HIS DOE, HIS DAMNATION (An Erotic Billionaire Romance) novel Chapter 143

Meadow’s POV:

I didn’t want Alaric to even meet me at the house.

I had planned to pack up and be out of there before he got back, but I was trying to summon the courage to tell Nova about it. I had been ignoring her calls the whole day because I wasn’t ready to talk to her about what had happened from the night we went to Vegas.

I was going to get my own apartment, but I wouldn’t be able to do so in such short notice. So I had to call her. She didn’t ask me any questions. Not yet.

In her own words: “Let’s get you out of there and make you feel better, and then I can get mad at you.”

I didn’t cry when I was still with Alaric in his office, but the moment I got home, it was as if the dam fucking broke and let all the tears out.

I was stupid. So stupid to think that Alaric felt a certain way about me only based on how he treated me. He wanted to feel me, take care of me… fuck me…

And nothing else. And I was foolish to think that he would want to at least be committed. He didn’t want that.

He didn’t want me, all of me.

And now, as I watched him stare up at me, all I wanted to do was…

Heck, I didn’t know what I wanted to do.

“You’re leaving?” Alaric’s voice still had that robotic tone to it–the same one that he had used when he’d asked me to leave his office.

I was naked, bared to him, vulnerable, and he had gone soft inside of me. The idea of even being in love with me repulsed him so much that he-

“Yes,” I murmured. “I am.” And then I began to descend the stairs, my other suitcase and a bag in both hands. I didn’t pack up everything, just the stuff I came here with. I didn’t take any of the dresses he got me or anything from the closet.

I didn’t want a daily reminder of the hurt.

I made sure not to meet his eyes, but when I got to the bottom of the stairs, I had to. Because he refused to move.

“Alaric…”

His brows drew together. “Can we talk about this?” His tone was a bit softer this time, so soft, I felt the whisper in my heart.

My chest tightened. “There’s nothing to talk about,” I replied, my voice shaky. “I just want to leave. Will you let me walk through?”

I didn’t wait for his response before I started to roll my suitcase past him. However, before I could fully walk past, he took my arm in a firm grip.

My entire body froze. His grip wasn’t strong enough to hurt or stop me from leaving, it was more of a beckon.

A plea.

“Look at me, Meadow.”

I shook my head, blinking hard to chase the tears away. “I can’t-”

God, I loved her so fucking much.

She didn’t even know what was wrong, didn’t know if it was something Alaric did or something I did —although now it must’ve been obvious that it was him–but she was there to support me. Every. Single. Time.

I turned to face Alaric again, snatching my arm away from his grip–and instantly felt bad about it because now he couldn’t feel anything.

“I can’t do it anymore, Alaric,” I said, shaking my head. “I can’t.”

I didn’t know what I was expecting Alaric to say when he opened his mouth, but it definitely wasn’t this:

“You signed a contract.”

I shoved out a breath. I couldn’t believe this. Couldn’t believe that he would say something like this after every other thing that he had revealed to me about me being able to leave whenever I wanted.

“Yeah,” I breathed, unable to find my voice. “One that says I can leave whenever I want. You told me this yourself.” Alaric’s jaw clenched like he was regretting ever telling me that I could leave when I felt like it.

“And if it’s about the money… if you want it back, I’ll give it to you. But you don’t get to make me feel terrible about doing what’s best for me, Alaric. I won’t let you do that.”

Alaric looked at me like I was insane. His fists curled at his sides. “I don’t care about the fucking money, Meadow. I care about you,” he growled, taking a step closer to me