I Left Him after He Chose The Sister-in-law

Clementine Stephens hurried toward the hotel entrance, drawing in a shaky breath as soft rain misted all around her.

"Hold on a second, I’ll send someone for an umbrella," a soft voice called from behind her.

Clementine spun around, caught off guard. "Mckenna? What are you doing here?"

"Business dinner," Mckenna Lopez answered. His eyes locked on the wet streaks of tears tracking down her cheeks. "Wait—have you been crying?"

Clementine shook her head, not about to dump her messy, chaotic life on him. But a teasing male voice cut in before she could speak, "Looks like someone’s off their game today, huh?"

"Mr. Garza?"

Mckenna froze in surprise. After quick greetings with Raphael Garza, the three of them settled into the hotel lounge, making empty small talk while their eyes kept drifting back to Clementine. She sank into the deep emerald velvet sofa, watching the rain streak the big windows, blurring the street outside until the dark silhouettes melted right into the lobby’s warm glow.

Leonidas Lopez reached the revolving door just as three black umbrellas popped open outside. Through the sheets of rain, he watched Raphael subtly tilt his umbrella to cover Clementine’s shoulder, while Mckenna kept a protective hand hovering inches from her waist.

Leonidas’s grip on the cold metal door frame was so tight it left a bright red welt. How… delightful. His own niece, his business rival—both huddled under umbrellas with his wife.

Clementine politely turned down Raphael’s offer and climbed into Mckenna’s car. The second the engine roared to life, the passenger door was wrenched open.

"Get out," Leonidas’s voice was as icy as the cold spring rain beating down around them.

Frustration bubbled over, and Clementine shot back, "Get out of my way."

Mckenna bit down on a smile.

Leonidas’s eyes went dark. He drew a slow breath. "Mom’s back, and she’s not feeling well—"

Before he could finish, Clementine’s phone rang. It was Sophia Lopez, Leonidas’s mother. After Benjamin Lopez’s first wife—Mckenna’s grandmother—passed away, he married Sophia, and they had two sons: Leonidas and his older brother.

A month ago, a car accident took her eldest son. After that, Sophia left for a quiet retreat to try and piece herself back together. Unlike Benjamin, Sophia had always been genuinely kind to Clementine. In the two years Clementine had been married to Leonidas, she’d treated her better than she treated her own son. Every fight between Clementine and Leonidas ended with Leonidas getting chewed out for starting it.

After the call ended, Clementine grabbed an umbrella and stepped out of Mckenna’s car. Leonidas tried to share his umbrella with her, but his ridiculous height made it impossible. He ended up sprinting ahead to his own car, yanking the back door open and holding it for her.

Clementine kept her gaze straight ahead and slid into the front passenger seat instead. The driver, Uriel Scott, stared blankly in the rearview mirror, too nervous to say a word.

Leonidas’s expression was darker than the stormy sky outside. Maybe it was just the pouring rain, but he didn’t say a single word as he slid into the back seat.

Watching Leonidas’s car pull out of the open-air lot, Mckenna’s grip tightened on his own steering wheel until his knuckles whitened.

The ride was dead silent, thick with tension. Uriel didn’t even dare shift gears too abruptly. Finally, they pulled up to a quiet, tree-lined apartment complex. Uriel got out and let out a deep, relieved sigh.

Sophia had moved out here five years earlier, after she and Benjamin separated over their constantly strained relationship. She’d chosen to live alone.

When they walked in, Sophia was lighting memorial candles for her eldest son. She set the last candle in its holder when she heard them, turning with a warm smile that immediately pulled Clementine toward the sofa. "Look how thin you’ve gotten! I had Carla make your favorite beef stew. Come sit, have a bowl, won’t you?"

Leonidas was completely invisible to her.

Once Clementine was settled on the sofa, Sophia leaned in and whispered, "Honey, is that brat giving you trouble again?"

She’d only cut her retreat short after seeing the gossip about Clementine and Leonidas in the tabloids yesterday.

"Mom, Leonidas and I…"

Clementine started to speak, but Sophia cut her right off. "If that good-for-nothing gives you one more bit of trouble, you just sit right in front of him and eat that whole stew! If there’s any left, we’ll give it to the dog—he doesn’t get a single bite!"

Sophia deliberately didn’t mention Samara, she didn’t want to upset Clementine any more than she already was.

"Mom~" Clementine sighed.

Sophia gently brushed the leftover tear tracks from the corner of Clementine’s eyes. "If he gives you any more grief, you just tell me. I’ve got a million tricks to put him in his place."

Carla walked in with a pot of herbal tea. "Ma’am, you need to take it easy. You still haven’t fully gotten your strength back."

Sophia never recovered from her eldest son’s sudden death—it had left her heart heavy and broken.

All thought of divorce melted right out of Clementine’s head.

Sophia kept her word. At dinner, she didn’t let Leonidas touch a single spoonful of stew. When he reached for the serving bowl, Sophia smacked his hand hard with her fork. "You think you’re so big and capable, why do you even need food?"

Leonidas: "..."

The mighty CEO Lopez, the untouchable public icon of success, was stuck eating plain dry bread for dinner.

That night, the light drizzle turned into a full-blown downpour, so Clementine had no choice but to stay over. After her shower, she climbed into bed and forced herself to close her eyes, trying to block out the sound of the shower running in the connected bathroom.

Thankfully, she was usually a heavy sleeper.

But somewhere between asleep and awake, she felt someone roll her over and press her against a solid, warm chest. Leonidas leaned down and kissed her deep.

It came out of nowhere.

Clementine was completely caught off guard, until she heard him murmur against her lips, "It’s been days. Are you still mad at me?"

She didn’t know what to say.

He still thought this was just her throwing a little tantrum.

Her words never got taken seriously. Her feelings always got brushed off like they didn’t matter.

Leonidas kept kissing her, hot and desperate. When she stayed silent, he asked rough and low, "It’s been a while. Don’t you miss this?"

After his brother’s accident, they’d only been intimate once before he left for that business trip.

Clementine closed her eyes quietly. "Any hole would work for you, right?"

Leonidas’s fist slammed into the mattress. All his desire vanished in an instant.

He sat up straight as Clementine adjusted her nightgown, ready to move away from him.

But Leonidas wrapped an arm around her waist and wrenched her right back against him.

He drew a deep breath, trying to choke down his frustration, and looked down at her. "Can we just stop this? Let’s have a good life together, just like before."

Just like before—when she was nothing but a shadow hanging around the edges of his life.

Clementine couldn’t help but laugh, sharp and bitter. "Your idea of a good life is giving me the cold shoulder and leaving me alone over and over and over again?"

Leonidas’s eyes turned icy. "I admit I’ve been busy lately. But surely you get that some things have to take priority."

He ignored her jab about being neglected, only latched onto the last part of her sentence.

Tired and worn down from his endless dodging, Clementine shot back, "Right. I’m just the one who doesn’t understand how priorities work."

Leonidas hauled her onto his lap. His voice was low and rough in the dim bedroom light. "Tell me what I need to do to make this stop."

Clementine tilted her head and looked right at him. "Does stopping this mean I get to be trained like a dog, sitting obediently waiting for whatever you command?"