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All Chapters of Ruin me, Gently : Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

136 Chapters

Chapter 41

ISABELLE “You’ve been quiet since you took the pill.” Sage’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts.“I feel weird.” My voice was barely above a whisper.“How weird?”“Like I’m murdering someone.”Sage’s smile was sad. “You need to stay calm. It’s barely been five days in total. Not sure that’s even enough time for anything to take root.”She paused. “But your mixed feelings are valid. It’s your first time doing this – and I’m sure you’ve sworn off sex entirely. Forever!”My hand drifted to my stomach without thinking. If there was one thing I knew about myself, It was that I hated interfering with the natural order of things. Earlier, I’d been certain I didn’t want to carry Matt’s child, and yet now, faced with the possibility of erasing even that fragile reality, I didn’t feel any better.I didn’t know what I wanted. I was a mess.“Should we step out?” Sage offered. “It might help to get some air.”“No.” I shook my head. “I would rather stay in.”A beat of silence passed before I remem

Chapter 42

ISABELLE “I still can’t keep them,” I said, but even I could hear how hollow it sounded.Sage just smiled. “Sure.”“I’m serious. These and the blazer—I need to return everything.”“Okay.”“I mean it.”“I believe you.” But her smile said she didn’t believe me at all.I was about to take them off—I really was—when my phone buzzed on the counter.“Heather.” I reached for it and brought it to my ear.“Babe, are you okay?”My brows drew together. “What do you mean?” I asked, hoping it wasn’t Enrico and his troubles again.“A colleague forwarded me a post. From Aurora.”“Oh, that. I saw it two days ago.”“No, Bella. This one is recent.”My stomach dropped. “She posted again?”“She did, the comments are…”“I’ll call you back.” I ended the call and went straight to the app.Her post was the first thing on my feed.A photo of her and Dave. His hand resting protectively over her belly, both of them smiling at the camera like they were starring in their own perfect love story. The caption made

Chapter 43

ISABELLEThe car that pulled up wasn’t the sleek black town car with a driver I’d half-expected. It was Matt himself, behind the wheel of a dark Mercedes, the engine purring softly in the quiet evening.He didn’t get out. Didn’t honk. Just sat there, engine idling, waiting.I stood on the sidewalk, frozen for a moment.Even through the windshield, even in the fading evening light, I could see him clearly. Dark suit, jacket probably discarded somewhere in the back seat, his white shirt crisp against his skin, sleeves rolled to his forearms. One hand rested on the steering wheel, the other on his thigh. His jaw was set. His eyes were fixed directly on me.He looked… devastating.I’d seen him just this morning. Had left his house hours ago. But somehow, seeing him now – here, in my sister’s neighborhood, having dropped everything to come get me, made my stomach flip in a way I wasn’t prepared for.That was it. The moment I either committed to this or walked away.Aurora’s words cut throu

Chapter 44

ISABELLE The house was dark when we arrived, just the automatic lights clicking on as Matt unlocked the front door and gestured for me to enter first.I stepped inside, and even in the dim lighting, I could tell this place was different from the penthouse where we’d first met, different from the estate where I’d spent last night. This felt… lived in. Personal.The foyer opened into a massive living space—floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city lights in the distance, modern furniture that looked both expensive and comfortable, artwork on the walls that seemed carefully chosen rather than just decorative.“This is beautiful,” I said quietly, taking it all in.“Thank you.” He closed the door behind us, the lock clicking into place with a finality that made my pulse quicken.I turned to face him, suddenly aware of how disheveled I must look. My dress wrinkled from being pushed up in the car, my hair probably a mess, my lips still swollen from his kisses.He looked exactly as wreck

Chapter 45

ISABELLE“I woke up, and you were nowhere to be found,” I said carefully. “And there was breakfast on the table. And coffee. And you’d laid out clothes for me. And it was all so—”“So what?”“Domestic.” The word came out sharper than I intended. “We said distance, Matt. And then I woke up to you making me breakfast like we were—” I stopped.“Like we were what?”“Like we were something more than what this is.” I sat up, needing space, needing to think clearly – reaching instinctively for the sheet and drawing it up over my chest. The fabric pooled across Matt’s lower half, too, and I didn’t miss the quiet absurdity of it. Trying to create a distance from a man I was still tangled up with. “And that’s not healthy. Not with someone I’m supposed to be keeping my distance from.”“So you left while I was in the shower.”“Yes.”“Without a word.”“Yes.” I made myself meet his eyes. “Because every time we’re in the same space, this happens. We can’t keep our hands off each other. We forget abo

