The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 856 The Tides Pushing Away The Shore

"Worried?" Sue scorned at Anthony with disdain. "Why would you worry about me? Why should you?" She was not growing any more patient over the speechlessness of Anthony when she finally realized something big that could answer all of her questions at once. "Are you worried that I'm going to commit suicide?"

Sue had tried so many times to avoid that topic that she was now explicitly putting on the table to discuss. Anthony might not have been the one to mention it, but he was the one who led their conversation to this trail.

Since this was the case, Sue finally expressed her feelings bluntly before Anthony, "You don't have to worry about me. I am not stupid, weak, or small like you perceive me to be to just give up on myself and live in perpetual misery and remorse just because a man does not and cannot love me. If I know I can live a full life, then I will move forward and that's exactly what I'm doing -- if he's not going to be a part of my life, then so be it. I'll be a part of my life."

The warrior of a woman caught her breath from all the explaining she had to do before proceeding and finishing after her thoughts, "Now that you know what you wanted to know about me, can you please leave me alone?"

Anthony understood all that Sue had said but was not having it; he was just as stubborn as a man would be, not taking a woman's final word for it. "You've changed a lot," he said with a subtle frown, looking at Sue with a complexion that is unreadable. "You would never talk to me like this back then."

Sue scoffed at Anthony's remark, thinking that he must really think she was stupid enough to reduce the standards of her life to his convenience. She shrugged and replied, "People are supposed to change, Anthony." She continued coldly, "How do you want me to talk to you? Did you prefer a sweeter words? Did you want me to be more considerate? You must be out of your mind, Anthony."

Sue thought to herself for a while before proceeding to speak her entire mind without filter to the man who was delusional enough to think that she would succumb to him. "You know what, I was a fool for you even when I knew how I was not the woman fit for your 'ideals', and to this day I carry the burden of that mistake that I no longer have time to be pestered, even by you who caused all the crap I have to live with. Why won't you leave me alone?"

The burdened woman was now a bit vexed, but she did not plan to stop any time soon; she had waited so long to be able to get all these things off her chest that she wasn't about to just let some man to dictate her feelings. "You said I've changed a lot, and I'm glad I did. What did you expect? That I'd be stupid forever? Is that the kind of life you want me to lead? Did you want me to still be head over heels for you? Did you really think I'd have a heart so big that I'd shrink my mind small for you?" Anthony was beginning to feel her words sting, but whatever he felt would never amount to what torment he once made Sue feel. When the guilt built up inside of him, he began to gather his words, "Sue, I know how much I've hurt you, but...

Can we talk like two decent people pouring their hearts out? Could we slow down so our words don't get ahead of us? I know you're hurt, but you have to know that I can feel hurt, too." Sue was frustrated that Anthony still had the last say, but it was not like she could say anything that would get through the man's head so all she could really say was his name with undertones of devastation.

"Anthony," she let out a long sigh so that she could calm herself down. She put her chin up as far as she could so that she could look the man before her in the eyes and said, "Since we're here now, I want to make it clear one more time, please, remember this: whatever was between you and me is over, and that will never change. I want to cut all my ties with you and want to have no form of interaction with you. Here's how it is and how it will always be: we don't owe each other anything and we are total strangers. If you think you owe me anything more than an apology, forget about it; I don't need anything from you. Your guilt is the last thing I want to hear about, so you shouldn't feel guilty. I'm not asking anything more from you, Anthony. Just that you don't do anything. That, I'll sincerely appreciate."

Sue was very clear with her terms, but for some reason, Anthony took no regard for any of it and said, "I know that's not what you really feel and I know that's not what you really want to tell me." He looked into her eyes and gently explained, "Yesterday, after Sheryl and I talked, I asked someone to go over the things that have happened to you; to go over the things in your life and now I know all the cruel things that were done to you. I know you're afraid to get me involved and that you intentionally chose words that would hurt me in order to drive me away -- that was your plan, wasn't it?"

The woman before Anthony had felt every beat of her heart turn into thuds. She never thought that the man she loved would investigate the whole issue, and for a brief moment she felt glad and relieved. However, it didn't take long before she pulled herself together and kept her integrity; she wasn't about to sabotage herself so she toughened up and said, "You regard yourself too highly, Anthony. I may have changed, but you surely haven't. You are nobody to me, and I feel like you have to know to what extent. So, listen, and listen real carefully to the words I'm about to say. Anthony, you are dead to me." she turned to Anthony with a smirk plastered onto her face.

