Page 71 of The Billionaire Land Baron

“I—”

“NO. Jake, stop it. You can take your money and your land deals and this dress and these shoes and this suite. Take it and go. This is impossible, but not because it’s just hard. It’s impossible because you’re a liar.”

That last word came out with a snarl and Shelby was surprised at the venom in her voice. She threw the new shoes at Jake and slammed into her room to change back into the clothes she’d arrived in. Jake knocked as she changed and she was glad she had locked the door.

“I’m not talking to you! We’re done!” she shouted.

The knocking stopped after a few minutes. Shelby had on her bathing suit again, her tank top and shorts. She left all the clothes that Jake bought her crumpled on the floor. He could take them or return them or throw them away. She didn’t care.

He was standing just outside the door when she threw it open and his face would have broken her heart if there was anything left to break. “Move,” she said. “I’m going.”

“Shelby,” he pleaded. “I’m so sorry.”

“You ruined my life. In less than a week, you swept in here and took away where I live. You took away our memories and our history and you made me fall in love with you—” She gasped at the words, not realizing they were coming out of her mouth. But as they did and as she realized that they were actually true, her rage only intensified. “I hope I never see you again. I’m glad whatever you tried to do in Lucky failed. You deserve that.”

A look crossed his face. “It—what?”

She smiled, feeling mean and not caring at all. “Oh, you don’t know? Matt told me. And I saw a text on your phone. You should really check your messages. Looks like your plan isn’t going to work out. Too bad for you.”

She grabbed her purse and, at the last minute, decided to grab the gift box of books. Not even Jake could ruin books for her.

He frowned, holding the phone in his hand. As she stood in the doorway to the suite, she realized that he wasn’t watching her now. He was too busy worrying about his deal that went south. She didn’t matter to him. His work mattered more. That’s what he cared about when it came down to it. She slipped out the door before he could look up again.

And she was glad, because then he couldn’t see the onslaught of tears the spilled over the second the door closed. Shelby dashed down the hallway and into a stairway so she could catch the elevator a few floors down, just in case he ever put down his phone and tried to follow her.

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