To Be Yours Again novel (Alec and Jenny)

While Jenny and Alec were flirting with each other, Stephanie ran into someone she wished she wouldn't meet. She had just got off work when she noticed a man standing in the elevator lobby of her apartment. She immediately halted in her tracks as she stared at him in astonishment and nervousness.

She did not know why he came to meet her this late in the day. Perhaps, she was a little traumatized and scared of him due to the unsavory incidents that she went through in the past. Still, she gritted her teeth and went up to him with much courage. She kept a few steps in the distance between them, which was just perfect for a conversation or an immediate escape. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

Paul threw away the cigarette butt between his fingers and glanced at her. "Why are you standing so far away from me?"

She ignored him and reiterated, "Why are you here?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to ask if you're with Leonard Sullivan now." Alec had broken the news to him with the intention of making him give up on Stephanie. Unfortunately, Alec underestimated Paul's obsession with the woman. How could Paul give her up so easily? Once he got the news, he immediately showed up at the entrance to her apartment to ask her about it.

Feeling jittery, she tried hard to mask her anxiety. "Yes. Leonard is my boyfriend now."

Paul's expression crumbled. The veins on his forehead bulged in anger, and he appeared to be ready to give her a beating at any second. She was afraid of him and took a few steps backward. "Paul Wagner, do not try anything funny! I told you long ago that I was not into you anymore."

"Steph, how could you say you are not into me anymore? I don't believe you." Paul was living in his fantasy and refused to believe she was in love with another man.

She was troubled and at a loss for how to handle him. "Paul, let's look to the future. We deserve to live our lives."

"No! I can't live without you," Paul exclaimed.

She rolled her eyes at him, feeling speechless. "Paul, you should stop trying to flatter me. You know better than anyone how you treated me in the past. That's no love-it's purely a need to control." He wouldn' have hurt her in that way if he truly loved her.

"Steph, I know I was wrong and am willing to change. I just need you to give me a second chance," he pleaded, his eyes moist with tears, looking pitiful.

Too bad she had no lingering feelings for him anymore, and his pitiful demeanor did not win her sympathy. She stared at him and announced coldly, "I'm sorry, but I have a boyfriend now. I love him a lot and do not plan to date anyone else now." In other words, she refused to give Paul a chance.

Hearing that, he went up and grabbed her wrist. "Why? You loved me so much. How could you suddenly claim that you're not in love with me? Have you never loved me from the start?"

She felt pain in her wrist and frowned. "Paul, don't you think the question is rather unimportant now?"

"It's not!" he yelled. Of course, it was important! He wanted to know if she had ever loved him.

She sighed and looked at him with pity. "I once loved you." But she wasn't in love with him anymore.

He stared at her with teary eyes and refused to let go. "I don't believe you! How could you not love me anymore? You must be lying. You're still angry at me, aren't you?"

"Paul! Let me go!" Worried that he might spiral and go out of control, she wanted to leave.

However, he clutched on tighter. "No, I won't! I will never let you go!"