Eruption - Chapter 29
Thursday
I knew I'd love James until the day I died. That's what hurt the most. He could say as many horrible things as he wanted to me. It didn't change the way I felt about him. And I still wanted him to be happy. Even if I wasn't the one that could make him happy.
Sex. That's what it came back to. That was my biggest fear.
That he was addicted to sex. I was just a good lay.
Did he really mean that? I felt so cheap.
James had lashed out at me before. He was good at pushing people away because he didn't think anyone could love him. So he didn't want to fall for anyone.
I hated that I was walking through the city streets of New York, a city that wasn't my home, feeling bad for the person who had just dumped me.
But I did feel bad for him. He was so broken.
I thought I could heal that wound. I thought I was enough.
But I was just a good lay. I was just an escape from his reality.
I was a drug. And he was ready to move on to the next thing.
The most ironic part was that Isabella had warned me it would happen.
She had actually been right. Isabella had acted like a good friend to him the whole time she was torturing me.
She won. And I didn't want to spend my whole life fighting her.
I had a sick feeling that James was running to her right now, falling into her trap.
Hopefully Ian would listen to me and not take him anywhere.
If he wasn't going to be with me, he needed to find someone that actually made him happy.
I didn't want him to revert back to her because it's all he knew.
I pulled out my phone and called Rob who was in town for the wedding. He could take care of James and make sure he didn't get back with Isabella. Rob hated her just as much as I did.
"Cashing in on your last lay as a single woman?" Rob said. "I thought you might call."
"Rob, can you go check on James?" I asked, ignoring him.
"Absolutely. I was just on my way over to hang out with you guys. Are you not there?"
"No. I'm...James can explain. Just take care of him okay?
Promise to take care of him for me?" It suddenly hit me hard that I was losing all of James' family and friends too.
Rob really had become one of my best friends.
More like the brother I never had. I wouldn't be able to hang out with Bee and Mason anymore either.
I'd never get to see Jen again. I was losing the love of my life and my new family.
"What's going on?" Rob suddenly seemed to understand that I was serious.
"I'm...the wedding's off, Rob."
"What?"
"He doesn't love me."
Rob laughed. "Yes he does. You're just getting cold feet."
"No. We're done." My voice caught. "It's over. Please just go take care of your brother. He's drunk. And he needs you."
"He doesn't need me. He needs you. Penny..."
I hung up the phone. There was a text message waiting for me from Isabella:
"You did the right thing, Penny. You're both better off this way. You're free to do whatever you want now. Go back to Wilmington. Go home. Live your life. And don't worry about James. I'll take good care of him."
A person passing me on the street gave me a strange look.
I quickly wiped away my tears. I was aware of the fact that I looked like a crazy person, but I didn't really care.
If James didn't want me anymore, it didn't change my feelings for him.
I'd always love him. And I needed to do one last thing for him before it was too late.
I looked in my purse. I had about thirty dollars in cash.
That could at least get me there. I'd figure out what to do next later.
It was time to finally take Zach's advice.
I needed to fight fire with fire. If I couldn't have James, I had to make sure Isabella didn't end up with him either.
I put my hand out and hailed down a taxi.
***
I looked up at the Hunter's huge mansion.
It seemed strange that this is what James thought I was after.
I never cared about his money. I didn't know he still had doubts about that.
But his parents had ingrained that thought into his head.
If he had just trusted me, the wedding would still be on.
I had trusted him. I was going to marry him despite the pictures Isabella sent.
But James hadn't given me the same courtesy.
What happened between us was just as much his stubbornness as it was Isabella's fault.
And she knew him. She knew that he was sensitive about someone being with him for his money. She won.
What life did I have to live without James? I didn't have a home to go back to. New York was my home. Wherever James was, that was my home. He was home to me. I quickly wiped away the tears that had started to roll down my cheeks. I just wanted him to be happy.
