Winning Back His Ex's Wife's Broken Heart by Hayley

Chapter 15

Richard pov.

Weeks passed, and it was the same thing every time Susan and I went out.

People always found a way to bring up Sarah, to compare them. It was grating on my nerves.

Why did they have to pick on Susan? It wasn't her fault that I didn't love Sarah. If anything, Sarah was the other woman. Susan was the one I'd loved from the start. I stood outside our bedroom door, listening to her muffled cries. We had just come back from another event, and it had happened again.

Someone had called her 'the other woman.' My hands balled into fists. Why couldn't they just let it go?

Taking a deep breath, I pushed the door open. Susan was on the bed, face buried in her hands, her shoulders shaking.

I walked over and sat beside her, reaching out to touch her back.

"Susan," I said softly.

She jerked away from my hand. "Don't," she snapped. Her voice was raw. "You just stood there, Richard. You just watched while they called me the other woman."

I felt a knot in my stomach. "I... I didn't know what to say," I muttered. "You know it's not true. They don't know our story."

She lifted her head, her eyes red and puffy. "But they keep saying it! Every single time!"

She wiped her nose with the back of her hand. "It's like... it's like I'm some kind of villain. And you... you just stand there."

I felt the sting of her words. "That's not fair," I said quietly. "You know it's not fair."

woman! They say I stole you from your sweet, perfect wife. And you say nothing. You just... you just look at them." I sighed, rubbing my temples. "What do you want me to do, Susan? Yell at them? Cause

or at least tell them it's not true. Tell them

sharp pain hit my chest. "I do tell them," I said, feeling helpless. "But it doesn't matter

down her cheeks again. "It's not enough, Richard. It's never

looked away, anger and helplessness mixing in my gut. "I know you're hurting," I said, my voice low. "But... this isn't helping. We can't

collected, while I get called names. I'm the one who

my best here," I said, my

you shouldn't. Not easy is being looked at like you're a

through my hair. Susan

time. "We'll figure it out. I'll talk to them if

away. "You always say

I insisted. "I'll make them

nodded, but I could

she whispered. "But next time, if it happens again... you say something. You don't just

tightness in my chest grow. "I promise," I said,

wasn't sure if it was a promise I could

I couldn't keep standing by

that. No, we didn't deserve that. So I decided

how I ended up

view of the whole city, where you can have a private

took a sip of his drink, looking at me with that calm expression

then said it. "I

Richard, that's-" He shook his head. "It's too

I snapped, louder than I