then he was never going to move on. That he was going to keep having hope that something might happen between us if we stayed single.


    That was not what I wanted, I didn’t want options as I was content with my husband. “Olivia…” the sadness in his voice when he called my name. he looked as if tears would fall at any moment. “I forgive you, Nick. I am not longer angry and resentful. Now, my only wish is for you to be happy as well. Our marriage was not meant to be and that is alright. It’s life and we must ept the things we cannot change.”


    He stood. “But we can change this, if you want it, we can be together again, a family as it should be. just yes, my heart and we will make it happen.” He extended his hand to me. “All you have to do is take my hand and we can make it happen.” I felt sorry for him.


    “If you had offered me your hand back then when I needed you to believe me as my husband, I wo


    have been


    thrilled and remained by your side for the rest of my life. but that time has passed. You missed your moment back then. We can’t go back now. am sorry.”


    His arm fell on his side as if it lost all strength. I used to love that man<b>, </b>he once meant the world to me and I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him, grow old with him. However, life and fate had other ns for us.


    “Nick, some people don’te into our lives to stay, they onlye to teach us lessons then move on. We are meant to learn from those lessons as they will help us to navigate our lives going forward. I hope you <b>can </b>learn whatever lesson our marriage has taught you and move on


    I could not stay any longer, the look on his face was too sad to look at. I walked away but just as I got back into the room. I saw my husband standing there. He looked worried. “Am fine.” He nodded taking my hand.


    A minuteter, Nick appeared. He didn’t say a word to anyone. He took his jacket and left. “Ethan, go after him, make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid. He still has a son who needs him.” Ethan stood and followed.


    Luke sighed. “I do believe that boy never stopped loving you, even when he sent you to jail, I believe in that twisted mind of his, he believed he was doing the right thing.”


    “Which side are you on, Luke?” Marcus asked looking offended. “I don’t mean anything by it, Marcus, don’t take offense, I am just saying that sometimes we do things thinking they are in the best interest of those we love. We don’t know we are hurting them in the process. Look at what I did when I tried to get Olivia away from Nick? I almost got her killed just like I did with her mother. Of course, I never meant for her to get hurt but it happened.”


    That he did, the car ident and everything else with Sandra’s sister. I sighed; I didn’t see what part of what he did looked like he was protecting me in his eyes. “Make sure Nick, knows his boundaries. I want us to remain civil with each other as Samuel’s father. But if I must cut him off our lives for good, then I will.<b>” </b>