All Chapters of The Single Dad Next Door Loves Me: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

His expression said it all; the arch of his brow, the slight drop of his jaw, the sudden paleness of his face when I agreed to his suggestion.I could tell Ethan did not expect this. “Mia….” He called my name while I walked away, his tone almost broken… I paused, my hand right on the door knob, I was leaving no matter what. “What?”“You…just agreed to breaking up.” He reminded me. “You're walking away.”“I know what I did, if that is all, if I like to leave.” My tone was harsh, my free hand folded into a tight fist, as tight as my resolve, I was going to prove a point to him. Even if it was breaking me inside.We stood for a few more seconds and when nothing else made sense, I stepped away.The door banged slightly louder than it always did whenever I entered my room. The sound echoed through the small space, shark and final and for a moment, I stood with my back against it, fingers curled around the knob as if I sealed something irreversible on the other side.My chest rose. Fell

I did not look back. The choice did not come from strength but from instincts, the same quiet discipline that had always been what I governed my actions with.I stepped out of the hallway lightway and into the dim of the living room, shadows gathering around me as if they understood I needed to disappear.From the corner of my I saw Mia, she remained where I had left her, the eekbju of rhwys had just happened between us still stayed in the narrow corridor.I crossed the room with a calm I practiced for situations like this, my energy moment was controlled and unhurried, looking at me, I seemed like a man who had heard something regrettable but accepted and adjusted accordingly.Only when I reached the wide glass doors and slid them open to the night air, did the composure begin to leave me, not visibly.Not in a way anyone could see it but in a subtle loosening of the tension that held my shoulders square and my jaw set since she had said the words.‘I’m choosing it now.’I stepped on

The door locks opened with the click of a button. I lifted Lily off the floor and into the back seat. She sat quietly with her hands folded in front but her expression showed she was upset.I ignored her, my hands trembling from the incident earlier. I'd never shouted at my daughter, I had never yelled at anyone and yet, here I was stashing what we needed in the boot of the car while my daughter hated sitting there.I pushed my bag into the passenger's side of the seat, sat comfortably in my chair and then inserted the key.“We're going now, is there anything else you are forgetting?”She ignored me, head turned as she gazed at the snowy weather outside the car. I took her move as a yes and began the car.The engine rumbled to life. I shifted the gear into drive mode and we started moving. The ride from the cabin down the mountains was quiet, so quiet it felt like I was driving alone. I wasn't. My eyes evaded to the mirror a couple of times as I occasionally checked on Lily.She was s

Sophia's call ended minutes ago but I still sat in silence staring at the phone.Her last words, “Get out while you still can…” kept ringing in my head. My thoughts ran wild. She sounded concerned, for a good reason. We weren't the best of team friends which made her advice even more meaningful, going out of her way to call me because she was concerned I was living with a dangerous man…The roaring of an engine snapped my mind back to reality. I reached for my phone, tightened the rope of my robe and got up to have a look.Ethan's red truck pulled into his parking space. He was back already, my pulse thickened, I wasn't sure why.I rushed into my bedroom, not because I was scared but a part of me needed space. The lock on my door jangled loudly before I heard footsteps. I stayed quiet, leaned on the doorframe, breath held like I was almost caught doing something wrong.I wasn't.His footsteps echoed through the living room and then the kitchen. Through the peephole I saw Ethan look ar

I should have known she wouldn't take me seriously.Or take my calls again. After the third call went to silence and the forth one rang into nothing, I stared at the long enough for the reflection of my own face to look like someone else’s. Jaw tight. Eyes darker than usual. A man watching himself lose control in real time. She thought hanging up meant I would give up.A man watching himself lose control in real time. She thought hanging up meant distance. It didn't.It meant I was done asking. I grabbed my coat off the chair and the keys off the counter in one sweep. The drive out to Ethan's place was one I knew too well, muscle memory I guess, I had been there so many times my subconscious knew the way.My wheel turned while my head burned in memory of what she had said to me. How difficult she was willing to be.“You're not my friend. Stop calling me. I don't like you.”What she could say to me when I was only trying to help. How nice of her.I almost laughed again just by thinki