Page 244 of Champagne Nights

“Ellie.” He gripped my arms, and I wiggled out of them.

“Don’t make this any harder. If you love me like you say you do, then you’ll leave me alone!” I shouted. “Please. Just go.” I cried as I ripped the necklace he gave me from my neck and threw it at him. “Get out!”

Tears filled his eyes as he stood there and stared at me.

“I love you,” he signed.

“Stop! Don’t do this. I don’t love you anymore and never want to see you again!”

He picked up the broken necklace from the floor, placed it in my hand, and closed my fist.

“No matter what, you will forever have my heart, Ellie Scott. Whether you want it or not.”

“Just go,” I cried.

He tucked one hand in his pocket and walked out the door.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Henry

Hearing her say she didn’t love me tore me to shreds like I’d been ripped to pieces by a wild animal. I climbed into the back of the limo and slammed the door. Christian looked at me through the rearview mirror as I put on my Ray Bans.

“I’m not even going to ask, Henry. I can already tell.”

“Just drive, Christian.”

“Where do you want to go?”

“Take me to the cemetery, and then you can go. I’ll get home myself.”

As I was sitting in front of my sister’s grave, my phone rang, and it was Addison. I went to decline the call but decided to answer it.

“Yeah.”

“Henry? Where are you?”

“Why, Addison?”

“Because the Henderson Group meeting starts in a few minutes. Everyone is waiting in the conference room for you.”

“Tell them I need to reschedule the meeting.”

“Are you okay? You don’t sound good.”

“I have to go.” I ended the call.

I picked up one of the roses from the bouquet I brought earlier and held it between my fingers. The pain inside was so unbearable I could barely breathe. I kept replaying the earlier events over and over in my head. The pain in Ellie’s eyes and the hurt in her voice paralyzed me.

“Hey, you.”

Looking up, I saw Addison standing there.

“How did you know where I was?”

“This is the first place you run to when things aren’t going well. What happened?” she asked as she sat down and hooked her arm around me.

“Ellie broke up with me and told me she didn’t love me anymore. She also said she never wanted to see me again.”

---