Page 17 of Fractured Faceoff

“Enlighten me then,” I spat. “Explain why fucking your co-hostmade any sense.”

Brody's eyes darkened. “You were always busy with work, Isla. Always tired. I needed someone who was there for me.”

I laughed bitterly. “So it’s my fault for having a career? What about you? We're in the same industry, asshole!"

“That’s not what I’m saying,” he muttered, frustration leaking into his voice.

“Then what are you saying?” I demanded.

He looked away for a moment before meeting my gaze again. “I just want to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“It won’t,” I said coldly. “Because I’ll never be with you again.”

Brody winced, as if struck by my words. “That’s not what I mean,” he said slowly, voice low. “I mean, I'm trying to help you—for any future boyfriends.”

“What are you saying?” My heart pounded in my chest.

He sighed deeply, running a hand through his hair again. “Isla, you’re amazing at what you do. But relationships need effort too. You were always so focused on work and other things that you barely noticed when we started drifting apart.”

I clenched my fists at my sides, struggling to keep my composure.

“So you’re saying it’s justified because I was busy?”

“No,” he insisted. “But maybe if you had balanced things better?—”

“You're unbelievable,” I cut him off.

Brody’s eyes softened slightly, almost pitying. “I'm just trying to help you understand what went wrong so it doesn’t happen again.”

“You think you're doing me a favor by telling me how to avoid being cheated on?”

He sighed again but didn’t respond.

“You know what?” I continued, voice trembling with fury and resolve. "I don’t need your advice on how to be a better girlfriend for someone else."

Brody opened his mouth to argue but closed it when he saw the finality in my eyes.

The room felt stifling, the weight of our argument hanging heavily in the air between us.

“You should go,” I said finally, turning away from him.

He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “We should figure out when you’re coming to get your stuff.”

My fury spiked, hot and immediate. The gall of this man, to assume I’d be the one to leave. Sure, I didn’t want to be anywhere near that shithole now that I knew he’d been fucking his co-host in our bed. The very thought made me gag. But still. How dare he just assume it?

“Get out,” I said, my voice clipped and sharp.

“Isla—”

“I don’t want to talk to you, you lying, cheating son of a bitch!” The words flew out before I could stop them.

“You’re making a scene,” he said, glancing nervously at the closed door behind him. “You’re at your place of work, Isla. Calm down.”

“Calm down?” My voice rose, trembling with barely contained rage. “You waltz in here and act like it’s my fault you couldn’t keep your mediocre sized dick in your pants, and then have the nerve to tell me to calm down?”

Brody’s eyes darted around the room, as if seeking an escape route. “I’m just trying to have a civil conversation.”

“There’s nothing civil about this,” I hissed, stepping closer. “You don’t get to waltz in here and act like you’re the victim.”

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