Page 95 of Miss Treated

Chance must’ve sensed the depths of my feelings for Dominic if I was willing to share something so painful with him.

“Better if I know what?” Dominic asked, his gaze bouncing between us.

I focused on Nic, realizing there were a number of things I needed to say to him.

Chance gave me another hug. “I’ll head downstairs and check on the progress. We’ll be up when the police are ready to talk to you.”

I appreciated him giving me a moment alone with Dominic. Taking a deep breath, I just put it out there. “Seven months ago when I left Joel, I flew out here to California and attempted suicide.”

It was the very first time I’d voiced the words instead of tiptoeing around it with euphemisms like “the incident” or “took too many pills.” I’d almost killed myself, and it was time to remove the shame and call it what it was.

Chapter Fifty

Dominic

Kelsey’s words threw me into shock. The thought she might not have survived to be here standing in front of me was almost too much to fathom. I swallowed hard, a flood of emotions roiling inside me.

“I got help, and I’ve steadily been working toward rebuilding my self-confidence. But given my history, when Chance saw I was at the beach house this morning, he panicked and flew down here.”

“Your mother and Joel knew?” Is that why they’d been here too?

She shook her head. “No. Although if they had, I imagine it would’ve given them even more ammunition to get me committed.”

The thought of them almost doing so made my blood boil. But anger toward them wasn’t what Kelsey needed right now. “Why did you go to the beach house, then?” If she’d been suicidal last night, I’d never forgive myself.

“To make peace with what happened back then. For so many months, I’ve been beating myself up for not leaving sooner, for not realizing I’d been in an abusive relationship. For many things. That stopped last night. Ultimately, I’d pushed you away because I hadn’t thought I was worthy of being loved. Because I was afraid. I was afraid if you knew everything, you couldn’t possibly love me.”

I stepped closer, my eyes burning with emotion. “There’s nothing farther from the truth. And when you walked out yesterday, I should’ve gone after you. I should’ve convinced you that no matter what you said or what you shared, it wouldn’t change my feelings about you. I should’ve fought for us. I’m sorry.”

“It was probably better you didn’t come after me. I’d needed last night to finally forgive myself. I now realize I’m no longer the same person I was. But I do still see a therapist, and I take medication for depression.” She uttered these words as if any of it would tip the scales and cause a change of heart.

“Someone once scolded me on the importance of taking pills if you need them.” Like when I’d been flying and needed Xanax.

Her cheeks turned pink. “You really don’t care?”

“About you taking medication or being in therapy? No. About you? Absolutely I care about you, Kelsey Maxwell. Everything about you. Even the parts you somehow think will change my mind. Haven’t you learned by now? I’m not going anywhere. And I don’t mean that in a creepy I’m-going-to-try-to-kidnap-you sense—just in case after this morning you start to worry about that sort of thing.”

Her eyes got big.

“Too soon?” I fixed a lopsided smile on my face and was relieved when she burst out laughing.

“You can always make me laugh.” She turned serious then. “How’s your mom? And your cousin?”

Leave it to Kelsey to worry about others. “Understandably upset.”

She took a shaky breath.

“Kels, they’re not upset with you. If anything, we’re all upset with my father for the position he put you in. For his timing. And of course, with my aunt and uncle for screwing up like they did. You should know Sophia did come clean with Ava.”

“What will your parents do?”

“By the time I left my condo earlier, my father had groveled and apologized just enough to ensure my mom was speaking to him again. I imagine they’re discussing the options. And since I quit my job, I’ll leave it to them to figure out what’s best for the company. Right now, my concern is us.”

“You quit?”

“Yeah. My dad should’ve trusted me. It doesn’t matter if it was my aunt he suspected. He would’ve trusted Gabe if he’d been the COO. And frankly, me trying to fit into that box was making both me and my dad miserable. Hopefully me being jobless isn’t a complete deterrent against dating me.”

“Considering what I just dumped on you, I’d guess you’d be the one deterred.”