I have never, ever been so angry in my entire life.

Rage seeps into every pore, until all I see is red. My pulse thrums beneath my skin and my heart pounds so hard it threatens to burst out of my rib cage. The words play over and over in my head like a merry go round.

Mason only dated you because he thought you had potential. Mason only dated you because he thought you had potential.

Everything clicks into place like missing puzzle pieces. From the fact that he approached me in the first place, right down to his throwaway comment in the car that I had been so eager to ignore. The truth which I had been blind to for so long, finally presents itself to me in the most hurtful way possible.

Mason never loved me. It's possible he never even cared about me. All he wanted was to change me, to mould me into what he considered beautiful. While I had been falling for him, he was nudging me in the direction he wanted.

Well, screw him.

My session with Amy earlier on in the week pops into my mind. I had been so quick to give her advice, and yet so oblivious to my own circumstances. I think back to what I said to her.

No matter what, you can't let anyone else define you.

Isn't that exactly what I have done? I have let Mason walk all over me, back then and now, making sure to stay inside the lines that he had drawn. I even let him dictate what I ordered, too scared of his rejection to stand up for myself.

There is no one else in the world that is like you.

Isn't that what Hailee had been telling me all along? Chase and Alexa too? No matter what I looked like, if Mason really cared, he would have accepted me for who I am.

But he never did.

Why am I only seeing this now?

Because this place was amazing, and someone didn't see its worth. Instead of making the time to take care of it, they neglected it and didn't care for it enough. And yet, it's still the most beautiful building in the whole town.

Damn, I feel stupid.

Although I want to, I can't lay all the blame at Mason's feet. After all, I am the one who let him try and change me. I had been so passive, so desperate to have him. For so long I had just wanted Mason to love me the way that I loved him. I would do anything or be anything that he wanted, so convinced that it was what I wanted too that I didn't even see how much he was controlling me.

I felt so grateful that someone like him would even date someone like me that I didn't question the fact that he did. I accepted the blame every time we had a fight. I ignored the fact that he was too embarrassed of me to even introduce me to his parents. I let him tell me what I could and couldn't eat.

Well, not anymore, that narcissistic, arrogant dirt bag.

I spent so much time wondering if I was good enough for Mason, that I never even considered whether he was good enough for me.

I turn my back on Drew and march into the house, looking left and right for any sign of Mason. My anger spurs me on, adrenaline pulsing through my veins. I see him walking towards me, a smile on his face, a pair of shorts hanging low on his hips. He is shirtless, a towel hanging over his shoulder. The sight of him is like a red flag to a bull. I want to slap him, to hurt him like he's hurt me.

But the damage he's done is emotional, and I know I'll never be able to affect him the same way.

He doesn't seem to notice how mad I am, instead walking towards me, with his hand reached out as if to take mine. The confident smile that I used to love is stretched across his face, now it just makes me feel sick. How many times have I fallen for that stupid grin?

I slap his hand out of the way with as much force as I can muster. It does nothing except for finally making him realise how mad I am. He catches sight of my expression and the smile slips off his face.

"What's wrong?" He looks concerned and that only seems to fuel my rage. Even if he's not pretending to care now, it's too late.

"Why did you date me in high school Mason?" I ask through gritted teeth. I want to hear it from him. I need him to prove me right, to show me that he hasn't changed at all. Out of the corner of my eye I see Drew, who obviously followed me, raising his hands in surrender and walking back outside.

Mason looks absolutely floored at my question, and like he doesn't want to answer it. He is silent for so long that I don't think he actually will. "What do you mean, Di?"

"You know exactly what I mean."

"Di," he makes an attempt to take my hand but I pull away from him, crossing my arms against my chest. "Why are you bringing this up now? That was years ago."

I have to clench my hand to fight the urge to punch him and break his perfect little button nose. He would probably sue me for it, his dad is a lawyer after all. "I wasn't good enough for you back then, was I? You had to change me, to love me?"

He seems to realise that it would be a bad idea to lie, and hits me with the honest truth, "yes. But look how much good it did you! Look at you now!" He doesn't even think anything he has just said is wrong and that makes it so much worse.

In front of me, I see one of the most beautiful women I have ever met. She's kind and caring, and blushes anytime someone pays her a compliment. She clearly loves her friends and is just a genuinely good person, which is not something I've seen often. And yet, she doesn't seem to realise how wonderful she is. I want to know why.

Looking back, I realise Mason is why. It was subtle and slow, but he tore down my self-confidence until I had nothing left. He made me feel like I was never good enough, like I had to change. Even now, as I'm confronting him for his actions, he sees it as a good thing and I hate him for ever making me doubt myself.

The first person that needs to learn to love you, is yourself. Once you can do that, I promise you will be so much happier.

Self-love is the most important type of love. How can someone be happy with you, if you are not happy with yourself? I remember the girl I was in high school, the girl that, thanks to Mason, I am starting to turn into again.

I don't want that. I won't go back there. I've come too far. And yes, I've let him in again, and that's my fault. But it ends, right here, right now.

"We're done, Mason." I can't believe the words coming out of my mouth. They are something I honestly never thought I would say. Clearly he never thought that I would say them either. It's his turn for his mouth to drop open. He's speechless, clearly scrambling for some sort of excuse.

But I'm done listening to him. "I don't want to be with you anymore. I want someone to care about me for me, imperfections and all. I won't let you to change me into you're version of perfect."

"Di, you can't leave," he pleads. "You can't be mad at something that happened so long ago."

"Oh but I am Mason. I'm more than mad. I've never been so furious in my life. I gave you a second chance because I thought that things would be different this time. But, you haven't changed at all since high school," I manage to squeeze out through gritted teeth.

He seems to realise that I am serious and his face turns into a scowl. "Oh and you have? You think just because you've dropped some weight you're a whole new person? News flash Diana; people don't change. You will always be the girl you were in high school." It looks like cruel Mason has come out to play.

I recoil as though he has slapped me, but somehow manage to hold my ground. "Maybe I will. But one thing's for damn sure. I won't be with you anymore."

"Let's get one thing straight here, Di. I'm the one who gave you a second chance, not the other way around. Are you really sure you want to throw that all away for something I did years ago? I think you need to take some time to really think about this."

I actually laugh, the sound clearly throwing him off balance. He flinches, as though I carried through with my urge to punch him. Standing in front of me is a completely different person than the one I thought. It's like his mask has slipped off and I'm finally seeing the real Mason Hayworth. And I don't like him at all.

I feel the snap, almost as if it's a tangible thing, as the hold he has on my heart finally and irreversibly breaks. For the first time since I met him, I'm able to look at him for what he truly is, as Hailee would put it; 'a complete and utter dildo'.

For a moment, I feel relieved.

"I don't need to think about it, Mason. You've had the last seven years of my life and I refuse to waste one more second on you. Like I said, we're done."

He sneers at me, and it twists his attractive face so much it makes him look ugly. It seems as though his appearance is finally matching his personality. "You're all talk. You wouldn't really leave me. Who would love you then?" he asks nastily.

"I will!" I respond. "I am finally going to learn to love myself. And, no offense Mason, but that's worth a hell of a lot more to me than you are."

I walk away from him before he can retort, but look back as I reach the front door. "Oh and by the way Mason, I hate being called 'Di'." And with that, I turn on my heel and exit the house, not bothering to stop and say goodbye to anyone, I don't know them anyway.

For once in our entire relationship, I leave a dumbfounded Mason, frozen to the spot as he watches me go.