Page 113 of Fragile Heart

Hope swells in my chest for a second, so strong it strangles me.

He shakes his head and lets the sentence die off.

And that piece breaks off completely, slicing through every part of my heart. Before I even realize it, I’ve closed the gap between us. My fist hits his cheek with a satisfying crunch that’s almost loud enough to cover the heart wrenching sob that tears through my throat.

He mutters a vicious curse, wiping away a bit of blood that’s pooled on his lip as he stands, towering over me.

“Fuck, I can’t believe I let myself be a goddamn piece of meatagain,” I whisper. I catch the tear before it can fall. Iwill notcry over him. Not yet, not when he can see. My laugh is brittle, on the edge of manic. “Just like me to be ready to throw away every single warning sign in the hope the bastard will just wantme, loveme.But I’ve only ever been a replacement, a second-best consolation prize.”

The color drains from his face.

“Brielle,” he says, rough and anxious. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“That’s all I’ve ever been,” I say.

I blink faster, willing my body to not let the tears fall right now. I wrap my arms around my waist, trying to soothe the awful feeling that’s ripping through me like shards of glass. Crap, I might actually throw up.

“Just the pretty Omega with the good body and enough education to override my shitty childhood to come across as the posh trophy wife.” Ethan’s eyes are wide enough I can see white all the way around. “Fuck, but I just wanted to hear you say it. Just once.”

Ethan’s frozen again.

“Say what?” he asks, dread filling his voice.

“You know damn well what,” I say, my voice cracking. “What I waited three months to hear at nineteen because I was too damn naïve to realize that the best I could ever hope for was a Beta that liked mejust enoughto fake a half-decent marriage.”

“Brielle,” Ethan mutters. “Princess, calm down.”

This time, there’s the innate soothing laced in the words. My breathing steadies for a moment. He starts to sit down, his attention sliding back to his phone. The jagged piece cuts through my chest again.

“I deserve to be wanted,” I whisper. “Exactly where and how I am. I deserve to bechosen.”

Ethan flinches.

I swallow the rest of the words building, forcing them to stay hidden away.

Crap, I have to get out of here before I completely lose it.

Another sob boils up my throat, and I don’t bother to quell it. It rips through the room as I grab my purse and rush through the front door.

Chapter Forty-Nine

BRIELLE

The moment I’ve pulled onto the dirt road that leads to the Monroe Ranch, I pull over and let the car idle. Tears flood my eyes and flow down my cheeks, making it impossible to see anything. Can someone die of a broken heart? Because I think I just might.

Pain sears through me, so overwhelming it’s difficult to breathe around it. Nausea roils through me, and I don’t have the fortitude to resist it. I manage to circle the SUV, heaving into the prairie grass that lines the road. When it finally subsides, I lean against the wheel and try to get my breathing under control.

God, how could I be so damn blinded again?

I close my eyes and let the tears fall unrestrained, too exhausted to move. Time falls away from me, blurring into the background.

A car pulls up behind me, the tires biting over the gravel. I freeze, my breath catching.

“Brielle?” Melissa’s voice is soft and cautious.

The last bit of me that had hoped, had held onto a shred of possibility, withers. I surge to my feet and wipe my face, blinking until I can see.

“I have to go,” I say. “I… I can’t stay here.”

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