‘You’ve ruined my life, Philip.’ I was trembling. Tears, snotters and pure, intense hurt traumatised my body.
‘Please don’t go,’ he sobbed, standing up as I got closer to the door.
‘Don’t go? Don’t go! Are you fucking serious? You have made me fall out with my friends and lose the man I love. You have destroyed my reputation and my business. The app was my one unbelievable chance to be successful, Philip, and it’s gone now. I’ve losteverything.’
He glared at me, his eyes red and watery. ‘Look, I can help fix it, Ella. I promise I will do whatever you want.’ His voice was croaky, but there was determination behind it.
‘I want you to stay the fuck away from my friends and me! I never want to see your face again!’
I opened the door and slammed it shut behind me, crying as my shaky legs reached the stairwell. I wanted to pause and take a breath, but I didn’t want to risk him coming after me.How could this happen? How could he do this to me?I reached the reception, pale and trembling, and headed out to the street, hailing down the first yellow cab I saw.
‘To Hudson Yards, please.’
Chapter Forty-Two
Ella
I headed up in the lift, still in a daze, with tears flooding my face. Guilt and disbelief crashed over me – I couldn’t believe what just happened with Philip. How could he do this to me? To someone he was trying to win back. He was making me smaller, ruining my dreams and opportunities, just like Zola had said. Shit, why did I say those awful things to her? My stomach churned, knowing she was right all along, hoping she still wasn’t reeling from our gloves-off argument. I mean, I knew Philip wasn’t over the moon I was dating Jimmy, but his decision to involve the media and jeopardise our app, forcing us to return to Glasgow, was nothing short of fucking psychotic. My head was in overload, bouncing between everything that had happened.
The lift door pinged open, and I paused, taking a second to think.
‘Ella?’ Katy called from the living room. ‘Is that you?’
‘Ella?’ Zola called, more sharply.
I cleared my throat and stepped out. ‘Yeah, it’s me,’ I said, heading to the living room where they sat with Ethan, typing. Had he been here since I left all those hours ago?
‘Are you OK?’ Katy fussed, heading over to me with her arms wide. ‘You look like shit and we’ve been so worried. Where did you go?’
I shook my head at Katy, unable to speak for a moment. Zola saw my distress and stood, her expression turning concerned as she came towards me.
‘I’m sorry,’ I said, ‘For everything I said, I was bang out .?.?.’
‘Ella,’ she cut in. ‘I’msorry. You were probably right. I’ve been a dick since Curtis, and if you want to be with Philip then .?.?.’
I blew out a gasp. ‘I do not want to be anywhere near that fuckin’ prick ever again!’
Zola and Katy shared a look, curious to see what had gone down.
‘So, Philip has been tracking my phone – that’s how he “bumped” into me at the coffee shop on the first day he arrived,’ I began, my voice trembling. Both my friends leaned against the sofa, bracing for more drama. ‘He also tipped off the press about Katy and Travis.’ I gulped, anxious that Katy might blame me for letting Philip near our chat.
‘What?’ Katy exclaimed in pure disbelief.
‘He read our chats, they pop up on my laptop. The day I met him in the coffee shop, and I went outside to call Zo, he read all our chats, took pictures as well. Can you believe that douche! I’m so sorry, Katy. I had no idea he’d do that.’
Zola sank back on the sofa, as her head flopped down between her knees. ‘I’ll kill him!’
Katy was still processing. ‘But why, Ella?’
I breathed slowly, my exhaustion weighing on every word as I walked around and took a seat on the sofa. ‘Because he was jealous of Jimmy and me. He wanted the app to fail and thought if I moved back to Glasgow, he’d have a better chance, I guess.’
Zola put her arm around Katy, who had fallen unusually quiet. ‘But he has no beef with Katy? And she’s got the brunt of this whole thing!’
‘Collateral damage,’ Ethan chipped in, his eyes still glued to his laptop.
I began to explain exactly how I caught Philip out while my friends hummed and hawed at the tea.
‘So, he claims he’s not the stalker.’ I rounded up my ordeal. ‘But who knows what that posh prick is capable of?’