Chapter 46

ISABELLE Did I feel sorry for Dave after everything I’d just heard? I couldn’t even say anymore. He cheated. So how was I ever supposed to trust him again?And Matt. The thought of him looking at another woman the way he looked at me sent something sharp and irrational through my chest. Why did it bother me? With someone I barely knew? And the strangest part, a part of me genuinely didn’t want to let go. I had no idea if this was about revenge, desire, or some reckless mixture of both.Matteo’s hand settled on my thigh. Warm, unhurried, and pulled me out of my thoughts.“Care to share what’s going through your mind?”“I need time,” I said quietly.“Just when I thought we had addressed that.”“Not that. Not me running away.” I shook my head. “I came here for revenge. And now I’m not sure I want it anymore.”“You’re fine with her continuing to ruin your name?”“No.” The word came out immediately.“I’m just not used to hurting people. Having heard your strategies, I don’t think I want t

Chapter 47

ISABELLE“Tomorrow?” I stared at him, my heart picking up pace.The silence between us held. His expression didn’t waver — and that, more than anything, told me he meant every word.“For someone about to make a significant decision, don’t you think tomorrow is too soon?” I searched his face. “And here I thought you valued your privacy above everything.”“Giving you too much time is dangerous.”“Dangerous,” I repeated. “Or respectful?”“I don’t want you to change your mind. Too much space has a way of doing that.”Something warm moved through my chest at the thought of him not wanting me to leave. But was this not too much — all of it — for a man who didn’t do love and wanted nothing beyond the fulfilment of desire?“Tomorrow is too soon,” I said.“You’d rather stay at Sage’s?” His voice was even, patient, almost unbearably confident. “For how long?”I narrowed my eyes at him. “You haven’t reached out to my sister, have you? Because you speak about her like you already know her.”“Woul

Chapter 48

ISABELLE.“Maybe I like dangerous games,” I whispered.For a moment, we just looked at each other — his hand still at my jaw, my heart loud in my ears, the air between us carrying that particular charge that had no clean name.Then Matteo kissed me.Not the way he had in the car. Not the desperate, hungry kind, or the claiming, possessive kind that came during everything else. This was different.Slower. Deeper. Deliberate in a way that made my chest ache.His hand moved from my jaw to cup the back of my head, fingers curling into my hair. His other hand found my waist and pulled me closer, until there was nothing left between us.I melted. My hands found his chest, his heartbeat racing beneath my palm — every bit as fast as mine.This wasn’t only physical. This was him saying something he wouldn’t put into words — that I was his, that the thought of anyone else touching me stirred something primal in him, something he wasn’t willing to reason with.God help me, I felt the same.When

Chapter 49

ISABELLE“Would it be alright with you if we used condoms for a little while? Maybe a week or so?”I stared at him. “What do you mean?”“This might sound strange, but I rarely go without protection. With anyone.”Something in my chest pulled tight. “So why the change with me?”“The doctor may want us to use protection while the shots take effect. I’m only going off something I read — we’d have to hear it from her directly.”“How long?” I heard myself asking, and immediately felt absurd. I had grown so used to the thought of him inside me without anything between us. The idea of losing that — even briefly — sat worse than I wanted to admit.“A week. Maybe less.”Not even a day felt like too long. What was wrong with me?“So you really don’t — not with anyone?” I asked, still not quite past it.Matt shook his head. “Not with someone I don’t know. Someone I don’t trust.” A pause. “There’s just something about you that gets into my head.”Good, I thought. Let it stay there.Before I’d ful

Chapter 50

MATTEOThe next morning.I wasn’t sure how long I’d been awake. Long enough that the room had shifted from dark to grey, the early light creeping in at the edges of the curtains. Long enough to have done nothing but watch her.Isabelle slept soundly, her face turned into my chest, her legs tangled with mine beneath the sheets. She looked peaceful in a way I hadn’t seen when she was awake — all the tension she carried gone from her expression, her breathing slow and even.Before I could think better of it, my mouth pressed a light kiss to her forehead.What the hell are you doing, Matteo?Honestly? I had no idea.This was supposed to be simple. Clear. A neat arrangement with terms that kept everything in its proper place. And yet here I was, having negotiated conditions I’d never extended to anyone. Conceding in ways I didn’t recognise in myself because the alternative was letting her go. And I wasn’t ready for that.I’d told myself that having her a second time would be enough to get

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