They Called Me Heartless So Reborn I Watched Them Self Destruct novel Chapter 171

Chapter 171: 171- What Ara Means To Him!

Arabella:

A few minutes later, Bradley and I were sitting at our usual spot in the Warriors’ Café. He was unusually quiet, and his face was still serious as he waited for the server to place our coffees in front of us.

The moment my cup touched the table, I shook my head and pushed it back toward him. “Please take this one back. I already had coffee.”

A lie, obviously.

Bradley didn’t call me out on it, but the look he gave me said he knew exactly what I was doing. “You’re taking Lucien’s instructions too seriously, aren’t you?”

I shrugged and let the server take the cup away.

Maybe I was. But if Lucien had asked me to be careful about what I ate or drank, I could do that much without arguing with him. The man had lost his beast because of me, and the guilt was still there.

“You wanted to talk to me?” I asked him because last time he seemed too angry to talk.

A knowing smile appeared on his face before it disappeared just as quickly. “Yeah. I know where your mind is going after what Victor told you. You think I might have had something to do with Anika’s murder.”

Well, at least he saved me the trouble of asking.

I sat back in my chair. “Did you?”

“No.” His answer came without any delay. “I would never hurt Anika.”

“Then tell me what happened between you two, Bradley.”

He picked up his coffee but didn’t drink from it immediately. “She was my fated mate, and she rejected me. That part is true. And before you say anything, I know I should’ve handled it differently.”

“But you never accepted her rejection… you didn’t take her rejection too well.”

“No, I didn’t.” He finally took a sip before setting the cup down. “I kept thinking she might change her mind. That one day she’d realize I was the one meant for her and come back. I didn’t want to close that door myself.”

I couldn’t agree with that, no matter how sensibly he tried explaining it to me. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

“She was eighteen, Bradley. She was old enough to know whether she wanted you or not. If she didn’t want the mating bond, you should’ve respected that.”

“I know.” He raised both hands before I could continue. “Trust me, I know that now. I’m not saying I was right.”

At least he wasn’t trying to defend that part.

“But there was more to it than me being some idiot who couldn’t take no for an answer.” Bradley leaned forward slightly. “She was with Victor… Victor Toussaint.”

The way he said it made me frown. “What did that have to do with anything?”

“I didn’t trust him, Arabella.”

“Or maybe you didn’t trust Victor because Anika chose him after rejecting you.”

“Don’t forget who helped you when you first stepped into this palace three years ago,” he no longer seemed to care that a few people around us had started looking our way. “Nobody wanted to see your face. Nobody thought you deserved any respect. I was the one who always respected you, and tried to make things easier for you every damn time.”

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