My mother snorted in a dry, sarcastic laugh. "Oh please, my dear child, get off the Stefan train right now. Preferably before it derails again, because, it will."
"What is that supposed to mean??"
"Do you really believe that you would never have left him? That Stefan Harrison would give up his world for you? He comes from a world of money and ease. Life with you and with a new child takes all of that away. It was only a matter of time before he did something else to lose your trust and drive you away. The event you faced was extremely overwhelming and it set Stefan off right then. But, you don't marry men like Stefan. Look at his father, for instance. The man has more money than he knows what to do with. He has had more affairs than I have recipes in my cookbook. That wife of his doesn't care though, just as long as she gets a credit card with money to spend. That isn't you, Greyson. But that is Stefan."
"No, it isn't!"
"Oh really?" She sized me up with a sneer growing on her lips. "Well, let me ask you this. How many times has he reached out to you in the past six years?"
"He couldn't, it's complicated."
She nodded. "Right, of course. So, why don't you tell me, how many women has he slept with since you?"
"I … how would I know that number, mother?"
"Well, how many has it been for you?"
"You know the answer to that."
Her finger pointed at me as if I had just solved a million dollar puzzle. "Yes, I do. One, and now you are engaged to that man. You have pined after Stefan because you are being haunted by the ghosts of the family you wanted. You are about to sacrifice your own happiness, Greyson Rose. Is that what you want? You love Stefan and I have no doubt he loves you back, but is that enough?" She took my hands in hers and forced me to see and hear every word she said.
"When you vowed to love each through good times and bad, for better or worse, you meant it. He left you at the first speed bump in your lives together. What makes you think he'd be there for you this time? He loves you and he wants to fight for you now. You want to know why? Because he sees that some other man is about to take his place. He's going to lose the best woman that he has ever known. And now he wants to be the man for you."
"That's not true." My meek whisper couldn't even hold half the conviction of my mother's words. Everything I feared when it came to Stefan was being put out into the open right now. I have always wondered why now has he decided to fight. Did he let us go because of the tragedy with Allie, or was there a chance it could happen again?
Every single nightmare that had the ability to drive me insane was out, and I couldn't hide behind it anymore.
"Oh yes it is. Can't you see it? You run into each other after all these years and he learns you're engaged. Suddenly, he wants to be the one in your heart again. While he was making his millions, flipping through women like some flip through T.V. channels, you were here. Crying for him, hurting because of him, and moving on without him. You tell me his love is true and I'll back down right now. But I know just as well as you do, that you can't swear to any of it. He has already proven to you that he can't love you the way you need. What more do you need to move on?"
I felt the air leave the room as my panic began to settle in.
"Don't let Richard go because you haven't' learned to move on from Stefan. Richard loves you and he will work through this with you. Far unlike Stefan who ran and drank all that pain away. Tell me something. How many nights did you cry yourself to sleep over him? And how many of those nights did he soothe you back to sleep? Why would you want a man that can't do the one thing you need him to?"
She pressed a kiss to my tearstained cheek. "I love you, Greyson. Do the right thing. Marry Richard, make beautiful babies together, and know that for the rest of your life you will have him there to comfort you."
Turning to leave she stopped once more before shutting the door behind her. "Let Stefan go before he takes anymore of your beautiful soul. The time has come for you to move on."
The door shut and I sunk to my knees. Curling my legs into my chest I cried out endless sobs, and I wondered if I would ever stop. Why did things have to be this way? Why did Stefan have to break my heart all those years ago? I wanted nothing more than to ignore my mother's words but I just couldn't. I loved Stefan, from the bottom of my soul. He was my other half, my world, my everything. And now I saw no other way but to listen to my mother. I had no choice but to let him go, once and for all.