His grip was bruising, fingers digging into her skin like claws, his hands trembling with fury.
“I told you not to bring up breaking up again!” Lucas roared. “Why can’t you just listen to me for once?! When the hell are you going to start behaving properly?!”
“Let go of me!” Emily cried out, a sharp gasp breaking from her lips as his thumb pressed hard into the tender wound on her shoulder. Pain shot through her arm like fire, making her flinch violently.
But he didn’t let go.
If anything, he pulled her even closer, his breath searing against her cheek, his eyes black with rage.
“You’re done coming to the office,” he growled. “You’re staying at home. I’ll take care of you. There’s no need for this job anymore.” He flung a hand out to gesture around the office, his voice like a command. “This—this entire thing—is over.”
“Let go of me!” she screamed again, her voice cracking from the pain. She shoved his hand off her shoulder with every ounce of strength she had, breaking free with a force that sent her stumbling back.
She clutched her shoulder, panting, her breaths shallow and uneven. Her eyes stung with heat as she stared at him—shocked, hurt, furious.
He stood there, breathing hard, his jaw set.
He knew she was injured.
He knew and still didn’t care.
He knew she was already hurt—and he still grabbed her like that.
Still dug his fingers into her until she cried out.
Even when she cried out, he didn’t care.
Her stomach twisted. A bitter realization slammed into her chest like a punch.
‘How can someone like this be my boyfriend?’
A shaky laugh escaped her lips.
She shook her head slowly, jaw tightening as she forced herself to stand tall. Her voice, when it came, was cold—icier than he’d ever heard from her.
“You don’t have to worry about it anymore. I won’t be setting foot in this company ever again.”
Chapter 9 Jacob
Lucas saw the way she was looking at him, and his heart stilled.
She had never looked at him like this. Not even during their worst fights. Not even when things had crumbled before. But now, her eyes were cold—so cold it felt like a knife straight to his chest. She stared at him with such detached finality that his entire body locked up.
He couldn’t breathe.
“I’m resigning from this job,” she said clearly. “And I’m breaking up with you. From this moment on, I have nothing to do with you, Lucas Cantrell.”
Then, without another word, without a single glance back, she turned and stormed out of his office. Out of the building. Out of the chaos he’d buried her in for years.
Her body shook as she walked, every step fueled by the way she had been treated. She had been humiliated, insulted, and ignored. As if she had never mattered. As if the five years she gave him meant absolutely nothing.
How could she have stayed with a man like that for so long?
‘What the hell was I thinking?’ she thought bitterly. ‘What part of him did I ever believe was worthy of a lifetime with me?’
Pain pulsed through her body—her shoulder aching, her face numb from coldness in the air. But with each step she took, something deep within her began to unravel. The suffocating heaviness clinging to her chest slowly eased, and her expression, once tight with pain, began to relax.
Then, suddenly, a car rolled up beside her, matching her pace, and came to an abrupt stop in front of her.
