Dead Presidents (An Aria Raymond Thriller Book 3) by Thomas Ransom (that summer book txt) 📕

Diaz realized she was smiling, thinking about the first time they had met. His voice had brought her back to reality. There were some good times, she admitted, and then he turned into someone she could hardly recognize.

“Mark…,” she started in a whisper.

“No. Nicole. Please hear me out first. Then you can have your say,” Mark interrupted her. “I know I didn’t exactly treat you right. I know. I … I wish I could take that all back. But you know we were young. I was ambitious and passionate about what I wanted to do…”

This time, Diaz interrupted him, “So was I Mark. We both had similar dreams and goals. We were even going to start our own practice someday. Do you know I still have those notebooks and sheets of pages in which we made our plans and wrote down ideas about our practice? I don’t know when and how everything fell apart.”

“I know. I am sorry. I really am…”

“It’s not even about you dumping me out of the blue. It’s the way you treated me. Made me believe that I was at fault all along. Playing with my head like that. Driving me crazy!”

“I honestly didn’t mean to… I just… you know my dreams changed. I had to work harder…”

“That gives you no right to treat me the way you did!!” snapped Diaz. Her mind was replaying the times he had abandoned her, left her guessing, driving her to the point of madness and then calming her down just before she lost it. All of this went on for years until she could take it no more. Even then, she was hoping he would care a little to fight for their relationship.

“Come on, Nicole. You know how hard it was for me to enter the world of politics. I had to work long hours, make connections, deal with all the stress…”

“The stress… yeah exactly. God knows how much “stress” you’ve had to get where you are today.”

“Nicole!” Mark sighed. “I am admitting my mistake. Okay? I know I messed up. You think I don’t know that?”

“I am honestly not so sure.”

Mark stood up and sat on the couch next to Diaz, “Love, you know how crazy I was for you. I wanted you to stand by me. You know my goal was to become a senator one day. I had to start the grind early on.”

“I did stand by you, Mark. I stood by you when people started warning me about you. I stood by you when you started ridiculing people, making fun of others, and spreading negativity just to get on top. I stood by you even when you started treating me the same way you were treating the people you wanted to bring down. I stood by our relationship, and I even tried to look the other way when I started hearing rumors about you sleeping around!!”

“I wasn’t… I wasn’t doing that, love. Come one. You know how these people are. They can’t seem to take no for an answer. I did nothing. All I ever do is be nice to people. How is it my fault that women started thinking that I was flirting with them? I tread very carefully, Nicole. You know I can’t break anyone’s heart.”

“Oh, my gosh!! Do you even hear yourself right now!?”

Mark sighed, “Okay. Okay. Relax. You know you always start over thinking everything!”

“What the hell is wrong with you?! I am not over thinking. This is what you did. I am just narrating the things you did. Stop telling me that I am over thinking!”

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Mark stood up and got her a glass of water. “Look, I am sorry. I know I am a very difficult person to deal with, especially now since everyone has eyes on me. All these years, I have had only you on my mind. I know I have made many mistakes. I know that. And I know I have hurt you. All that attention and power went to my head. Even now, as a senator, I want you with me. Even after achieving my dream that I dreamt when we were together, there was always something missing. I kept searching and searching, and then it hit me. It was you. It was you all along. You are the missing part of my life. I want to be with you, Nicole. I want you to stand beside me every step of the way. No one else. I don’t want anyone else.”

Diaz’s heart was aching. How she had longed to hear these words years ago, but they never came. Instead, she had received a text message from him saying he couldn’t do this anymore. No explanation. He hadn’t even bothered breaking up in person. She still remembered breaking down after that text. Even though things were shaky between them and they were living separately at that time, she had always hoped that he would come back. He always did. He always apologized, and things would go back to normal, but that never happened. He had already entered local politics by then, and she heard in the news that very same week that Mark was seeing with a daughter of some long-time senator. It had broken her heart.

It took her two to three years to realize that what she and Mark had was a toxic relationship. While it started beautifully, things changed so gradually that she never realized that he was emotionally abusing her. Diaz experienced constant stress, anxiety, and depression. After the breakup, she dove into her studies and her job. She had to alter her goals a bit, of course. Diaz had completely given up on the idea of starting her own practice. She always thought she needed Mark by her side to take such a major step. She then realized that Mark made