Stopped Belonging to Him

Jason Schwartz had been a close friend of my father's, despite the age gap.

The year I met him, I was fearless, the kind of girl who thought nothing could touch her.

I bit down hard on the hand he offered me.

Jason just laughed.

"You're adorable," he said. "Like a little wolf."

On my 18th birthday, he shoved me onto the bed, his eyes red, as if he had been holding back for years.

"Diana, I've finally waited long enough for you to grow up."

He was the one who pulled me into that first flutter of desire, the one who led me across every line I wasn't supposed to cross.

I grew into exactly the kind of girl he wanted.

The day my father was hacked to death by his enemies, Jason took my hand and stepped into his place without hesitation.

When I was pregnant, he brought home a girl covered in blood.

"Diana, she's not like you. She's like wild grass, tough and stubborn."

He said he admired wild grass.

But he forgot something.

He was the one who raised me into a rose that only knew the shelter of a greenhouse.

Good thing I didn't need him anymore.

I ran into the room barefoot.

The girl was straddling Jason Schwartz's waist. They were whispering to each other, bodies pressed close.

"Uncle Jason, I'm cold."

Even after all this time, that was still what I called him.

Jason's hand tightened around her waist before he lifted her off him and set her aside.

"Maddy's hurt. This room's warm. Let her stay here for now."

I had always hated the cold. Every inch of the house was lined with soft carpeting just so I wouldn't have to step on bare tile.

My room, most of all. Jason had even altered the villa's original design so the first light of winter mornings would fall straight into my windows.

Maddy Goodwin leaned against his shoulder, raising a brow. "Told you your little sweetheart would come make a scene. You didn't believe me."

Jason spread his hands, smiling like he was helpless. "Diana, when are you gonna grow up, huh?"

They had bet on me again.

It wasn't the first time.

It wasn't the first time he had brought her home, and not the first time they had wagered on whether I would get upset.

At the beginning, I cried and fought. But all it got me was the two of them sharing a knowing smile. Then Jason would sigh like it was such a burden, hand over expensive jewelry to Maddy, and complain that my childish temper had cost him the bet.

"Alright, Diana. I already stood up for Maddy today. I'm tired. Don't push it."

"Hey, I never asked you to do that," Maddy chimed in. "I'm not like certain people."

Maddy's gaze flickered, her smile faint and proud.

"Diana, I'm not the kind of woman you think I am. Keep your dirty assumptions to yourself. What Jason and I have is purely spiritual."

Spiritual?

They kissed when they were happy. They blamed alcohol when they crossed the line.

From the beginning, it was hotel rooms littered with used protection.

Now it was this bed, sheets marked with unmistakable traces.

"You said this room was designed just for me." My voice cracked the second I opened my mouth.

Jason sighed and got up from the bed. He brushed a strand of hair back from my temple.

"Why are your eyes red again?" His voice softened. "Diana, be good. Maddy's not like you. You have been spoiled by me since you were little. She had no one. She clawed her way through life on her own. Of course, she's got a temper."

In the 12 years I had been by his side, the words I heard most were always the same.

"Be good. That's my girl."

He filed down my claws, pulled every thorn from me.

It took 12 years to turn me from a wolf into a greenhouse rose.

And then he told me he loved women like Maddy, tough and unbreakable.

I looked up at him. His smile never reached his eyes.

"Uncle Jason…" My throat tightened. "Let's get a divorce. I don't want you anymore."

His expression didn't change.

I had said it too many times.

When he held some so-called lucky girl in a casino, I demanded a divorce. He bought the entire place and gave it to me.

When he gave away the horse my father left me to a girl he had just met, I made a scene again. He bought every stable in Gunnerson and told me to pick whichever horse I liked.

No matter how hard I pushed, all it took was a little coaxing, and I would curl back into him like a cat that forgot it ever had claws.

I couldn't even remember how many times I had asked for a divorce anymore.

Jason just shrugged, smiling like it was nothing.

"Diana, with where I stand now, no one in Gunnerson would dare take you in. Be good. You're about to be a mother. I'll take you for your checkup in a few days."

He reached out and ruffled my hair. The scar on his wrist hadn't fully faded.

It was from the bite I left behind the year we met.

Back then, my mouth had been full of blood, and he still laughed like it didn't matter. He'd rubbed my head and said he would spoil me for the rest of my life.

I used to fight stray dogs for scraps. I used to dig food out from piles of the dead just to survive.

Jason took that feral, snarling little wolf and turned her into someone who never even let her feet touch the ground in winter, because he would always carry her.

I craved his warmth. I was addicted to the way he treated me like I was everything.

Then my father died, cut down by his enemies, and Jason stepped up, holding my hand as he took control.

What Jason never knew was that my father had already arranged a marriage for me.

I threatened my own life before my father agreed to pass everything to Jason. And it was only because I married him that my father's old allies stayed loyal.

At my father's bedside, Jason swore, "I promise I'll love Diana for the rest of my life. I'll treat her like a rose. I won't let her suffer even the slightest harm."

He broke that promise.

So I was done with him.

I dialed a number I hadn't touched in years.

"I've thought it through," I said quietly. "I'll marry you."

If Jason didn't want to keep this delicate rose anymore, then I would let someone else treasure me.