I was too caught up in the pain radiating from my bleeding palm and my earlier confrontation with Cade.
“You saw what you saw at the party and branded me a cheater. There are always two sides to a story, but you played judge, jury, and executioner before hearing mine.”
Those words bounced inside my skull with startling lucidity. I didn’t want to hear Cade’s side before. Now uncertainty crawled in my mind. The sheer conviction in his voice had me thinking that perhaps I missed something…
And that was a scary thought because I was firm in my beliefs regarding what I saw. Him. Her. On the bed. Red-stained kisses.
“You’re so sure of what you saw, huh?”
Did I see wrong? The high from my newfound pregnancy and then the plummeting heartbreak I experienced in the same night had my rationality crashing like a series of dominoes. I wasn’t in the right mindset when I caught him, let alone when I ran away from the party.
“You think you have it all figured out, but did you stop tothink, for one second, how out of character it would be for me to cheat on the love of my life?”
I did find it out of character for him, which was why his betrayal hurt the way it did.
“You were supposed to trust me…love me. Instead, you cussed me out, slammed the doors in my face, and all but pushed me out of your life like I was trash.”
Whenever I stepped out on my balcony, that memory often replayed in my mind like a film. Now as we inched closer to the nurse’s office, I remembered it again.
The whistling wind screeched as I flung open the doors, finding a wary Cade standing on my balcony. His hair was mussed by the summer wind and his gaze held a look that basically said,‘I’m lost without you.’
It cut me to the quick. I steeled myself and glared at him. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
It had been three nights since Josh’s birthday party. Three nights since I caught him in his bedroom with another ‘pretty girl.’ Three nights since I miscarried our baby. He didn’t know the last tidbit and he would never find out.
“Please, Ella,” he pleaded. His hands gripped the balcony banister with knuckle-whitening strength, stopping himself from reaching out for me. “Give me five minutes of your time. Let me explain.”
Hadn’t he done enough damage? Now the asshole actually had the gall to show up at my home. He was lucky I didn’t tell my parents that we broke up. Otherwise, my papá would murder him for how he hurt me.
“Spare me your bullshit excuses. We’re done, Cade. Get the fuck out, you cheater.”
Cheater.
I never thought I’d associate Cade to that word in my entire life. He was faithful to me. Until he wasn’t.
Pain splintered through my body. I choked on a gasp and the onslaught of tears. Was he here to beg for another chance? Or was this a sick ploy to torture me some more?
“It’s not what you think—”
“I caught you red-handed in bed with her!” I lost the fight with my tears. They rivered down my cheeks. “You had her lipstick stains all over you! There’s nothing to explain! I know what I saw!”
He finally tried to grab me. There were dark circles under his eyes and he looked extremely haggard. “Please, Ellie. I’m sorry—”
I raised a hand to his face, silencing him, and thundered on, “You’re despicable! I gave you everything—my love, my trust, my loyalty—and you stomped all over it! You make me sick!” I yelled, voice breaking. I fisted the roots of my hair, shaking my head to erase the image of him standing before me. Looking apologetic. Looking weak. Looking like a fucking cheater. When that didn’t work, I pushed at his chest to get him to leave. From my sight and from my life. “Don’t think you can beg for a second chance because you’re not getting it! If I ever see you here again, I’m calling the cops!”
He seemed shocked at my outburst.
“Please don’t do this, Ella. Just hear me out. Five minutes,” he said desperately, backing away reluctantly when I shoved at his chest again. He was almost at the edge of my balcony. Almost gone. “We made a promise. You and me. Ride or die. I love—”
I slammed the doors shut in his face.
But I still heard the muffled word he uttered. “You…”
Then I closed the curtains to block him out and ran for my en suite where I vomited in the toilet bowl.
I finished the night crying into my pillow.
Wishing I never laid eyes on Cade.
