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“You both need to listen to me,” I begin, and instantly, Chloe’s eyes flash.
“No one is going to listen to you,” Chloe hisses. “You need to leave.”
“Let her talk, Chloe,” Leah interjects, her voice softer than I expected.
Shooting Leah a thankful look, I take a deep breath and steel myself. “Guys, you need to give Karl
another
chance. He’s helped me so much lately, and I’m tired of pretending that he’s still just some jerk with no
feelings.”
Leah raises an eyebrow. “Helped you? Abby, the guy’s trouble. He’s toxic. He’s—”
“He’s also put his life on the line for me,” I cut in, my voice urgent. “He almost got himself shot, multiple
times, over some stupid truffles I needed for the competition. He’s been here through it all, putting
aside
his own needs—”
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Chloe’s eyes flicker, but her voice is unyielding. “That doesn’t even begin to excuse everything he’s
done.
He divorced you over bullshit, Abby. And he bribed Adam into breaking up with you. Hell if Adam was
gay!
Karl would have done it either way!”
“Yes, maybe he would have,” I agree. “And yes, maybe it doesn’t excuse everything. But it adds layers,
Chloe. Layers to a person you’ve filed away as a simple problem. We all have our baggage, our bad
decisions. Lord knows I’ve made mine, and you’ve made yours.”
The room goes quiet, the tension so palpable I could cut it with a knife. Then Leah speaks, cautiously,
as if
testing the water. “So, you’re saying we should just accept Karl because you think he’s changed?”
I shake my head. “No, Leah, I’m saying that it’s my choice to spend time with him, to see if he’s really
trying to change or not. What I can’t accept is an ultimatum from my best friends because they disagree
with my life. That’s not friendship. That’s control.”
Chloe’s face is unreadable. “And if your choices put you at risk? What then, Abby? Do we just stand by
and watch?”
“Would you rather cut me out?” I retort. “Would that make it easier for you? Friendship isn’t just about
the
easy times, the wine nights and the double dates. It’s about the messy parts, too. It’s about standing by
each other, even when we don’t always agree with each other’s choices.”
Chloe looks down, her eyes tracing the reddened rim of her wine glass. “This is different, Abby. This
isn’t
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just us disagreeing with your life choices. This is us being genuinely worried for you and feeling like
there’s
no other way to make you see logic.”
“If you’re so worried,” I say, “then ditching me when I need you the most isn’t going to help anything.”
Leah sighs, stepping closer. “But you can’t blame us for wanting to distance ourselves,” she says,
although I can sense in her voice that she doesn’t even fully believe her own words. “We have our own
lives to protect, too.”
“That’s true,” I admit. “I never meant to put your mental health in danger. But don’t make me choose,
guys.
Don’t make me choose between my best friends and a life I need to figure out for myself. And if you
can’t
do that, then maybe we shouldn’t be friends.”
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