Chapter 399: You Call This an Apology?

Of course, Maxwell never finished what he was trying to say; he just brushed it off like it never happened.

The second they stepped out of the airport, Ellis and Maxwell went their separate ways. She got in her Uber, while Maxwell—heading in the opposite direction—got in his own car. Even in the backseat, Maxwell couldn’t help glancing through the rearview mirror at the Uber behind them. Ellis had no idea. She was already zoning out, half-asleep on the ride home.

The moment she stepped inside her apartment, she went straight to bed. But she’d barely been asleep when someone rang her doorbell. Upstairs stalker.

She opened the door with a face full of murder. Sure enough, it was Easton. She didn’t even bother pretending to be polite. Just stood there, half-asleep and pissed off. Her hair was a mess, and her clothes were wrinkled—Easton figured she’d been sleeping when he rang the bell. He actually looked guilty for once.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to wake you.”

The rare show of self-awareness brought her anger down just a notch.

“What do you want?” Her tone made it clear: whatever it was, say it and leave.

“I just wanted to tell you…about the whole drugging thing. Shawn’s paid the price for what he did,” Easton said. He knew she probably didn’t want to hear anything from him, but since the whole misunderstanding stemmed from his uncle, he wanted her to know it had been dealt with.

The second she heard the words “paid the price,” Ellis got chills. It brought her back to the divorce—he’d said the exact same kind of thing back then. Coming from anyone else, maybe it wouldn’t have felt so gross. But this was Easton. A man she’d once loved, which somehow made it worse.

“Cool,” she said flatly, clearly not interested. Then she turned to walk back inside.

But just as she stepped away, she remembered the little “gift” he’d dropped off before her trip.

“Wait here.”

If he dared to step inside her apartment without being asked, he knew exactly what was coming: full-scale verbal assault. So Easton stood still and waited like a trained dog.

Ellis returned a minute later, holding the gift bag. She shoved it into his chest with a sharp glare.

“Let me make one thing absolutely clear. I don’t want your money, and I sure as hell don’t want you. Don’t think you can just throw some cash around and get me to lose my mind and say yes to getting back together. I’m not that cheap.”

She was dead serious. No matter what he did or how sincere he tried to be, she wasn’t going back.

“I didn’t give it to you hoping we’d get back together,” Easton said quietly, not taking the bag. “It was just an apology. I know I misjudged you for years, said a lot of awful things…I just thought I owed you something.”

“Oh, now you realize how awful you were?” she shot back.

Great. So the guy finally grew a conscience. Shame it came way too late.

She wasn’t dumb enough to take anything from him now. He’d turn around and use it as leverage the second it suited him.

“I mean it. I just want to make it up to you somehow,” he said, pushing her hand back. “I can’t do much, but money…that I can give you. Don’t worry about it. Just take it.”

Ellis rolled her eyes so hard she nearly saw her own brain.

“Wow. Seriously? After everything you’ve pulled, you think I’m gonna trust your money? I’d rather burn it than wake up one day with a lawyer at my door saying I owe you something because of it.”

“That was— ”

Easton stopped. There was no excuse for it. And no argument to be made. What he’d done before—those power plays, those threats—he knew he had no one to blame but himself. He’d ruined any trust she ever had in him.

“I only acted like that because I didn’t want to lose you,” he muttered. “But I swear, I won’t make that mistake again.”

He even raised his hand like he was taking a damn oath. Ellis just stared at him like he’d grown a second head.

Was this really Easton? Was he possessed?

“You sure you’re actually Easton? Like…the real one?” she asked, frowning. “Because ever since you started talking about getting back together, you’ve been acting like a totally different person. And not in a good way. Like creepy–possessed–by–a–ghost kind of different.”

Easton gave her a small smile. “Doesn’t feel that strange to me.”

“Well, it’s strange to me, and I’m the one who has to look at your face. And don’t you dare try to argue with me about it,” she snapped. “You’ve been chasing me like you’re the one doing me a favor, like I’m begging you to take me back or something. Newsflash: I’m not. If you’re actually serious about wanting me back, you’ve got a funny way of showing it.”

“I’ve never begged anyone in my life.”

That arrogant tone again. God, she wanted to punch him in the face.

“Oh really? And what does that have to do with me?” she said, voice dripping with sarcasm. “Am I supposed to teach you how to grovel now? Get lost. Go as far away as possible. And for the record, even if you did beg, it still wouldn’t work.”

She said that, but she knew Easton wasn’t the begging type. Not in this life, anyway.