Page 116 of Trapped With You

“I won’t,” Shaun said. Now it was just us two, the sound of crickets, and the uneasy rustling of the trees. I’d never seen my best friend look this worried. “Fuck, Cade. What have you gottenyourself into?”

It wasn’t uncommon to have enemies in my family’s business. But it was the first time I got up close and personal with the consequences of it.

“Someone…drugged…benzos.”

“You were roofied?” Shaun asked with incredulity.

I couldn’t confirm or deny it, too drained from having emptied my guts until there was nothing left inside of me.

Except for one thought pulsing through my chest like a heartbeat.

Ella. Ella. Ella.

Always Ella.

Ella

My hands trembled on the steering wheel as I arrived home and parked in my driveway. It was nearing midnight and the entire house was asleep, an otherworldly serene floating in the atmosphere, like the calm before the storm.

The second I turned off the ignition, the dam holding back my tears broke. The windshield in front of me blurred. I cried with wracking sobs, accompanied by that strange pain buzzing through my lower back and belly.

How did I even get here?

One day I was happy and fulfilled with Cade, and the next day my entire world was crushed to pieces by his unforeseen betrayal. I gave our relationship my everything, only to be dealt with this fuckery.

I didn’t understand. Why did Cade cheat on me? Was I not enough for him? Did he no longer love me? Did his friends know he was cheating on me and covered his tracks? Was he seeingherbehind my back this whole time? Or was this the first time they hooked up?

Cade was supposed to be faithful and devoted until the very end. Just like he swore many moons ago.

“Then I’ll promise you that this will last past our dying breaths until I inevitably find you again in the next lifetime, Ella.”

Liar.

Dirty fucking liar.

At the reminder of all his fake vows, my sobs halted and my tears dried up.

Fuck him and fuck all his promises. Cheat on me once and you were dead to me. I wasn’t the kind of girl who would take back her man just because she loved him.

And the love I felt for him was dying a slow death, curling on its edges like parchment paper set on fire until a pile of ash remained in its place.

Cade Killian Remington was going to regret the day he hurt me.

He called me crazy, right?

After tonight, I’d fucking show him crazy.

I stepped out of the car, adrenaline surging through my bloodstream.

First, I ripped off the necklace he gave me and threw it into the lawn with a battle cry. Then, I smashed the box of cupcakes on the ground and stomped on it a few times, reducing the little cakes to a mushy mess. The guards patrolling the perimeters probably thought that Francisco Cordova’s daughter lost her goddamn marbles.

My chest heaved when I was done.

Though I didn’t feel an iota better than before.

In fact, when grief trickled through my veins again, my mind taunted me with images of Cade and the other girl. I couldn’t believe it. The love of my life cheated on me and ruined us beyond repair. We’d never recover from this. Now I was pregnant, alone, scared, and in so much agony, I just wanted the earth to open up and swallow me whole.

This was the worst feeling I ever experienced.