Isaac

I staggered back. How could she make a decision like this without even speaking to me first? We were engaged, for crying out loud! Not only that, she hadn't even defended me. It was as if her aunt had the ability to walk in and instantly brainwash her.

"I'll wait for you in the car," Beth's aunt said.

As the screen door creaked open, she came face to face with me. Her composure broke for a moment under my glare, but she recovered quickly. She nodded coolly, then strode out to her black Cadillac.

I opened the screen door and stalked inside. The door slammed behind me, making Beth jump. She turned and looked at me, her arms hugging herself. Her red-rimmed eyes were puffy and anguished. Half of me wanted to pull her into my arms and comfort her, but the other half was still furious, so my arms remained at my sides.

"How long have you been there?" Beth asked.

"Long enough to hear most of it."

"Then you understand why I have to go."

"No, I don't. What I see is a family that is manipulating you through guilt to sacrifice your dreams for them. It's very convenient for them, isn't it? Your sister gets to pursue her dream to have a family and live in China. Your aunt gets to go on a book tour. And she actually had the audacity to say I was using you? Beth, look at me. You are at Harvard. One of the most prestigious universities in the world. You are one of the most gifted students I know. You have worked your tail off your whole life to get here and you cannot just leave in the middle of the program. How does it make any sense to leave just as you're getting started? You can't to do this. You're not a nurse, Beth. You're a business student."

She shook her head. My forehead broke out in a sweat. Her aunt had her hooks in her. Beth couldn't leave, she needed to see reason.

"Beth, the solution is simple. Hire someone to help your father. He has plenty of money. You don't have to sacrifice your dreams."

"But he might be dying," Beth said.

"Then visit him on the weekends here and there. I'll drive you myself. Beth, you don't owe that man anything. I saw the way he manipulated and controlled you growing up. He and your sister could be cruel. Every look, every word was a poisonous dart killing your confidence. It was toxic, Beth. It's like you're a different person here. You radiate confidence. You look people in the eye. You voice your opinion. I refuse to stand by and watch my future wife go back into an abusive environment. It's not healthy, Beth."

"It will only be one semester," Beth said. "I'll be back."

"But we won't be in the same classes anymore. It'll throw everything off. And what about your dreams for Solere? You would really abandon David and Heidi and me? Now? When we're so close to pulling everything together to get funding? We need you Beth. We could be a part of something that will change thousands of lives. Don't you feel it?"

Beth was crying now. I felt a bit guilty, but I wanted her to realize everything she would be giving up. Her aunt had said her piece, now I needed to say mine.

I took her hands in mine.

"What about us, Beth? Your place is with me now. You may not be my wife yet, but you will be. And a wife is supposed to leave her father and be with her husband. Imagine the life we'll live together, traveling the world, seeing everything we've dreamed of seeing, helping others. We'll travel to places we've only imagined. You shouldn't be made to feel guilty for wanting to be with your future husband."

Beth was calming now, taking deep, shuddering breaths. I handed her a tissue and she blew her nose.

"Isaac?"

"Yes," I said.

"I love you, but I have to do this. I couldn't live with myself if my father died and I didn't do something to help him in those final months."

My heart sank at the words, at Beth's determined expression, and something bitter and angry grew inside me. That darkness that I had been suppressing all those years, the darkness that had been kept at bay only because of Gran and Beth's love. Only, now I have to wonder, did I really ever have Beth's love when she always considered everyone else's opinion more important than mine?

"You're making the wrong choice Beth. I swear there will be a day when you will look back and it will haunt you. I can't understand you. I can't understand why you would leave the school you thrive in, the business you have a passion for, your closest friends and a man you claim to love, all to work your fingers to the bone for a man who not only won't appreciate it, but will spend every moment of every day letting you know how disappointed he is in you. Your aunt has a lot of gall to put you in this position, especially after everything she's done to tear us apart. Do you want her to succeed? And what am I supposed to do? Just sit back helpless and watch them hurt you?"

I knew my voice is rising, but I didn't even care anymore.

"Isaac, I—"

"No, you listen to me, Beth. I can't do this. I refuse to do this. You're going to stay, and you're going to see your dreams come true. Your father does not need you, especially after the way his mistreated you all those years. Tell him to hire his own damn nurse. I've had enough of you taking this crap from your family, and I refuse to ever take it myself."

I drop her hands and step back.

"You're with me now, Beth, and I will not sit back and act like I'm okay with you being around people who will hurt you, even if they are family. Have a backbone. Stand up for what you want. Don't just follow your aunt's orders blindly because you feel guilty if you don't."

"If you could just—"

"Why didn't you fight for me, Beth? When your aunt was in here spouting all that crap about me using you and not being your equal? Why didn't you stand up for me? I trusted you. I thought you were still the girl who left that night even after her aunt forbade her to and risked everything to be me with me. Now I look at you and I wonder who you even are."

Beth was crying again, but this time my heart felt nothing. She kept twisting her ring around and around and around, until she twisted it one final rotation and took it off.

She held it out.

I felt like I'd been punched in the gut.

"Put the ring back on Beth," I said.

The tears were streaming down her face, leaving mascara streaks down her cheeks. It didn't matter. She still looked beautiful. She shook her head and held out the ring.

Staring down out Violetta's fragile ring, I feel sick. I had gone too far. All I can think about is how harsh Beth's aunt had been in judging it. And me.

Inferior ring.

Can't afford better.

Not good enough.

User.

Abuser.

My heart cracked.

Beth was rejecting the ring.

Rejecting me.

I had been so close to the cusp of happiness, only to have it yanked away after the tiniest of tastes.

Maybe it was inevitable.

If Beth weighed her aunt's words with more care than mine, maybe we had no right being together.

I took the ring back and left.

And Beth went home to her father.

______________

Aww, hard times for Isaac and Beth. Sometimes you want things to work so bad, but they just don't. Weigh in and let me know what you think! 

Here's a picture of the lovebirds during happier days. The song in the Youtube video (Say Something I'm Giving Up On You) pulls the heartstrings every time. Please take a moment to listen to it. 

Dedication for this chapter is going out to my dear friend, the ubertalented @rskovach! She's a fellow panelist from the Wattpad Youtube show "The Corner Booth" and a fellow writer over on Radishfiction.com. Her debut novel will be released by Pocket Star Books (Simon & Schuster) in Spring 2017 - whoot! Meanwhile I'm enjoying "The Beloved" on Radish. Rita, I'm seriously impressed you managed to read "Restless Hope" while cooking dinner, you multitasking rockstar, you!