Chapter 2

Chris sat down on the couch in his locker room and stared at the wall. "I can't believe her nerve!" he exclaimed to his brother Riley.

"I can't believe your nerve," Riley replied quietly from a chair nearby.

Chris looked at his brother. "Are you taking her side?" he asked in total disbelief.

"Hey, there are no sides here, dude," Riley said. "I'm just saying, that was pretty screwed the way you didn't even hear what she had to say."

"You, of all people, know the hell that I went through because of her," Chris said. "She ruined my life."

"You can't place all the blame on her, though," Riley pointed out. "It was partially your fault as well."

"You are taking her side!" Chris accused. "Even after all the crap I went through in my personal life because of her."

"Like I said before, I'm not taking anyone's side," Riley said. "I'm just saying, everything that happened in your life because of the way you felt about her isn't all her fault."

"How can you say that?" Chris asked. "I nearly divorced my wife for her, just so we could have a chance to be together. Just a little chance."

"The key word there is nearly," Riley said. "You nearly divorced your wife. But you didn't go through with it, remember? So what did you expect her to do? Just keep being your little whore on the side?"

"She was never my whore," Chris said angrily. "So don't you dare call her that!"

"But that's what she felt like. Think about it. You were married, and you were seeing her on the side," Riley said. "You never divorced your wife. So of course, Stephanie felt like she was your little whore. And you did nothing to persuade her otherwise."

"Well, thanks for the little speech, bro," Chris said sarcastically. "You're basically saying it's all my fault that she married Paul."

"I'm not saying it's your fault that she married Paul. Maybe that's your guilt talking," Riley said. "But it's all your fault that she's hurting right now. I'm sure she's somewhere alone right now crying her eyes out."

"I can't believe you're taking her side!" Chris snapped. "You're my brother. When are you going to realize that and take my side?"

"I'm not taking anyone's side," Riley said, standing up and heading for the door. "But I'll leave you with this question in mind: When are you going to come to your senses and realize that you still love her?"

Riley didn't wait for Chris to answer. He just slipped quietly out of the room. Pushing strands of his blond hair back from his face, he walked purposefully to Stephanie McMahon's office. What Chris had said to her was wrong. He knew Chris was just angry, not in his right mind. But that didn't excuse him for what he'd said and it didn't erase the fact that one particular Billion Dollar Princess was hurting.

He decided that tonight, he would try to stop her pain...