I had confused being needed with being loved.

They are not the same thing.

You can be needed by people who do not love you at all; in fact being needed is often exactly what keeps you close enough to be used.

I had spent six years being needed and calling it being loved, and it took my family spending my house on a yacht and skipping my wedding to make me see, at last, that a family who loves you comes to your wedding, and a family who only needs you sends you a text that says priorities.

Chapter 12 — The Login

On our first morning home, while Lennox unpacked, I sat at the kitchen island with a cup of black coffee and opened my laptop.