The Reclaimed Rose (Annalise and Steven)

Steven clearly did not believe me as he stared at me. I continued flippantly, "Regardless of what the future holds. I'm happy with the way things are now. I've earned more than I could ever dream of, and there's no point in being greedy and asking for more." He froze. He hadn't expected Annalise to be so easily pleased or content. Had she always been like this, even while they were together? Would she have stayed if he had been a little nicer to her or showed that he cared?

His heart cracked at the idea. It was only then that Steven realized he had missed out on and lost a woman who had truly loved and cared for him. The love she'd had for him was pure and unconditional.

He frantically argued, "But Jessica wasn't as good as you when she started as a comic artist. She became better afterward."

"I already expected that." I knew Steven was still skeptical, not that it mattered. I said calmly, "You claimed you loved me, but what you failed to realize was that you were drawn to Jessica. You had always sided with her, even before our divorce.

"After we divorced, you thought you loved me and tried to win me back. But your actions proved otherwise." A dry chuckle escaped me as I added, "Remember how stingy you were with me? You had the money, but you refused to buy flowers for me. "You said it was a waste of money and that the flowers would wilt in days. You said you'd rather bring us out for a proper meal than spend on such valueless things.

He seemed irked as he grumbled, "Was I wrong, though?"

"No, you weren't," I said with a nod. "But you didn't think that way when you bought Jessica flowers, did you?"

Steven's excuses were endless. "It was only polite for me to give her flowers during her first visit to our place!" He countered accusatively "You' ou've always been petty! How could you hold a grudge against me over something as trivial asnoveldrama

flowers?"

I couldn't care less about his denigration. I only wanted him to know that he wasn't in love with me and that he should back off for good.

I wanted him to go back to being a lovey-dovey couple with Jessica, if only so I could deliver him a fatal blow when her child was born and I told him the truth behind their parentage.

Excited as I was, I kept my tone bland as I countered, "In that case, when was the last time you got me flowers?"

Steven sifted through his memories, but I knew he couldn't come up with an answer. I spared him from responding and said, "Don't bother. You never got me flowers."

His brows furrowed as he grew impatient. "Is that it? You're divorcing me because I didn't get you flowers?"

It wasn't until after the words had

left his mouth that he realized Annalise wasn't asking for a divorce. They had already separated, and she was only highlighting facts that showed he did not love her.

He lowered his gaze in shame.

"The flowers were just a part of the equation. You couldn't bring yourself to spend a penny on me,

remember?" I asked, recalling bitter memories. How had I put up with a man like Steven for so long?