All Chapters of My Enemy Is My Lover : Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Rosa’s povOutside, the rain lightly tapped on the windows of her home, providing a steady and serene sound to the coziness of her living room. Bethel had always lived in a cozy house — couches with tight arms, hand-knitted blankets thrown over the chairs, vanilla notes lingering in the air. For me tonight, it felt like a safe and sacred space where I could finally let go of what I had held onto for so very long.Bethel sat across from me, holding her tea. I fidgeted at the edge of my cup while her soft pools of understanding met mine. I had invited myself, as if I needed company (the real reason was for courage)“Okay, we — like, maybe tonight you could try to not be a mute,” Bethel replied, voice heavier with curiosity. “Is everything okay?”I let her words hang in the air for a moment, and I thought about backing off. It would have been really easy to brush the conversation off, to smile and nod and say I was okay. But I wasn’t fine. I had not gone in a long, long time.I put my te

Dera’s povIt was an odd kind of quiet, and I stood outside our bedroom door, my heart beating so loudly that I wondered if James could hear it. Emma was safely asleep down the hall, her slumber at peace while I waited to unleash a storm. I saw James on the bed with a book, his face static in the gold light of the lamp.I held the doorframe and took a big breath trying to center myself. Yet as the words Bethel and I had practiced swirled in my head, they were no match for the emotional damage I was about to inflict.As I entered, I whispered James.He looked up, concern passing over his expression when he saw me. “Hey, Rosa. What’s wrong?”Instead, I approached the edge of the bed and did not reply; I sat next to him with hands shaking, fighting the panic that was rising in my chest.James, I said softly (so soft it was almost a whisper), I need to tell you something.He shut his book, set it aside on the nightstand and focused entirely on me. “What is it?” He furrowed his brow.Apart

Rosa’s POVJames glared at me, a black hole with his pain that threatened crushing weight. Each of his words was another wall between us, and more proof that I had lost him forever.{}James, please I whispered shakily “Just let me explain.”“Explain?” he spat, his voice rising. “I mean, what can there be left to explain, Rosa? You’ve said enough.”There was something cold and final in his tone that chilled me. No, I had to make more of an effort — this could not just be how it ended.Voice shaky, I said, “I know I hurt you.” “And I realise that an apology alone is not going to cut it. But I will do anything—anything —to make this right.The noise he made almost sounded like laughter pouring from the back of his throat, and it felt like a knife slicing through to me. “Fix this? Do you even hear yourself? Once you do what you've done, it can't be undone. You’ve destroyed us, Rosa.”My eyes misted, and I had to fight, fight hard against letting the tears fall. He required me to demonstra

Rosa's POV James: — I want to forgive you, Rosa. But it’ll take time.” Mrs R was ordinary apart from saying that and for weeks I had held onto those words like the last toughed vine to keep me alive in a flood - WEEKS. They were the sliver of light in the black void that was my life, a small piece of hope telling me that maybe all wasn’t lost, maybe I could still fix everything I had wrecked. However, the process of rebuilding our relationship seemed impossible and I understood how heavy that would be. I went all out in every action, every syllable and with anything that came up that showed James how important he was to me. Mornings became more than just mornings; they were times for his favorite coffee, brewed the way he liked it. During the afternoons, I would start leaving little notes of encouragement here and there inside his briefcase or on his desk. We had our evenings of quietly caring for him — cleaning up after him, laying out his favourite literature or movie, letting

James povI barged into my office, a bubble of fury waiting to erupt. Seeing Alex's smugness at the last board meeting was the last straw. I had struggled for weeks with the betrayal of Rosa, but today I was not angry at her. But it was still aimed at the man who had pretended to be my friend and then stabbed me in the back.Alex, get in here, I barked down the hall.When he entered my office, his neutral and smug face was totally infuriating — the tension in the air could have been cut with a knife.“James, what’s—”So I interrupted him and shut the door behind bagno to get back inside,You know damn well why you are here.The sound echoed across the chamber and for the first time, I caught a glimpse of uncertainty in his eyes. Good.I glared. "Rosa told me everything." And the way I spoke made it clear that there was no possible room for doubt. “Your so-called friendship? It was a lie. You seduced her— —and betrayed me.”He had been looking around, probably searching for a way out or