"I broke up with you because I no longer wanted to waste time on you. You are not worthy of it. I couldn't invest any more of my resource on you. I know you think I'm some angel, but you thought wrong!" Sue lowered her gaze and added, "As for my family, it's none of your business because we are in no way related; you have no right to intervene with my own personal affairs."

Anthony, whose heart was shattered into pieces, felt disdained. However, he still wasn't having any of her words no matter how convincing they sounded. Hearing her words might have hurt him, but they weren't about to let him accept his unrighteous defeat. "Sue," he said, "please, stop being stubborn. You know, it is completely okay to accept other people's help -- you can trust me. I just want to help you; no more and no less."

Sue, who was trying her best not to let her walls come crumbling down around her, responded, "You're wrong." She stared at Anthony with a cold look on her face and said, "I've always been like this. No matter what happens, I can only do things on my own because that's how I've always been. I never had anyone but myself. There was no one there for me but myself, so I couldn't afford to fail. This is the life I'm used to. So, Anthony, I'm begging you to make this easy for me. Please, leave me alone and get out of my life. Please do not bother me anymore."

She looked at Anthony for a second and then quickly looked away, saying, "Please, don't bother Sheryl either. If you really want to make it up to me, just stay away from us."

The helpless man was beginning to feel like he was losing her. "Sue..."

"Go at this instant," the heartbroken woman demanded, "go!" Sue closed her eyes doing her best not to have any memory of Anthony leaving her. She was afraid that she would never be able to get over the pain after he left.

Anthony went from hopeful to depressed. He sighed, looked up, and said, "I know you, Sue. I know what you're saying, and I know what you actually want to say. For some reason, you always keep the truth from me, but I'm not a fool to believe any of the lies you tell me. Whatever our relationship will come to in the future, I will always be here, and I will definitely get you out of the prison cell of a life that you have." "You..." Sue began with her brows furrowed. "My life has nothing to do with you. How many times am I going to tell you that? Why do you care about me so much that you have to get involved with everything?" Sue was beginning to have thoughts on how Anthony was going to help her as she, for all the years she was trying to, had not once resolved her own problems.

"It's because..." Anthony looked into Sue's eyes without hesitation and said, "I can't watch them do this to you. I don't know, but whenever I see them hurting you like this, I get so upset to the point that I just won't accept it. I would also want to pretend that nothing happened, but I really can't do that, Sue. I..."

He smiled bitterly and continued, "Sue, I think I'm really out of my mind!"

After hearing what the man had to say, Sue felt strange. She reflected his smile and said, "Anthony, you have no idea what you're saying, do you?"

"Of course, I do," he replied calmly, glad to finally be having a real conversation with her. "I've thought a lot about this. I'm not going to lie to you anymore. I thought the only reason I was ever with you was because of sex, but... I never stopped missing you. I felt empty and wrong without you; I kept thinking I should have never let you go."

Sue scoffed, "You really are going insane." Standing up, she looked at Anthony and said, "Please, don't ever say these things to me again. They don't make sense. We..."

"Dinner is served. Come over here so we can all eat together." Just when Sue was going to ask Anthony to leave for the last time, Peggy interrupted her with a meal. Feeling the awkward ambiance in the room Peggy frowned and asked Sue, "What were the two of you talking about?"

"Nothing," Sue lied. "Mom, we'll have dinner by ourselves. Anthony is very busy and he can't stay for dinner."

"Nonsense! What are you talking about?" Peggy said, displeased with Sue's words. The mother was still in the middle of planning on how she would flatter Anthony. How could she let him leave now? "Anthony said he'd have dinner here. How can he go no---"

"If you don't believe me, just ask him yourself," Sue said, not letting her mother finish. She gave Anthony a threatening look, but Anthony pretended not to see her and smiled at Peggy. "Of course, I'm staying, Aunt Peggy. Sue is just kidding you. Just now, we were having a little tiff, so she was trying to get me out of here."

He laughed and carried on, "Rest assured, I'm not going anywhere. Especially because I never had the opportunity to taste the meals you cook. Since you've prepared such a delicious dinner, how can I leave now? I can't help it!"

Peggy, relieved at Anthony's confirmation, smiled and said, "That's what I thought; that's good to know, Anthony." The mother laughed with Anthony while she gave Sue a sour look and said, "Don't be so rude to Anthony. I didn't raise you to become impolite to guests. If you do this again next time, you will have a difficult situation living here."

"Are you leaving or not?" Sue asked, completely shutting off her mother's threatening words.

"Sue," Anthony said with a frown, "it's just a meal. Relax."

"Alright. If you won't leave, then I will!" The relentless woman stood up and coldly said, "You can stay here and enjoy the sumptuous dinner, but I'll leave. I hope that's okay with you."