"I have one question—back in Usnia, was any of that real, or was it all a setup?"
Kaleb's expression made it clear he already suspected the answer was fake.
Bria's head was spinning. How had she let something this important slip her mind? There was no "real or fake" to it—she hadn't thought much of it at all, hadn't even taken it seriously.
Kaleb took one look at her face and knew she was scrambling for an answer. He made a point of saying, "I hate liars."
Bria threw herself at his mercy. "There was nothing fake about it. And I definitely didn't record any video. I was just trying to keep you around, saying whatever I had to say to get a rise out of you. Who told you to..."
One glance at Kaleb's expression and Bria snapped her mouth shut. "Sorry, sorry, it was all my fault. Whatever you say goes. I just couldn't figure out any other way to get close to you, so I came up with that stupid plan!"
Kaleb had to admit she wasn't entirely wrong. He had genuinely been reeled in by her from the start—partly because he hadn't had a girlfriend in so long. And then Bria suddenly showed up in his bed wearing nothing but a thin little nightgown.
The moment she got close to him, his body had reacted on its own. He'd been so caught up in the rush of it that he hadn't stopped to question the details.
It was only after Bria started talking about how to handle things that he slowly came back to his senses and realized nothing had actually happened.
Bria studied his face carefully. "Do you have any other questions?"
"If I think of any, I'll ask you," Kaleb said.
Bria frowned. "Fine. I'll tell you everything. I promise I won't lie to you."
Kaleb nodded.
They stared at each other in silence—nothing like two people who had just made things official.
...
Bria was the type to go after what she wanted. She'd had her eye on Kaleb for a long time, and now that they were finally together, the hopeless romantic in her couldn't hold still. "We're together now," she said to Kaleb. "Why are you still keeping me at arm's length? Shouldn't you be holding me right now?"
Kaleb absolutely wanted to pull her close and hold her—but there was still one piece of unfinished business. He needed to teach Bria a lesson she wouldn't forget. Otherwise, she'd keep pulling stunts like this without a second thought.
"The way I see it, the moment I let my guard down, things could easily go sideways. So until I'm ready to fully move past this, I'm keeping my distance—same as before."
Kaleb delivered the words like a robot—flat, cold, and completely without feeling.
Bria was stunned. "Seriously? You can really hold out like that?"
"Because I care about your health."
"What's the big deal? It's just a little burn, that's all. I've got some ointment on it—give it a few days and it'll clear right up. It's nothing! Just get over here and hold me tight! Even though my hand hurts, the rest of my body is just fine. There's nothing stopping you from hugging me, so hurry up! I just want to be close to you!"
Kaleb ignored the whole show completely, brushing off every bit of her pouting like it wasn't even happening. "Not until you're healed."
Bria gritted her teeth. "Kaleb! Are you doing this on purpose?"
Wait a second. When did Kaleb turn into such a little troublemaker?
Damn! So this was what people meant by the sweet headaches of being in love. Once she was healed, Bria was going to settle the score once and for all.
VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABEL
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Divorce me I'm done serving you (Ayla)
Upload next chapter......
Why is half of each of these chapters missing? The story sort of trails off in the middle of the chapter. That’s unfortunate....