Rivals Redemption

chapter 42 : I choose you

Rowan Cortez

As I held Tina close, her body trembling in my arms, a storm of emotions surged through me. My heart ached for her, for everything she had been through. But beneath the surface, there was something else—a feeling I hadn’t expected. A sharp, unwanted ping of jealousy.

She’d given herself to Liam.

I knew it wasn’t right to feel this way. She had trusted Liam, loved him, and he had shattered her trust. The pain he caused her far outweighed whatever immature jealousy I might feel, but still, the thought gnawed at me.

He had taken something from her—something that was supposed to mean everything. Something I had wished I’d been the one to share with her, not out of possessiveness, but because I knew I would have treated her the way she deserved. I would have valued her, protected her, loved her the way she should have been loved. But Liam had come first. He had taken that first step with her, and now I had to live with that.

I pushed the thoughts aside, tightening my arms around Tina as I held her close. This wasn’t about me. This wasn’t about some selfish jealousy over her past. It was about her, about what she needed right now.

But that small voice in the back of my head refused to be silenced. It taunted me with the image of her and Liam together, the intimate moments they must have shared, the trust she had placed in him—trust that he didn’t deserve. I hated that he had been a part of her life in such a way, that he had been her first.

But then I looked down at her, at how vulnerable she was in this moment, and I realized something important. Her past with Liam didn’t change how I felt about her. If anything, it made me want to protect her even more. He had hurt her, manipulated her, and yet she still stood strong in front of me, more incredible than ever.

“Tina,” I whispered, my voice low and steady, “I wish I could take away all the pain he caused you. I wish I could go back in time and shield you from it. But I can’t. All I can do now is love you the way you deserve to be loved.”

She lifted her head from my chest, her eyes red and swollen from crying, but she was still so beautiful to me. “You’re not upset?” she asked softly, her voice filled with uncertainty. “That I wasn’t…that you’re not…”

I knew what she was trying to say, but I didn’t want her to feel ashamed or guilty for something that wasn’t her fault. “Tina, it’s not about being the first. It’s about being the last,” I said, brushing a strand of hair away from her face. “I don’t care that you had a past with him. What matters to me is that I’m the one who gets to be with you now. That I’m the one you choose, here and now.”

Her gaze softened, and I could see the weight of her past lifting, just a little. But the jealousy still lingered in my chest, a small, bitter reminder of the life she had shared with someone else before me.

I wanted to be the one who had shared every first with her. I wanted to be the one she’d given her heart to from the beginning. But I knew that wasn’t how life worked. People had histories, experiences, relationships before they met the person they were meant to be with. And I had to accept that.

“I’m not upset,” I repeated, more for myself than for her. “I just hate that someone took advantage of you like that. But that doesn’t change anything between us. You’re not damaged, Tina. And I’m not going to let your past define how we move forward.”

She looked up at me with those deep, soulful eyes, and I knew I meant every word. I would never let Liam’s ghost come between us. I wouldn’t let jealousy ruin what we had.

“I don’t deserve you,” she whispered, her voice barely audible.

I shook my head. “You deserve more than I can ever give you. But I’m going to try, Tina. Every single day.”