Page 57 of His Bullied Fated Mate

She started to round me, and I moved, blocking her from getting free. I pulled my hands up, caging her in. “What the hell does that mean?”

“You know what it means.”

I shook my head. “No, no, I don’t. So, enlighten me.”

She crossed her arms. “I’m not an idiot, Riley. Stop putting on this nice-guy act. You got what you wanted. You have me here stuck like a fool. You even slept with me. You ripped my life apart, so what more do you want?”

I stared at her, utterly blown away. Did she think this was all part of a plan? That I wanted to ruin her life, wanting to have all of this happen. How could she not see it?

“Do you seriously think that I wanted this? That I wanted to rip you away from your home?”

She shrugged. “You bullied me growing up. You watched me squirm because I was uncomfortable. You waited to ruin my day every chance you had. What’s stopping you from doing it all over again?”

I moved closer to her, my anger building up again. “I didn’t do that because I wanted to!”

She scuffed. “You have got to be kidding me, Riley. You had control.”

I shook my head. “I do it because I want control. I wanted to make sure no one else bothered you. I made sure no one else hurt you. I knew that I could never have you, and I didn’t want anyone else to.”

Her face fell. “What?”

I knew how it would look. Janella was frowned upon, and I was their future leader. I could never have asked for anything. “I liked you. But I knew that we couldn’t be anything. So, I set the bar of which people could bully you. If I treated you a certain way, everyone else would.”

Thinking back, it was a bad idea. But I figured if I was her big bully, no one else would be. They wouldn’t do anything I wouldn’t do. I never physically hurt her. I made sure of that.People looked to me, and if I didn't do something, they wouldn't. I made a line in the sand, and I made sure no one crossed it.

I watched what happened. I put a mark on her that she was mine in my own twisted way. She remained untouched by others because of it. And I felt she belonged to me.

She shoved at me and took a step back. She shook her head, still looking angry. “Is that supposed to make me feel better? You bullied me so no one else could’ve been worse? You purposely made my life a living hell because you didn’t want people to know you had feelings for me?”

I swallowed.

She shoved hard, and this time it hurt. “You single-handedly ruined my childhood, Riley. You made my life a living hell, and you don’t even get how fucked up that is. You took away my confidence. You ruined my ability to trust people. You made me question my relationship with my own family. You beat me down over and over. And here you are fucking it all up again.”

She shoved past me and stormed across the parking lot. I knew I should follow. I needed to explain better, try to do something. But my legs were stuck as she walked away. I felt that twist in my gut, and I wondered if I ruined this relationship for good this time.

Chapter 16 - Janella

I storm away from Riley, physically shaking with rage. All of these years later, I dreamed of an excuse. Even an apology for how he had anger issues would have worked. But to hear him admit he knew he was an asshole was not in my book.

I shook my head, wiping at tears. I sniffled as I tried to pull myself together. I rounded the corner and froze, realizing that Riley had been my ride. I wasn’t in the mood to walk home, nor did I really want to go back to the house. I wanted to go back to my apartment and my other life.

“Janella?”

I turned around as I heard my name and found Troy standing across the street. He had his hands in his pockets and looked at me with a worried expression.

“Troy…what are you doing here?” I quickly tried to fix my face, wiping at my tears.

He crossed the street, his lips forming a tight line. “I was having dinner with our parents. Mom got a phone call and told me that word was going around that you're a dark witch, and she wanted me to come in and help handle it. Though it would seem Riley did just fine.”

Jesus, word was traveling fast.

“Janella, what’s going on?”

“Nothing.”

“I know that’s not true. So tell me what’s going on.”

I chewed on my lower lip for a moment before I sighed softly. “So much.” I felt more tears build up. “I feel it all slipping away.”