Page 236 of Ruin Me Gently

“Lilith what the actual fuck are you doing?”

I blinked at Molly from across the penthouse, one hand in my pocket, the other clutching a glass of whiskey I had absolutely no intention of drinking. “What do you mean, what am I doing?”

“You’re wearing a—” she gestured wildly. “What are you wearing?!”

I smoothed a hand down the lapels of Silas’ very expensive, very tailored-to-a-man-much-larger-than-me suit. The sleeves draped past my wrists, the trousers pooled at my ankles. I lifted my chin. “I’m wearing my CEO suit.”

“Your… what?”

“My CEO suit,” I repeated. “I’m a millionaire—or a billionaire, I don’t really know—now, Molly.”

She gawked for another minute before her whole face lit up. “Please tell me we’re being insufferable rich bitches today.”

I smirked. “Follow me.”

Lilith

Alive. Barely.

We’d needed one final hurrah. Molly was going to visit her parents for a few weeks for their anniversary, so I’d invited her round. We’d dressed in Silas’ suits, stuffed our faces with leftovers, drank all the good wine, and roped Katniss and the Roomba into joining our own doomed tech startup. Molly insisted Katniss was in charge of HR, and I appointed the Roomba as our Corporate Executive in Training.

She’d accused me of playing favourites. I’d accused her of not taking the job seriously.

I sank down into the couch, fingers curling around my freshly filled mug, pressing into the warmth, trying to ground myself in something heavier.

The skyline stretched endlessly ahead. The world was still moving, still churning forward, still expanding beyond these walls.

And I was here. Waiting. Hiding.

What the hell was I doing?

Waking up alone shouldn’t have felt like this. It shouldn’t gut me. It shouldn’t have made me feel dependent and weak.

But it did. And that made me fucking sick.

I should’ve learned my lesson by now. People left. People hurt you. People smiled at you in the morning and ignored your screaming at night.

That was the first thing I ever knew to be true.

Sowhywas I sathere, wearing his hoodie, in his home, staring at the empty space he left behind like some tragic, forgotten thing?

How stupid could I be?

I’d spent so much of my life telling myself I didn’t need anyone. That I couldn’t afford to need anyone. That if I started depending on something, if I started leaning into the comfort of it, I’d just wake up one day and find it gone.

“No, please don’t! Please don’t!”

I tried to dig my heels in, tried to twist out of his grip, but his fingers clamped around my arms like a vice.

I tripped over the first step, the sharp edge digging into my shin as I caught myself.

“No—”

He didn’t care. He didn’t even hear me. He just tightened his hand as he dragged me up the stairs.

“Mommy, stop him!”

She was at the bottom of the stairs.

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