Free Web NovelChapter 117: Familiar Pain
Vivian’s POV
Pigs were flying, it was raining cats and dogs...everything was a complete disaster. In other words, it was over for Vivian Rose.
She was well and truly done with it all.
If someone were to tell her that the world was ending, she doubted she would panic. Instead, she would probably just sit in a chair and watch while everyone else lost their minds. She had lost the ability to care about what happened to her.
That was why she was still on the phone with her ex despite knowing that any interactions with the man would not lead to anything good.
"And just what would you like to talk about, Bryce?"
There was a laugh on the other end.
"Oh come on Viv, you know exactly what I would like to talk about. You are not dumb. Unless of course you are admitting that you are," There it was. They had just started talking again and the man was already eating away at her. Vivian felt like one of those giant fish that was constantly being bullied by sea lions that took every opportunity to nibble away at them. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
"I am not a mind reader, Bryce. So I have no idea what it is that you could be wanting to talk to me about," He chuckled at her like she was being particularly slow.
"I want to talk to you so that I can apologize," He said the words as though he were doing her a favour.
Vivian, realizing that she was still standing by the sink, began walking to the couch, the phone still pressed against her ear. Taking a seat she thought on his words.
What exactly did Bryce mean when he said he wanted to apologize to her?
Did he mean he wanted to say sorry for always talking down to her like she was a lesser being? Did he wish to apologize for all of the cheating that he had done when they had been together? Did he want to apologize for body-shaming her? Would the apology be for all of the times that he had stood her up on dates just so he could go be with someone else.
Would he be apologizing for the many embarrassments that he had subjected her to over the years? If she really thought on it, Vivian knew that the list of things that Bryce would have to apologize to her for would be nearly infinite. But she did not want to think. So she decided to just throw him a bone. freewebnøvel.com
"Whatever it is that you want to apologize for, there is no need. I already forgive you,"
***
’Stop it, please stop. Just end the call, and never talk to him again’...Vivian’s self destructive side decided that the worried voice at the back of her head was just making noise.
"Oh, it’s that easy. Thank goodness, for a moment there I actually thought I would have to get on my knees and beg for forgiveness. Thanks for being so understanding," Bryce laughed like it was a joke, and Vivian, already drained, found her eyes drifting up to the ceiling.
What had she ever seen in this man, and why was she still talking to him? She had just forgiven him for an apology that he had not even given, and he was already sucking the life out of her.
"Listen, I’ve got to go but I’ll talk to you later. Okay," He hung up after that, but in the split second before he did, Vivian heard a woman laughing in the background.
Same old, same old, he had probably been balls deep in the woman the whole time he had been talking to Vivian.
Not even bothered by that at all. She simply let her phone fall onto the couch and continued staring up at the ceiling.
Alcohol and negative emotions were a terrible combination. But Vivian found she did not care. She had already made the mistake of having a prolonged conversation with her serial cheater of an ex. What was a glass of wine or two? In fact, what was a bottle?
***
Taking a gulp of the delicious red liquid that she’d gotten from the store, Vivian thought on the state of her life.
On one road there was Ryan Terrell, who had treated her like a queen, but had never actually intended to make her ’his queen’. On the other, there was Bryce, who not only treated her like trash. But actually seemed to truly believe that she was worth less than nothing. Then of course there was Vivian herself.
Ryan and Bryce were two different men and yet both of them had treated her in a similar way. So clearly she was the problem in all of this. Maybe she was just one of those people who were made to suffer. The only choice that she had in the matter was that she got to pick her poison. Running her hand over the couch, her fingers gripped her phone and she pulled it close.
It took several tries to unlock it, but in the end she managed.
Going over to her contacts, she unblocked all of Bryce’s numbers and then she also added the new one that he’d called her with to her contact list.
That done, Vivian leaned her head against the back of the couch and took a drink from her bottle. If she’d already unlocked the door for the devil, it only made sense for her to open it for him as well.
Drinking straight from the bottle, Vivian felt tears building in her eyes and she let them fall. It was a mistake to let Bryce back into her life. But with him she knew where she stood.
She would never let herself hope that things could get better. And she’d have the comfort of always knowing that when he was not with her. There was a hundred percent chance that he was out there sleeping with someone else.
She did not wish to date the man again. But she knew that keeping in contact with him would be an excellent grounding tool. She could count on him to always treat her so badly that she never forgot that she did not deserve more in life.