I walked up the steps to James' parents' house and pressed the doorbell. A moment later, Eric opened up the door. He was the person that had been nicest to me at the engagement party. I fit in better with their help than with any of them. Because I came from nothing.
"Hi, Penny."
"Hi, Eric. I need to talk to James' parents."
"Are they expecting you?"
"No. But it's urgent. Can you please tell them that? I wouldn't be here if it wasn't."
"Of course." He stepped aside and I walked into their huge foyer. "The sitting room is to your left. Please take a seat while I go tell them."
"Thank you." I walked into the room he had pointed to as he disappeared down a hallway. The room was like every other room I had seen in here. It was way too ornate for my taste. Simple people liked simple things. This wasn't a life I wanted. I'd be okay.
No. I sat down and put my face in my hands.
It didn't matter what I told myself. I'd never be okay.
I bit the inside of my cheek. I wasn't going to cry in front of James' parents.
As far as I knew, they were part of Isabella's scheming.
If that was the case, I wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of seeing me cry.
But I really hoped they weren't. They had said that they'd do anything to protect their son.
I just needed to make them see that I wasn't the one that they should be worried about.
Isabella had taken everything from me. And all I could do was make sure she didn't get to take my place in James' life.
He needed someone good and kind. Maybe that wasn't me.
Good, kind people didn't have sex in their fiancé's office.
That's what got us in this mess in the first place.
Good, kind people also didn't touch strangers abs during their bachelorette parties.
But I didn't want to. I had wanted to stay in and watch a movie.
I thought I was a good person. And it hurt that James didn't think so.
It felt like no one had ever truly seen me before I met him.
But he thought I was ugly on the inside.
My chest hadn't stopped hurting since I had left our apartment.
His apartment. He had made that very clear. He never loved me.
James' father cleared his throat. I immediately stood up. "Mr. and Mrs. Hunter, I'm sorry to just stop by."
"A little notice would have been nice," James' mother said.
"It's okay," Mr. Hunter said and walked into the room. "Eric said you had something urgent to discuss?"
James' mother sighed and walked into the room.
"Yes, it's about Isabella..."
"Isabella is a dear friend of the family. She'll always be our daughter in law. If you're here to complain about her, you've come to the wrong place. You'll never replace her."
"Enough." James' father's voice made me jump. He sounded like James when he was upset. "Let the girl speak."
I swallowed hard. "I'm not trying to replace her. And I'm not going to be marrying your son."
"Thank heavens." His mother sighed and sat down in one of the chairs.
James' father lowered his eyebrows. Again, it reminded me of James. "What happened? Where is he?"
"He's fine. He's with Rob." It was the first time that it actually seemed like one of James' parents cared about his well being.
"Okay, well, Eric will see you out," James' mother said. She snapped her fingers and Eric appeared at the door.
"No. I'm not here to tell you about that.
I got an email from Isabella this morning, blackmailing me and James.
She had pictures of..." right now wasn't the time to be discreet.
And I didn't care if Isabella was listening.
She had never said I couldn't tell his parents.
"Of James and I having sex in his office.
She planted a camera in his office or something.
And she said she'd leak the photos to some tabloids if I didn't agree to transfer 20 million dollars into her bank account.
I didn't want the pictures to be leaked.
I was trying to protect your son. I love him so much, I.
.." I was getting off topic. I blinked away the tears that were starting to well in my eyes.
"I did what she asked. And she said I couldn't tell James that she made me do it.
So I didn't. But she actually gave me the bank account of this guy I used to date.
I couldn't tell James that she tricked me.
I couldn't risk it. So he broke up with me.
Because he doesn't trust me. I just thought you'd like to know that your perfect daughter in law just stole 20 million dollars from the son that you claim to care about. "
"You're lying," his mother said.
I pulled out the bank slip that I had gotten and handed it to her.
"This doesn't prove anything. All it proves is that you transferred money out of James' bank account. That you stole from him. Which is exactly what we tried to warn him about. No wonder he broke up with you. Eric, please show Miss Taylor out."