He slowly shook his head. “Because you were too lost in Achilles to concentrate on your studies. You were too busy changing yourself, concerned about your weight, looks, and get up to impress him all the time you didn’t have interest in your studies anymore. You were getting lost in him so much you almost forgot who you really were. You’d become a totally different person back then, Em. And that’s because your life danced around him. You didn’t see anything beyond him. Not even your own career.”

I remained quiet. How could I argue when his every word screamed truth?

“And after that, your grades only decreased. From a bright student, you ended up staying in ninth grade twice. We were all concerned about your future, Em. And Achilles noticed it all,” he said, making my eyes snap to him. “You were already so lost in him, ruining your future. What do you think would have happened to a naïve fifteenth-year-old if she was thrown into a world filled with drugs and addiction by a boy she loved? Would you be able to handle the shock and pain to see him writhe in agony when he needed drugs? Would you be able to handle him when he was drunk out of his mind at some corner of a street? Would you? Would you be able to handle any of it?”

My throat dried up as his questions swirled inside my head. “I would have been there for him. I would have definitely given him some support.” I meant what I said. I meant every word.

He again shook his head. “Maybe you would. But it would be too traumatic for a fifteen-year-old to witness it. You were too young. Your whole future would be at risk.” A sigh left him. “He didn’t know where life was taking him, Em. And after knowing your plan to confess, he knew it was time to separate you from him. From his life. And after getting away from him, you finally focused on yourself once you moved to New York. You found your path back again and shone in your life. Look at where you are now. Seeing you now, I don’t have any complaints about him anymore. It was necessary for your own good.”

His words stung. But deep down, I knew he was right. I would have been broken seeing Ace like that. My heart was too fragile back then to watch him suffer that much. Still, my heart argued with all these facts. It didn’t want to come to peace with how easily he pushed me away.