A/N: Tessa/Shane does not get the love it deserves so I wrote this.
"I saved every letter you write me. From the moment I read them I knew you were mind. You said you were mine. I thought you were mine."
Tessa sat at her desk and looked at the multiple letters that Shane had written to her since they'd first met. It was only the proof that he loved her. After what had happened two days ago, she couldn't believe that he would do such a thing.
"Do you know what Angelica said when we saw your first letter arrive? She said, "Be careful with that one love. He will do what it takes to survive.'"
Her father had warned her multiple times not to date him. She should've listened to him. She shouldn't have ignored his advice. If she did, would she be in the situation that she was in now? Probably not.
"You and your words flooded my senses; your sentence left me defenseless. You built me palaces out of paragraphs, you built cathedrals. I'm re-reading the letters you wrote me. I'm searching and scanning for answers in every line for some kind of sign and when you were mine the world seemed to burn."
Tears formed in her eyes as she searched desperately for any proof that Shane had still loved her but found none. If only she had listened to her father. If only she weren't so naive, she probably wouldn't be doing this.
"You published the letters she wrote you. You told the whole world how you brought this girl into our bed and clearing your name you have ruined our lives."
Tessa looked at her phone and stared at the texts that she had recieved from numerous friends on Facebook and Instagram. How could he do this to her? He even posted a selfie of himself with another girl on the internet!
"Do you know what Angelica said when she read what you'd done? She said, "You've married an Icarus. He has flown too close to the sun.'"
Tears streamed down her face as she remembered what Case had told her. There was pain in his voice and he had said that he'd have a talk with Shane when he came home that night. Tessa knew her father all too well to guess what he'd do. He would give Shane a scolding for sure and give him a really long speech about his mistake.
"You and words obsessed with your legacy. Your sentences border unsenseless and you are paranoid in every paragraph. How they perceive you, you, you, you..."
Tessa had read story multiple times now. He met the woman at a bar and decided to sleep with her as if he'd forgotten that he already had a wife waiting for his return at home. She shut her phone off and grabbed the letters before walking downstairs to the fireplace.
"I'm erasing myself from the narrative. Let future historians wonder how Eliza reacted when you broke her heart. You have torn it all apart. I'm watching it burn, watching it burn."
Tessa tossed the papers into the fireplace and watched as it caught on fire and turned to ash. Her sadness and turned to anger as she tossed the letters into fire.
"The world has no right to my heart. The world has no place in our bed. They don't get to know what I said. I'm burning the memories, burning the letters that might have redeemed you. You forfeit all rights to my heart, you forfeit the place in our bed. You sleep in your office instead with only the memories of when you were mine!"
He wasn't sleeping in their bed tonight. He was sleeping in their office. There was no way in a million years would he sleep next to her after what he'd done to her. She didn't notice her father walk up to her until he rested a hand on her shoulder and told her to come to bed since it was almost midnight. She looked up at him with tears in her eyes as he crouched besides the fireplace.
"I hope that you burn."
They sat in silence burning the letters until Shane returned with the woman he had taken a selfie with earlier. Tessa didn't say a word as she climbed the stairs to her room. As she did so, she heard her father tell the woman to get out of their house in a not so friendly way and waited for her to leave so he could have a little talk with Shane. Tessa could hear Cade's angry voice up in her room as she cried into her pillow.
