Just Before My Wedding: Trapped By My Ruthless Boss novel Chapter 140

Chapter 140

Chapter 140

OCEANS

She knew I wasn’t bluffing. She knew me well enough by now to know that when I said I’d knock, I’d knock until

the whole street woke up.

And what the fuck was she still doing at Jace’s house?

I’d been too buried in my own mess lately to look closely into the part where she was still sleeping under that bastard’s roof, adamant about leaving his house and moving into the apartment I bought her with my own fucking money.

Fuck.

My life was coming apart at the seams, and the control I’d spent years building was sliding right out of my hands, and I couldn’t claw it back no matter how hard I gripped.

I knew she was here. She had to be.

I pressed the doorbell for the third time, and she didn’t open it; the next desperate thing my head was already cooking up would put those good guards at the gate in real trouble. And I was slowly losing every fuck I had to give right now.

They knew my face. Jace clearly hadn’t thought to warn them about me, because a couple of easy smiles, a name everyone in this city recognized, and the small fact that my own PA lived behind this door had gotten me through that gate faster than any key.

I lifted my hand to knock hard on the door when I heard it unlock, and I wished to whatever God had bothered following me here that it had better be her.

I didn’t pray. I’d never been the praying kind. But I came close enough in that half a second to disgust myself. I guess there was a god listening somewhere, because the moment the door pulled open, every violent, reckless thing in me went quiet at the sight of her, then surged right back up worse – because she’d been crying.

Her eyes were swollen, her makeup wrecked, and the first thing I wanted to do was find the person who had made her look like that and make them regret being born.

But the only thing I desperately wanted to do right now was drag her into my chest and hold on until whatever had put that look on her face stopped existing.

So I did.

But she pushed me off and stepped back the second I reached for her.

“Don’t.” Her voice cracked on the single word, and her swollen eyes went hard. “Don’t touch me.”

My hands dropped at my sides. “Kiss-”

“Did you know?” She wrapped her arms around herself like she was holding her own body together. “About the invitation. That it was invite-only and I didn’t have one. Did you know?”

My brows pulled together. “What? What are you-”

“Don’t.” A tear spilled over, and she swiped it away furiously, like she hated it for existing. “Don’t try to play dumb with me, Oceans. I went to your engagement. I stood at the door in front of a crowd, and your guards turned me away because my name wasn’t on a list. Your list. At your party.” Her voice climbed. “And you didn’t think to warn me? Three days. You had three days with me and an extra day at the office, and you couldn’t find ten seconds to say, ‘by the way, you won’t be getting in?”

Everything inside me went fucking still.

“Don’t act confused.”

“I’m not acting, baby. I swear I…” I was saying, but she stopped me.

Chapter 140

“Really?” Her laugh broke at the edge. “Because I stood outside that venue like a fool, Oceans. I told them my name. I told them I worked directly with you. I told them Moonie was my cousin. Do you know what they called me?”

My hand curled at my side.

“An unlisted arrival,”

It had all begun to make sense… Fred’s face when he said ‘some absences are blessings:

That son of a bitch.

The whole night reordered itself in my head in one sick second.

“Fuck,” I breathed.

Her face twisted. “That’s all?”

“No.” I stepped closer, then stopped myself when her shoulders tightened. “No, Kiss. Listen to me.”

“I don’t want to listen to you.”

“Kiss, I swear to God, I didn’t know. Moon was supposed to send you the invitation. She told me she’d handle it, the family list, all of it-”

“Oh, Moon was supposed to.” She laughed, and it was an ugly, wet sound that gutted me. “Well, that fixes everything, doesn’t it?”

“I didn’t fucking know, Kiss. I swear!” My voice came out rougher than I wanted, and I dragged it back before it scared her off completely. “Moon said invitations were handled. She said she’d send yours to you. Fred and Freda changed the entry mode at the last minute for reasons I didn’t care to know. Strict guest list, private security… Hell, I was told staff access was already cleared.” I dragged a hand down my face. “Fuck. He did it on purpose. He kept you out on purpose, and I was too busy losing my mind to see it.”

The pieces kept rearranging.

Fred fucking knew about Kiss and me. He did. Which also meant Moon knew, too.

But why weren’t they confronting me about it? Why were they doing all they could to punish Kiss instead?

Jesus.

“It doesn’t matter why.” Her arms tightened around herself. “It doesn’t matter whose fault it was. You know what it felt like, standing out there? Like I finally understood exactly what I am to all of you. To the family. To you.” Her chin trembled, and she lifted it anyway. “Used. And then thrown out the second I’m inconvenient. I saw the news, Oceans. I saw you kiss her. You looked-” her voice broke, “-you looked happy.”

I didn’t engage her on that topic because with how angry she was, she’d never believe me when I said I was on second away from calling off that engagement right before I put that ring on Moon’s finger.

So, I let the silence sit for a while before I spoke again.

“I would have burned that room down if I knew you were denied access,” I said, almost in a whisper.

She looked away, but I saw her throat move.

I stepped inside before she could close the door on me.

She stiffened. “Oceans-”

“Kiss.” My voice went lower. “I swear on my father’s grave, I did not know they kept you out,” I said, and it made her look at me.

She knew what my father meant to me.

I shut the door behind me very quietly, because if I let my hand move the way it wanted to, the damn thing would break off its hinges.

“I would never do that to you,” I said. “I’m many things. I’m selfish with you. I’m wrong with you. I’ve taken more from you than I had the right to take.” My throat tightened, and I hated the weakness in it, and I hated that I could not crush it down. “But I would never send you to a door just to watch them shame you there.”

Chapter 140

“I checked my phone,” I said. “I was on that stage, no doubt, but I kept looking at the entrance like a madman because you weren’t there.”

Her eyes flickered.

“I called you,” I continued. “Over and over. I sent Reeves to check. And when I couldn’t hold it anymore, I came looking for you. I left my engagement party, baby. I did. I broke every rule I’ve got and walked up to another man’s door because the thought of one more hour without you in my arms felt like it would actually kill me.

Fuck.

My voice was breaking again.

Fresh tears fell from her eyes.

She looked exhausted, almost as if anger was the only thing keeping her standing and even that was beginning to fail.

“I can’t do this tonight,” she whispered.

“I know.”

“If you do, then you’ll leave me alone.”

Those words hurt more than the stabs of a thousand knives.

I reached for her hand, but she pulled back. I followed the movement and found her hand again, holding it in mine and refusing to let go.

Her fingers were cold.

“Come with me,” I said.

“No.” She said firmly.

“Please.”

“Oceans, stop.”

“But, I can’t.”

Her face crumpled for one second before she turned it away.

I followed her down with my eyes, and that was when something in me gave out.

I didn’t think. I never think when it comes to her. I just went down, lowering myself to one knee in front of her… In front of the only solid ground I had left…

Her head snapped back to me. “Oceans.”

I held her hand tighter before she could fully pull away.

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