A YEAR

“That part of your life?”

She knew what he meant but she wanted to hear it from him, maybe deep down she wanted to be wrong despite what the facts were pointing at.

Maybe she wanted to hear him deny those notions that had begun forming in her head.

But then again, the universe was a shady little bitch that always stopped at nothing to turn her life upside down no matter how many times he tries to get back up.

Xavier’s lips pursed and his eyes left hers, he stared down at his knees but Halle kept looking at him.

Was it that bad?

“Ahem!” He cleared his throat and then shrugged his shoulders like he had just mentally said the words ‘fuck it!’

“In the past thirty-two years of my life, no one has made me question everything as much as you have flower,” Xavier said, just dropping those heavy words and making Halle’s mind go into a spiral.

“Our family has been around for a hundred years, we spent the last fifty climbing up every ladder that there is so we can come out on top, that a