Frank's voice was still echoing in the apartment like a slap neither of us had fully recovered from.
Frank hadn't expected her to talk back.
He definitely hadn't expected her to choose Edward.
His son.
Edward was standing slightly behind her, shoulders squared, his jaw sharp with tension, his presence radiating a calm danger. He wasn't touching Leah, but he might as well have been wrapped around her. Everything in his stance said one thing:
Mine.
I will protect her.
Even from you.
Frank stepped farther into the living room, ignoring the rain still dripping from his jacket onto the floor.
"So this is it?" he asked, voice strained. "You're truly choosing her? This… mess?" His eyes flicked between them. "Edward, do you realize what you're doing?"
Edward didn't flinch.
Didn't blink.
Didn't even breathe differently.
"I know exactly what I'm doing," he said calmly. "For the first time in a very long time."
Leah's heart clenched. She wasn't used to anyone choosing her certainly not like this. Not so boldly. Not with consequences sharp enough to cut every bond around them.
Frank let out a bitter laugh. "You're going to throw away your future over a woman who was your stepmother, Edward? Are you out of your mind? Do you know what this looks like?"
Edward stepped forward then not enough to touch Frank, but enough to make Frank take an instinctive half-step back.
"It looks like I finally have something worth fighting for," Edward said quietly. "Someone."
Leah inhaled sharply. Her eyes burned.
Frank scoffed. "You barely know her."
Edward's jaw tightened. "I know enough."
"That's not an answer."
"No, it's not," Edward agreed. "So here's the real one." He moved to Leah's side, slipping his hand into hers without hesitation. "I know she doesn't manipulate people. I know she doesn't lie to protect an image. I know she doesn't use love as a weapon. I know she doesn't cheat. I know she doesn't walk away when things get difficult. And I know she's been hurt by you, by her ex, by life itself in ways you never cared to understand."
Frank stiffened. "I didn't hurt her."
Edward laughed. It wasn't kind. "You didn't help her either."
Leah swallowed thickly. She didn't want to cry not in front of Frank, not in front of the man who once held her heart hostage. But Edward's hand squeezed hers like he felt the tremor in her fingers.
Like he was saying, It's okay. I've got you.
Frank's eyes darkened. "You think you love her," he said to Edward. "You don't. This is infatuation. Gratification. She was convenient at her weakest, and you swooped in and"
"No." Edward's voice sliced clean through the accusation. "That's not what happened. And you know it."
Frank's nostrils flared. "She was married to me."
Leah flinched.
Edward's hand tightened again gently, protectively, grounding her.
"You cheated on her," Edward said flatly. "Repeatedly."
Frank's expression twisted. "That's our business."
"No," Edward replied. "It became mine the second she cried in my arms because of you."
Frank turned to Leah, voice rising. "And you let him comfort you? You let him touch you? Did you even hesitate before"
"Stop talking to her like that." Edward stepped fully between them now, blocking Frank's line of sight. "You don't get to speak to her that way. Not anymore."
The room froze.
Leah hadn't asked for protection… but God, she had never felt more protected. A warmth spread through her chest that made her knees weak.
Frank stared at his son, disbelief cracking across his face.
"You're choosing her over me."
Edward didn't hesitate. "I'm choosing what's right."
"And I'm what? Wrong?" Frank's voice shook with anger. "I'm still your father."
Edward shook his head slowly. "You're the man who taught me everything I never want to become."
Frank's mouth opened but nothing came out.
Leah pressed a hand to her lips.
Edward wasn't done.
"You taught me that love is disposable," Edward said quietly. "That relationships are transactional. That people exist to serve your needs… until they don't. You taught me that loyalty is optional, apologies are unnecessary, and that your ego is more valuable than your family."
He took a breath.
"But Leah taught me something else."
Frank frowned. "What could she have possibly"
"Everything you didn't." Edward looked back at her with eyes full of conviction, then turned back to his father. "She taught me respect. Vulnerability. Kindness. She taught me that love can be… gentle. And fierce. And worth fighting for."
Leah's heart clenched so hard it physically hurt.
"She taught me what I want my life to look like. And it's not the version you raised me for."
Frank shook his head, pacing like the ground beneath him was slipping. "Edward, listen to me. This… this thing she destroyed our family."
"No." Edward's voice was steel. "You did."
Frank stopped dead.
Edward stepped forward, voice calm but lethal.
"You walked away from her emotionally long before she signed those divorce papers. You chose Vivian. You chose selfishness. You chose betrayal. Leah didn't break our family, Dad." He shook his head. "You did that on your own."
Frank swallowed, jaw trembling with the first sign of real vulnerability Leah had ever seen from him.
"She was my wife," he whispered.
Leah closed her eyes for a moment.
Those words should have hurt more than they did.
But Edward spoke before Frank could build momentum.
"And you treated her like she was disposable."
The silence in the room went heavy and hollow.
Leah couldn't breathe.
Frank's gaze darted between them between her tear-shining eyes and Edward's steady, unwavering stance.
"How long has this… thing been going on?"
"A while," Edward said. "Long enough for me to know it's real."
Frank scoffed again, but weaker this time. "You think this will last?"
Edward's fingers brushed Leah's as if reminding her she wasn't alone.
"I know it will," Edward replied, "because I'm willing to fight for it. And she's worth the fight."
Frank's throat bobbed. "And what about me?"
Edward's expression softened not with affection, but with closure.
"You're my father," he said plainly. "I'll always care about you. But I won't let you control my life. Not this time."
He stepped closer, lowering his voice.
"And if you ever talk to Leah with disrespect again… I won't hesitate to walk away for good."
Frank froze.
Completely.
For the first time, Edward had real power in the dynamic.
And he was using it for her.
Leah felt tears sliding down her cheeks. She didn't wipe them. She didn't hide them. For once, she let someone see how deeply everything cut.
Edward turned, moving to her, his hands coming to rest on her shoulders.
"You don't have to be afraid," he murmured. "Not anymore."
Leah inhaled sharply. The tension in her body unraveled like knots loosening.
Frank watched them his son choosing a woman he had once taken for granted. His mistakes shown to him in the worst possible mirror: the man he raised becoming everything he failed to be.
Frank opened his mouth again, but the words never came.
He simply looked away, shoulders slumping in a way Leah had never seen.
After a long moment, he spoke quietly. "I hope you both know what you're doing."
Edward squeezed Leah's shoulder. "We do."
Frank nodded once an exhausted, defeated gesture and turned toward the door.
He didn't slam it.
He didn't shout.
He just left.
When the latch clicked shut, Leah exhaled shakily. "Edward…"
He pulled her into his chest instantly, arms wrapping around her with a fierce, grounding warmth.
"I'm not going anywhere," he whispered into her hair. "Not now. Not ever."
Leah clutched him, body trembling.
For the first time in her life, she felt like she had someone who would stand in the fire with her.
And fight back.