When yet another curveball puts Andy and Lex's relationship into serious jeopardy, the stakes become higher than they've ever been, forcing the couple to fight not only for their love but also for their lives.
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Life see...
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The world crumbled around me at what his words revealed. Helpless, I stood there, unable to form coherent thoughts, my heart shattering into a thousand tiny shards.
I'm taking the deal, Andrea.
His declaration resonated like the harshest of sentences within me. He was taking the deal. He would admit to having hacked into a federal database and gathering top-secret information. Once he did that, there was no turning back. Once he admitted to this federal crime, he would go to prison for ten years at the very least.
If he did that, there would be no more hope to have him exonerated of those crimes. It wasn't as bad as the possibility of spending his life in prison, but it was still terrible in so many ways.
This wasn't happening. No. This wasn't real.
"No, you're not," I let out, too shocked to think of anything else to say.
"Andrea, my decision is final. I'm not risking life in prison."
"But you could also get no prison at all. Lex, you can't lose hope. Please, don't do this."
"I can do ten years. I will still have half of my life to live when I come out. But if we lose the trial, they might as well give me the death sentence."
"Don't say that. I'm sure you can win. Your attorneys can win. You're acting like there are only two options, dismissing the third one entirely."
"I would rather pick the sure outcome than gamble on one I have no control over."
"But there must be another possibility. There's no way they'll find you guilty, they don't have enough evidence."
"They have plenty of evidence, Andrea. And I am guilty; of what they accuse me of and of things they don't even know about. If they get one incriminating evidence, I'm done. I can't take that risk."
Tears gathered at my chin, which was how I realized I was crying. "But what of us, Lex? Aren't you willing to fight for us? Are you expecting me to wait for you for ten years?"
"No."
The gravity of his tone, the terrible meaning behind the single syllable, tore my heart apart. He was taking the deal, and he wasn't expecting me to wait for him.
"What does this mean?" I asked, hoping with everything I had this was a misunderstanding.
"Because my fate is sealed for the next ten years, it doesn't mean yours has to be too. I don't have a choice, but you do. When I'm away, I want you to live your life, to move on, and to find someone who truly deserves you."
His detached words knocked the air out of my lungs, as efficiently as if he'd punch me in the chest.
So after everything, that was it.
This was the way we ended.
He would take the deal, go to prison for a decade, and I would have to move on. He was giving up on us, rolling over, refusing to fight. I couldn't believe this. After everything we'd been through, after all the things he'd told me, after he'd pretended to love me so much, he was abandoning me.
