Page 64 of Confusing Cade
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
BELLA
The drive home was a blur, my hands trembling on the wheel as Cade’s final expression seared itself into my soul, twisting like a knife with every curve of the road. His face haunted me, cold and unyielding, its icy detachment replaying in my mind with brutal clarity. Those eyes, once warm, once mine in those stolen, quiet moments, now stared through me like I was a stranger. Like I was nothing. The man who’d held me under the starlit Park City sky, who’d whispered secrets in the dark, was gone.Maybe he was never real.My chest ached, a raw, gnawing void where his warmth used to live.
The Cade I thought I loved had vanished.
When I finally got home, I called Kyra and gave her a quick breakdown of what happened in Cade’s office. She insisted she’d come over right away. By the time she arrived at my apartment, I was halfway through a bottle of wine. Every sip reminded me of the dinners we’d shared, the easy laughter, the way he’d look at me like I was the only thing that mattered. Now, it all felt like a cruel joke.
“Jesus, you look awful,” she said when I opened the door. She pulled me into a tight hug. “You don’t deserve this.”
I released the hug. “I probably do.”
Frowning, she stepped aside, and I shut the door behind her before leading her to the couch and the glasses waiting on theadjacent coffee table. Kyra sat on the left side. “What do you mean?”
“I didn’t try to sabotage the opening ceremony for the Promenade. I’mnotsaying that.”
“Okay.” She reached for the glass; her attention still fixed on me. “But if you didn’t, who did?”
“I’m not sure.” My voice broke, and the tears finally began streaming down my face. Kyra was a great friend, and she’d always stood by me. It was so refreshing to have her here, ready to listen without judgment, a reminder that not everyone would turn on me like Cade had. “I’m just... God, I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“It’s okay.” She put down her still-full-serving of wine and edged to the end of the cushion. “We’ll figure this out.”
“You gotta understand. He wasn’t listening to me at all. No matter what I said, Cade already made his mind up. He decided I did it before I even walked into the meeting.”
Kyra shook her head.
“But he still wouldn’t listen?”
“Nope.”
Kyra sighed and finally took a long sip. “Wow, what an asshole. Stupid Promenade. Remind me to never go there.”
For the first time in a while, I smiled. “You’re the best friend anyone could ask for, Kyra.”
She grinned back at me. “Well, we need each other to survive. We all need each other.”
She was right. But I also needed Cade. Not for the money, or the access, or how great it felt being around that kind of lifestyle again, but because of... him. The way he’d made me feel seen, cherished, like I could finally exhale after years of holding my breath. And now? That trust was shattered, leaving me hollow, questioning if I’d ever really known him at all.
“I really cared about him,” I said. “Still do.”
“I know.” She moved over to the empty section of the couch and draped her arm around my shoulders. “I could tell you did. You guys clicked.”
We sat in silence for a few moments, and I breathed deeply, still focused on what had happened.God, it’s all so stupid.That was the long and short of it, and there was no denying it. This had been nothing but a stupid time in my life, ever since my finances collapsed and I’d had to resort to extreme measures to keep myself and Lilly afloat.
