Page 109 of Dissolving Prejudice

“You think I’m just mad?”

Swallowing hard, I forced my eyes down. “I’m sorry for sleeping with Camilo, but please, let’s not make it worse—”

Before I could finish my words, Jordan reached for the scotch, turned around, and tossed the bottle at me. If it wasn’t for me ducking at the last second, the bottle would have hit me, but instead, it missed my face and smashed against the wall. Shocked, I looked at the broken glass and spilled drink before glancing back at him. My heart hammered against my ribs, my breaths growing heavy with fear.

“I shouldn’t have done that,” he immediately said, looking at the floor.

“You shouldn’t have,” I agreed, still appalled.

His mouth opened and closed a few times before he walked toward me.

“But that’s okay. We both did things we shouldn’t have, right?” He grabbed my arms. “We can both look away from each other’s mistakes.” His grip tightened. “We just need to look the other way, and it will all be fine.”

Dredging silence broke between us, so only his breathing filled the tense atmosphere until I spoke.

“I don’t want to look the other way.”

His forehead creased, almost like he couldn’t believe my words. “But why? I’m telling you I’m fine with you cheating as long as you don’t end this.”

What the hell?

“We’re going to get married, Shay-Lee. I’m not giving up on you just because of a small slip.” His lips trembled while he tried swallowing back his tears. “We all make mistakes, but love means forgiving. Right? I mean, I forgave you.” He ducked a bit closer. “I forgave you for using me the way you did. I forgave you for leaving me in that hospital and betraying me. I forgave you for breaking my heart… not once but twice.” He placed his hand against my cheek, his fingers quivering. “I even forgave you for turning me this crazy, so who gives a shit about some broken glass.”

I looked back at that said glass. Only that it wasn’t just a few pieces of broken glass but the result of a bottle he threw at me. A bottle he aimed to hurt me with. What if I didn’t duck in time and it hit me in the face? Ha. I was hurt one too many damn times in my life by people who claimed to love me to look the other way.

I will not be abused ever again.

“You’re so out of line,” I hissed through gritted teeth before forcing his hands off me. “And even though I’ve hurt you many times before, including now, it still doesn’t give you permission to raise your hand to me.” I had no idea where I found the courage to speak out right then, but I did, and I had no intention of stopping. “I admit that I cheated, and I take responsibility for it, but you won’t manipulate me over what happened years ago.”

And I wasn’t only talking about what happened just now, but about yesterday, too, when we fought over Soren’s party and even before that. Yes, I’d done awful shit in my life and was the furthest thing from a decent human being, but it didn’t give Jordan the right to use my wrongdoings against me. For fuck’s sake, engaged or not, I owed him nothing. Same as I didn’t owe anything to my dad, who’d made it his life’s mission to gaslight the shit out of me until I doubted what was true or not. And it worked. It worked because until right this moment, I believed I deserved everything they did to me. But I didn’t. No one fucking did.

“What the fuck are you saying?” Jordan asked, and his whining snapped me back to the present.

Without thinking twice, I took off his ring, which, until now, hadn’t even weighed on my finger.

“I’m saying that we’re over.” I put the ring in his hand.

Jordan glared at the ring in disbelief. “You can’t be serious.” He clenched his fist. “You can’t fucking be serious.”

“I’m sorry.”

“What about our house? The one we’re building?”

“You can have it,” I said with a straight face.

“You can have it…” Biting his lip, he shook his head. “Screw you, Shay-Lee,” he roared, pointing his finger in my face. “You’re a fucking piece of shit. A selfish fucker who lies through his teeth and deserves everything he’s gotten in his life.”

So, I finally get to see his true colors.

“Wow.” Pursing my lips together, I dropped my head down before smiling to myself. “Thank you for making this a hell of a lot easier.” I looked up to meet his pitiful eyes. “Have an awesome life, fucker.” I flipped him the finger, and then, without wasting another second in this fake relationship, I walked out of the house. If this was what he thought about me all along, I should have ended this a long time ago. Fuck that. I should have never agreed to be with him in the first place.

I pulled out my car keys and opened it when he dashed out of the house.

“Shay-Lee, wait, please.”

“You’re wasting your breath, Jordan,” I told him, not bothering to look behind and instead opened the door and got inside the car.

“Please,” he called out as the headlights flashed him. Holding his hand in front of his eyes, he went on. “Please, just get inside, and we’ll talk. I promise it won’t ever happen again.”