Chapter 59
JESSICA
My eyes burn, swollen from sleep or crying or both. I don’t remember when I stopped sobbing. Only that I did. I stare at the ceiling for a long time, hoping for numbness. Hoping maybe if I worship it long enough, it’ll show mercy. Maybe it’ll numb me. Maybe it’ll split open and take me back.
However, no one takes pity on the weak. I know that now. I’ve earned that knowledge when Theo took advantage of me. So, I decided to continue my day as if everything’s alright.
“There she is!” Pierce eagerly shouted tapping Grayson’s shoulder. I saw both of them having their morning coffee and discussing something. “Going somewhere lil sis?”
I ignore him completely. My focus is entirely on Grayson, whose eyes widen slightly as he takes in my appearance–the dark smudged makeup I didn’t bother washing off, the hickeys I didn’t try to hide.
Without warning, I straddle Grayson’s lap, knocking his coffee against his chest. He hisses at the heat but I silence him by crushing my mouth against his. My hands tangle in his hair, pulling just hard enough to hurt.
When I break away, I smile at the shock on both their faces. “Can we talk?” I whisper against Grayson’s lips. “Privately.”
Pierce clears his throat. “Uh, is that a fucking hickey Jessica?!”
“Pierce, you can go,” he says, voice terrifyingly calm.
Pierce snorts. “Dude, this is my house.”
Grayson’s hand slides up to my throat, thumb pressing against one of Theo’s marks. His eyes never leave mine. “Go.”
The door slams a moment later. Grayson’s fingers tighten slightly around my neck.
“Who touched you?” he asks, voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. “Who. Fucking. Touched. You.”
I feel his rage like a physical thing–a storm building inside him that will destroy everything in its path. Good. That’s what I want. Destruction.
“I’m cheating on you,” I say, feeling his fingertips press deeper into my skin. “You have to break up with me.”
Please be mad at me, Grayson.
I need you to be mad at me.
His pupils dilate until his eyes are almost black. Without warning, he flips me onto my back, the coffee table crashing beneath us. Pain shoots up my spine but the adrenaline makes it feel distant, almost pleasurable.
“Liar,” he growls, hands finding my throat again. This time, he squeezed until I’m struggling for air. “You wouldn’t dare,”
“I fucked someone else,” I choke out, tears stinging my eyes. “Last night. I let another man-”
His other hand crashes into the wall beside my head, plaster cracking. “Stop lying to me!”
“Break up with me,” I plead, voice barely audible as his grip tightens. “Grayson—”
The pressure increases. Black spots dance in my vision as I gasp for breath that won’t come. I’m drowning in air. My lungs burn, my constricts. I claw at his hands, my nails drawing blood from his wrists, but he doesn’t seem to feel it.
1/3
Chapter 59
This isn’t what I wanted.
His eyes are vacant, like he’s somewhere else entirely. Someone else entirely.
My fingers weaken, limbs growing heavy. One last desperate scratch across his forearm finally breaks through whatever trance he sin
He releases me suddenly, horror washing over his face as I roll to my side, coughing violently, gulping down air like I’m starving forc
“Jess… fuck. I’m sorry!” His voice breaks, hands hovering over me, afraid to touch. “I didn’t mean would never”
“No!” I shouted, stepping away from him. I stumble backward, knocking over a glass that shatters against the floor.
“You were going to do it,” I whisper, my voice a painful rasp. “You were really going to-”
“No!” He falls to his knees, keeping his distance. “Jess, I swear to Goddess, I don’t know what happened. It was like I wasn’t even… like!
couldn’t control…“.
My phone buzzes from where it fell during our struggle. A text from Theo: “Did you tell him yet? Are you okay?”
Grayson’s eyes lock onto the screen, and he moves faster than I can react. His fingers close around my phone, eyes scanning the message.
“Theo?” He looks up, betrayal washing over his features. “You weren’t lying?“.
“Grayson, no. Give that back!” I lunge forward, but he sidesteps me, already scrolling through my conversation history.
His face grows pater with each swipe. “You’ve been seeing him.”
“Give me my phone!” I launch myself at him, clawing desperately for it. My nails rake across his cheek, leaving angry red lines. He barely flinches, just scrolls through more messages while holding me at bay with one arm.
“Stop it!” I scream, pounding on his chest. When he didn’t give up the phone, I found myself slapping him hard across the face.
Grayson freezes. His head snaps to the side from the impact, phone still clutched in his hand. For a heartbeat, everything goes silent–even our breathing.
“You actually hit me,” he whispers, sounding more bewildered than angry.
I back away, my hand stinging. What have I done? The redness blooming across his cheek makes my stomach knot.
“I-” My voice catches. His eyes track me like a predator as I retreat, bumping into the edge of the counter.
He tosses my phone onto the aisle and steps toward. ” First, you tell me you cheated. Then, I found you’re cheating with your ex–lover. And now you fucking hit me?”
My lips tremble uncontrollably, tears threatening to spill over. I can’t tell him the truth–I can’t tell anyone.
“Damn, baby,” Grayson says, his voice cracking slightly. “What else are you doing behind my back, huh?”
The hurt in his eyes makes me want to confess everything, but I can’t. I won’t. This has to end, for both our sakes.
“You have to break up with me,” I say, my voice quivering. I reach for his hand, but he pulls away like my touch burns. “Please break up with me.”
Please break up with me, Grayson. This is destroying us both. You’re hurting me more than you know, and I can’t tell you why I need this to end. I just need you to walk away before one of us doesn’t walk away at all.
2/3
Chapter 59
His face crumbles before my eyes. I don’t want to see him hurting but I had to pretend I’m numb for this,
His eyes are like open wounds, bleeding confusion and betrayal. He’s searching my face with such intensity that I almost believe h every thought I’m desperately trying to hide.
“You don’t mean that,” he says, but uncertainty creeps into his voice.
“I do,” Ilie, digging my nails into my arms to keep from reaching for him. “It’s over, Grayson. Just say it and we can both move on.
He shakes his head slowly and my heart feels like it’s being torn in two. One blinks free, trailing down his cheek, and it takes everything in me not to wipe it away.
“I don’t believe you.” Grayson licks his lips and look away. “This isn’t you, Jess.”
I’ve never seen Grayson cry before. He’s a Westwood and a future alpha never shed tears but now, he’s crying over me.
I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I scream inside my head. Please understand someday that I had no choice.
“Fine,” he finally says, his voice hollow. “If that’s what you want.”
It’s not what I want. It’s the furthest thing from what I want. But I nod anyway, my own tears threatening to betray me:
AD
