Halfway through, the man on top of me went still.
I opened my eyes. Ellis was looking down at his phone, at an iMessage.
It was from Tessa. Again. It was two in the morning, and she’d sent a message saying she had a sudden craving for bagels from a specific shop.
“Sorry. I just really want one right now. You bought me those rainbow bagels before—can you send me the name of that shop?”
The warmth in him evaporated. He rolled off me and immediately started typing a reply.
This had become a pattern over the three years we’d been together.
We’d once made plans to see a movie, but he didn’t show up until it was nearly over because Tessa had a craving for the clam chowder he made.
The first time he officially met my parents, he was supposed to stay for dinner but left halfway through to bring Tessa an oat milk latte—the same kind they’d had on their first date.
On Christmas Eve, when he was supposed to be decorating our tree with me, he’d shown up at Tessa’s place instead, making her favorite roast turkey and cranberry sauce from scratch.
He was so focused on his phone that he didn’t look up until I reminded him, for the third time, that we were supposed to go to the County Clerk’s office next week to file our marriage paperwork.
“Let’s talk about it another day. Work’s been insane. Go to sleep. I need to go to my office and handle something.”
Ten minutes after he left, I opened Instagram on my burner account.
He’d posted on his Close Friends story: a photo of him holding a bag of bagels.
The caption read: Had to make sure someone got fed, even in this rain.
I stared at the photo for a long time. All I felt was exhaustion.
Ellis Lombardi, if getting married is such a hassle for you, then I won’t ask again.
If Your Heart Doesn’t Lean Towards Me I Don’t Want It Chapter 18 “I didn’t know she would send it.” I looked at him. “I didn’t either.” “Ellis, when you talked me into filming that, you promised me no one else would ever see it.” His face had gone pale. “I didn’t show it to
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If Your Heart Doesn’t Lean Towards Me I Don’t Want It Chapter 17 A week later, I saw Ellis again in the pretrial mediation room. The man everyone said had fallen apart was sitting quietly at the other end of the long table. He was thinner, with dark circles under his eyes. On the table
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If Your Heart Doesn’t Lean Towards Me I Don’t Want It Chapter 16 Lucian cut him off, his voice like steel. “Ellis.” “Coralie and I are engaged.” Ellis went rigid. Lucian looked at him, his expression devoid of warmth. “A man like you doesn’t deserve forgiveness.” “And you’re not done being held accountable, either.” Ellis’s
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If Your Heart Doesn’t Lean Towards Me I Don’t Want It Chapter 15 Tessa’s words came out in a vicious rush. “You loved being tangled up with your ex, didn’t you?” “When did you ever really say no to me? You couldn’t get over the fact that I was the one who dumped you, and
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If Your Heart Doesn’t Lean Towards Me I Don’t Want It Chapter 14 The sentence was delivered quickly. “The defendant, Tessa Miller, is hereby sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment for the illegal dissemination of intimate images.” Tessa completely lost it, whirling on Ellis. “Ellis, help me! Tell Coralie to drop the charges! She always did
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If Your Heart Doesn’t Lean Towards Me I Don’t Want It Chapter 13 Every eye in the room turned to me. Tessa wasn’t wrong. Few people can resist the pull of salacious gossip, especially when it’s close to home. I looked at her, my voice even. “When that video was filmed, Ellis and I were
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If Your Heart Doesn’t Lean Towards Me I Don’t Want It Chapter 12 “Coralie, are you really going to do this?” “Tessa didn’t mean to…” I cut him off. “That’s enough, Ellis. You’re still defending her.” At last, he fell silent. I gave him one final look. “Your accounts are tangled together, your lives are
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If Your Heart Doesn’t Lean Towards Me I Don’t Want It Chapter 11 Ellis froze. He looked from Lucian to me, his expression shifting from shock to disbelief, then to fury. “Coralie Ricci, who is this?” I looked at him. “A breakup doesn’t require mutual consent, Ellis.” “The day you walked out of that hospital
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If Your Heart Doesn’t Lean Towards Me I Don’t Want It Chapter 10 A long time passed before he finally spoke, his voice raw. “Coralie… I’m sorry…” He took a step toward me, reaching out as if to pull me into an embrace. “I’m so sorry. The baby is gone, but we can have another
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If Your Heart Doesn’t Lean Towards Me I Don’t Want It Chapter 09 He jerked his head up, his eyes shot through with bloodshot veins. “Coralie, why didn’t you tell me?” “I was right there. Why didn’t you stop me? Why didn’t you tell me to stay?” “If you’d just said you weren’t feeling well,
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