He Brought Me a College Guy, Saying I’d Never Touch Him—But I Kept Him Chapter 15

He Brought Me a College Guy, Saying I’d Never Touch Him—But I Kept Him Chapter 15

It took Nathaniel three days to track down the Ashford family’s address.

He waited outside their gated community for an entire afternoon before Isabella got out of a black SUV.

“Isabella.”

He pushed open his car door and walked toward her.

Isabella looked at him. Just stood there, waiting for him to come to her.

Not close. Not far. Not in a hurry.

Before he came, Nathaniel had rehearsed what he wanted to say.

Beg her forgiveness. Explain the misunderstanding about the money. Tell her he knew the truth now.

Tell her he regretted everything.

Tell her that all those years of acting like a jerk were just because he thought she’d betrayed him. He was

trying to hurt her in the most childish way possible.

But standing in front of her now, he couldn’t say any of it.

Because the way she looked at him was wrong.

Not hateful exactly. But there was zero interest in getting close to him again.

“I know about the eight hundred thousand dollars,” he said, his voice rough.

“I should have trusted you. You must have had a good reason.”

Isabella didn’t speak.

“I thought you stole from the company. I thought you were taking money for your family. I didn’t know it

was for ransom. I didn’t know it was for my father.”

His voice started shaking. “Isabella, I’m sorry. When I found out about your dad, I felt terrible. I regret

everything.”

“I regret trying to hurt you. I regret bringing those women home. I regret not being there when you needed

me most.”

Isabella looked at him like he’d told a joke that wasn’t very funny.

“You regret it?” she said. “Nathaniel, were you really trying to hurt me? Or were you just using that as an excuse to do whatever you wanted?”

Nathaniel opened his mouth. Nothing came out.

“If you really just wanted to make me angry, once would have been enough. But for three years, how many did you bring home? Do you even remember?”

“I…”

“You needed an excuse.” Isabella cut him off. “Something to make yourself feel okay. ‘She wronged me first,

so none of this is my fault.’ You put all the blame on me so you could enjoy those girls’ attention without any guilt.”

“Nathaniel, that wasn’t revenge. That was just being selfish.”

Nathaniel stood there, his eyes red.

“I never touched any of them. Not one. The only time something happened was with Cassidy, and that was

an accident. That baby… I already had her terminate the pregnancy.”

Isabella shook her head.

“It doesn’t matter if the baby was yours or hers. We’re divorced, Nathaniel. What you do with her is your

business.”

“Isabella.”

Tears fell down Nathaniel’s face.

He reached for her arm. “But we agreed. It was supposed to be temporary.”

“Nathaniel.” Her voice went cold. “I never agreed to anything.”

He blinked.

Behind him, a shrill scream cut through the air.

“You bitch.” Cassidy came out of nowhere. “Why did you do this to me?”

She lunged at Isabella. Nathaniel blocked her.

She thrashed against him, screaming at Isabella. “You’re already divorced. Why did you make him kill my baby? That was my baby.”

Isabella looked at her, frowning. “That has nothing to do with me.”

“How does it have nothing to do with you?” Cassidy’s face was covered in tears and snot. “You put him up to

this. He said he would take care of me.”

“Enough.” Nathaniel’s voice was ice. “It was my decision. That baby shouldn’t have existed in the first

place.”

“That’s not true.” Cassidy’s voice cracked. “That can’t be what you want. You loved me. You were always so much softer with me than with her. You never hit me until that day.”

She was shaking so hard she could barely stand.

Isabella looked at her and said, “Get a job.”

Cassidy froze. Her crying stopped.

“Don’t chain your whole future to a man.” Then she turned and walked away.

Nathaniel watched her go.

But those words landed in his chest like a needle.

She wasn’t just talking to Cassidy.

She was also talking to the girl she used to be. The one who chained her whole future to him.

She stayed chained for years. So many years that she forgot how to say the word no.

Now she wasn’t chained anymore.

She walked steady. Didn’t need anyone holding her up.

Nathaniel laughed to himself and walked away.

Behind him, Cassidy sobbed like her heart was breaking. He didn’t look back.