The Billionaire's Addiction

16

Anika Vargas

                "I lied. I never cheated on you." Mateo says, to my surprise. His gray eyes stare into my light brown ones.

Withdrawing my hand from his, I stood up and looked down at him on the sofa. "Mateo, are you serious? Is this why you called me over here, to lie to me? I know what I saw, and you didn't deny it before."

At that moment, when it happened, I didn't want an explanation. He could have made an effort despite what I saw being enough. He surrendered without a fight. I needed him to fight for me.

His handsome face shows a look of guilt. He stood and held my arms while looking down at me. I couldn't keep eye contact, so I focused on the floor. "Moonshine, please look at me."

Instead of looking at him, I shrugged his hands off and took a few steps away from him. I needed space between us; I couldn't think straight with him touching me and looking at me with those pitiful gray eyes.

Mateo sigh. "I came home tired, and when I entered our bedroom, I saw her covered underneath the sheets from head to toe. Of course, I thought it was you, because who else would be in our bed?"

I look at him. He was looking down at the center table as if it was the most interesting thing in this room. Suddenly, his eyes met mine. This time, I didn't look away. I want to see his eyes when he tells me what happened.

"I went over, wanting to kiss your forehead before showering. That's when I realized it was my assistant. I yelled at her and right when I was about to get my phone to call the police, she managed to trip me and I fell on top of her. That's when you walked in."

I believe him, that wasn't hard. Keeping my tears from falling was hard. He still lied to me. He didn't want me anymore, so he went along with what happened just to get rid of me.

"That was your easy way out?" I nod in understanding.

"What?" Mateo closed the distance between us, but I took a step back.

"You went along with everything instead of telling me the truth. You lied to me for three years, Mateo!" I yelled at him, and unfortunately, more tears fell.

The last thing I wanted to do was cry in front of him. I wiped them away. All these years, I thought I wasn't good enough for him.

I started believing the tabloids that said I was just some dumb girl who trapped a billionaire. They said our relationship would end in flames.

"Listen to me, Anika. It's not what you're thinking. "He paused and I waited for him to continue.

He walked over to the sofa and sat back down, hunched over with his palms rubbing against his face. At this moment I released something I didn't before. He was hurting just as much as I did.

All I wanted to do was go over to him and hug him. Tell him that I still love him, but I stood silently waiting, hoping for him to continue.

He places his hands on his head, looking at me with teary eyes. It broke my heart to see a man who worked and fought so hard to be strong in the eyes of everyone else looking so vulnerable.

"It started happening again. You were the only one keeping me sane," Mateo whispers and that was enough to make the tears run faster down my face.

He suffered from depression, and some days were worse than others. Despite not being present at the time of the incident, he used to have nightmares of his father killing his mother. He told me that sometimes it was him standing there with bloody hands. I tried my best to be there for him, to let him know how much the people in his life love him and that he will never turn out to be like his father. Mateo has his mother's good heart, and I needed him to understand that he was just like her on the inside. I told him to seek therapy because even though I love him, he can not rely on that alone. He needed to learn how to love himself, but he refused therapy.

"It scared me, the thought that I would hurt you. I felt like you deserve better."

"So instead of telling me how you felt, you decided for both of us. It's no question, Mateo. I would have stood with you no matter what. You told me from the beginning how tragic your childhood was, and I stayed. I wasn't afraid of you because I knew you were better than your father. You have your mother's heart, Mateo. I made it clear that I would stick with you no matter what. You chose to push me away and now what do you expect of me?"

Mateo walked over to me and held my face, using his thumbs to wipe away my tears. His gray eyes were also teary, but he was better at holding back his feelings than I was.

"Sweetheart, I know you would have chosen to stay. I couldn't let you do that, so I went to therapy after you left to get better for you."

"So why are you telling me this after so long?" I whisper. His face is only inches from mine and it made me a bit nervous.

"I want you to know the truth and to remove any doubt. I'm sorry it took me so long to tell you, moonshine."

I felt angry, disappointed, and heartbroken all over again. What else was there to say to him? My mom taught me never to speak in anger since the mind didn't work its best while angry.

Gently taking his hands from my face, I held them in mine, feeling his skin against my own and his fingers intertwined with my own before pulling away.

I refused to look at him. If I did, I would forgive him immediately and do something I would probably regret. Instead, I focused on nothing in particular.

"Mateo, I just need some space to comprehend all of what you told me and to get my mind right." Without waiting for his reply, I grabbed my bag and rushed out of the penthouse.