His Other Priority

The day Savannah Cox moved into our home, her belongings filled the entire living room as though she were staking her claim.Alex Stewart had an arm wrapped around her waist as he carefully draped a knit cardigan over her shoulders."She just got out of the hospital and can't handle the cold," he said. "Besides, she has nowhere else to go right now. Taking her in is the least we can do."She's had no one to rely on all these years. She's been through enough already."I almost laughed at the absurdity of it all. It felt like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over my head."Alex, this is our home...""Autumn, since when did you become so unreasonable?" he cut in. "Savvy's only staying here temporarily. She just got divorced. This is when she needs support the most."He gently took Savannah's hand, his promise carrying the weight of an oath."Savvy, don't worry. As long as I'm here, no one is going to make you leave."After settling her in, he stood by and watched while Sa

"Autumn didn't mean to push me."Savannah's performance was laughably unconvincing, yet Alex believed every word.Or maybe... he had simply never believed me.Holding Savannah in his arms, he turned to me with anger blazing in his eyes."Autumn, why can't you tolerate Savvy? Do you have any idea she's dealing with depression? Why would you deliberately upset her?"To give Savannah the explanation she deserved, he demanded that I retrieve her necklace. Ignoring the fact that I was pregnant, he shoved me into the swimming pool in front of everyone.Voices erupted from the shore. Their comments tangled together as they drifted into my ears."I told you Alex never got over Savannah. If Autumn hadn't chased after him back then, there's no way he would've agreed to be with her.""I know the real story. Alex only ever treated Autumn as a substitute. Now that the real thing is back, who cares about a stand-in?""Everyone knows Alex once swore he'd never marry anyone but Savannah."Po

My procedure was scheduled for the following month. The doctors always looked like they wanted to say something more, yet none of them would tell me the truth.I already knew why. Even if I underwent treatment, I probably didn't have much time left.I visited the Skyview Gondola where Alex and I had once pledged ourselves to each other. With my own hands, I removed the two plaques engraved with our names.Alex Stewart.Autumn Valencia.I deleted photo after photo from my albums until only a handful of pictures of myself remained.I booked the earliest flight to Westhaven.When Alex called, I was preparing to board."Autumn, where are you? Savvy said she wants lobster rolls from that place on West Street today. When you come back, pick some up—"I hung up before he could finish, then I boarded the plane to Westhaven.Grandma Beverly Valencia hadn't seen me in a long time. She cooked an entire table full of my favorite dishes. Then she dug out my old photo albums and sat with m

The day Grandma Beverly was discharged from the hospital, I ran into Robbie. He took me in for a follow-up examination.That's when we happened to cross paths with Alex and Savannah, who were there for a prenatal appointment."Autumn, what exactly is your relationship with him? Why is he with you?"If Alex had cared about me even a little, he would've noticed that something was wrong, but he didn't. Instead, all he cared about was questioning why I was there."Alex, we're already divorced."A muscle jumped in Alex's jaw. Still, he refused to let it go.…On Savannah's birthday, Alex had been drinking. He ran three red lights just to make it in time to wish her a happy birthday.It was drizzling that day, and he hit me with his car.My head felt heavy. The world blurred around me, and I couldn't piece together a complete picture of what was happening. Warm blood spread beneath me.Then, I saw Robbie rushing over from the ambulance with bloodshot eyes. The moment he reached Ale

"I was worried sick about you. I should've taken better care of you."Grandma knew everything, but she hid it well, only allowing herself to cry when I wasn't looking.A few days later, Alex showed up at my hospital room, looking filthy. There was a wound on his forehead, and he limped as he walked."Autumn, I got this for you. You'll be okay."Carefully, he pulled a protection charm from inside his coat and held it out to me. Hope filled his eyes as he wanted me to accept it.'But, Alex, I don't want to forgive you at all.'"Alex, go home. I'm tired. I don't want to see you anymore.""Autumn, I'm sorry." He dropped to his knees in front of me, begging for forgiveness.Nevertheless, I didn't want to talk to him anymore. I didn't want to spend what little time I had left trapped in a hospital bed.…For my final month, I took Grandma Beverly around the world. Together, we visited all the places we'd never had the chance to see.I wanted to stay by her side and take care of he