Page 109 of Breaking Rules

“I said you’ve been cheating on me.”

Breath ragged, he drops to his knees in front of me. “Baby, please, don’t do this to me. I’m far from perfect, but I love you. I’ve always loved you, and I’ll go crazy if you aren’t with me. It happened to me once, andfuck—I can’t go back to that. I need you, only you.”

Tears stream down his face, but all I feel is indifference.

“I can’t be with you. I can’t stay with you without breaking myself. I revert to the old Isabella when I’m with you, the one who kept quiet so she didn’t cause any trouble, the girl my mother loathed and treated like shit. That version of me needs to stay in the past.”

“You should’ve told me how you felt. I would’ve…” He trails off.

I have to bite back a laugh. It’s textbook victim blaming—I wouldn’t expect anything less from him. “You would’ve what? Treated me differently?” I smirk, avoiding his eyes. “Since the moment we reconnected, you’ve been manipulating me. Gaslighting me. Cheating on me. Do you think anything I could say would’ve changed that?”

He hangs his head. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I-I cheated on you a few times. I always justified it because it wasn’t sex—just a blow job, just a kiss. But you didn’t deserve that. I’m sorry.”

His admission does nothing to me. Little by little, he has killed all the affection I had for him. There’s nothing left.

“Baby, what am I going to do without you? No matter what you think, I love you.” He takes my hand in his, holding it between his palms.

“You’ll be fine. It’ll be lonely, and you’ll hurt for a bit, but…you’ll be fine. You’re Jake Miller!” I say, probably sounding like a robot. “You always get what you want.”

“But not you.”

“Not me. We aren’t right for each other. It’s for the best.” I nod at the ring on the table. “You can probably still return it.”

He zeroes in on it, lips pursed, then picks it up and holds it between us. “It’s my gift to you. Take it.”

“No. It’s too expensive.” I try to stand, but he grasps my wrists, holding me in place.

He turns my palm up and puts the ring in it, then closes my fingers over it. “Take it. Do whatever you want with it—sell it, give it to someone else. Hell, throw it away. Whatever. It’s yours.”

Hands in my lap, I study him for a moment. He does look miserable and apologetic, but after everything I’ve been through—with my mom, with Kevin, with him—it’s hard to accept. His apology has come too late.

Still, I nod.

With a groan, he stands, pulling me up with him. With his hand on my nape, he angles my face up until our mouths are only inches apart.

I press my open palms to his chest and push. “Let me go.”

His fingers skim over my neck as he holds my gaze, his dilated pupils making his blue-gray eyes almost black. “Let me kiss you.”

“No.”

“Let me kiss you, Isabella. Please.” He angles closer and inhales; an eerie smile blooms on his face. “You’re making me crazy… Let me kiss you one last time.”

“Jake.” With more force this time, I push at his chest.

He only squeezes harder.

“Miller.” Ben’s voice rings in the air. “Let her go.”

With a glare at my cousin, Jake finally takes a step back and slips his hands into his pockets. “I got carried away.” The way his lip curls up sends a wave of unease through me. This is all a game to him. “It won’t happen again.”

“I hope so.” I take a step back, then another before I turn and walk away.

“Isabella?”

My heart pinches, but I stop. “Yeah?”

“I have no right to ask this, but…can we please not make our breakup public yet? I’ll look like a fucking loser if it gets out that you dumped me right after I proposed.”

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