Page 135 of The Rules We Broke
“Don’t,” I whispered, my throat aching.
“Ellie, don’t do this.”
“Brady, please . . . just be with your family tonight. I’m with Aunt Lu. I’m safe.”
“Please, Ellie. Ineedyou.”
I felt like the worst kind of person. The man I loved more than anything was hurting, and I was refusing to comfort him.
But I knew—deep down—that my presence would only make things worse.
“Brady,” I said, voice trembling, “stay with your family. They need you.”
And then I hung up.
My heart shattered—for him, for me, forus.
Because I realized something I hadn’t wanted to admit: Our relationship was toxic to everyone around us. We were fools to think this time would be different. If anything, it was worse.
Brady called again. And again.
I stared at my phone, aching to answer. To hear his voice. To let him make the pain go away.
But that was a selfish thought.
“Sugar?” Aunt Lu asked gently, her voice breaking through my silence.
“I need to be alone,” I whispered.
I handed my phone to Aunt Lu and walked upstairs like a ghost—numb, hollow, barely breathing.
The only thing I had energy for was kicking off my boots before curling into a ball on my bed.
I closed my eyes, and all I could see were faces. His mother’s disdain. His brothers’ cold stares. The judgment in every glance from his sisters-in-law.
And then Isaac. His desperation. His final words.
He had loved Aunt Lu all this time. Elizabeth had to have known. Nothing else could explain her reaction to me.
I kept thinking—if I hadn’t gone, maybe Isaac would still be alive.
I lay there for at least an hour, fingers brushing the ring Brady had given me, crying until the tears ran dry.
Then the doorbell rang.
I didn’t move. I didn’t have to. I knew who it was.
When no one answered, he began pounding on the door, shouting my name.
Finally, Aunt Lu opened it.
“Ellie, I love you,” he yelled up the stairs.
“You need to give her some time, Brady,” Aunt Lu was firm but kind.
I couldn’t hear how he responded, but before he left, he yelled up. “Ellie, I love you. We can work this out.”
I heard the door close, and a minute later my aunt slipped into my room and lay beside me, eyes full of concern. “That man loves you.”
