Chasing His Kickass Luna Back novel Chapter 144

There’s a long, heavy silence. After what feels like an eternity, Karl finally meets my eyes, and there’s a raw, aching vulnerability there that makes my heart drop into my stomach. “You’re right,” he says quietly, his voice filled with regret. “I didn’t know at first. I just knew that he wasn’t that invested in you, and figured that he’d take the bait.”

My heart shatters. All at once, I want to scream, cry, and pass out. I can’t decide which; maybe all three. “I can’t believe this, Karl. How could you do something like that? Something so… cunning?”

He looks as if he wants to say something, to justify himself, but he doesn’t. Instead, he stands there, staring at me with a sort of defeated look in his eyes, as if realizing that there are some things that even words can’t fix.

“Abby, I—”

“Don’t,” I cut him off, my voice breaking. “Just don’t even bother, Karl. I’ve heard enough. And to think that all this time, I really thought you were changing, becoming a better man like you said you would.”

“But Abby, I am,” he pleads, trying to take a step toward me. “Trust me, Abby. I’ve been trying so hard to be better for you. To be the man that you deserve.”

I can’t help but let out a wry chuckle. “Bullshit,” I snarl.

I pull away from him, putting as much distance between us as the room will allow. “I’m booking a train home first thing in the morning. You can stay here, and you don’t have to worry about coming back to the restaurant with me. We’re done, Karl.”

His face crumples, but he doesn’t argue. He knows he’s lost this battle, this war, and so do I. Maybe both of us have lost in our own ways. For a moment, we lock eyes, and I see a flicker of hope in his face—but I can’t bring myself to look at him for any longer. Just looking at him makes me sick.

But I hesitate.

I can't do it. How do I tell Chloe—or anyone—that Karl fooled me once again? That I believed he had changed, that I trusted him when I shouldn’t have? My pride bristles at the thought, and the screen blurs as I blink back tears.

No. I won’t tell Chloe. I won’t tell anyone. Instead, I lock my phone and place it face down on the desk.

I’ll go back home, focus on my work, my friends, my family—anything but him. I’ll start over for the second time, build something new on the ashes of yet another heartbreak.