Ruined

chapter 16

Roseanne.

The doorbell rings at seven o'clock the next morning.
I crawl out of the silky, lonely torment of Lisa's bed and shuffle through the room. She and Bambam have probably been in the pasture since before dawn, which leaves me to answer the door in a sleepy-eyed stupor.
Down the hall, around the corner, I enter the foyer and slam to a stop. Eunwoo stands on the front porch, squinting through the screen.
Okay, I know I left him hanging after that silent call last night, but what the ever-loving fuck?

He straightens when he sees me approach. "Roseanne, what's going on?"

"I should ask you the same thing." I pause at the door and narrow my eyes. "Why are you here?"

"Your text message?" his head tips to the side. "Aren't you going to let me in?"

"What text mess...?" I suck in a sharp breath.
Lisa has my phone.
Boy, do I have a bone to pick with her.

"Wow, so you drove all the way here?" I run a hand over my sleep- tangled hair and step onto the porch. "You must've left before six?"

"You told me to come as soon as possible." He purses his lips, his eyes squinting with suspicion. "You said it was urgent."

Since I never told Eunwoo what ranch I grew up on, I assume the text included this address. In Lisa's infinite wisdom to meddle in my life, it would've been nice to give me a goddamn head's up about this. On the bright side, her arrogant, domineering ass is off herding cattle. That means I'll be able to handle this situation without her hovering in my pocket like a stage five clinger.

"You grew up here?" Eunwoo looks around, mouth parted and eyebrows creeping toward her perfectly combed hair. "Your family must've been loaded."

Maybe? I never looked into the inheritance Mason left when he died. Half of it belongs to Felix, and since I let my brother deal with the paperwork, my inquiries would have to go through him. The deep porch wraps around the front of the estate, providing multiple seating areas. I could invite Eunwoo to sit, have a little talk, and drag a confession out of him. I look him in the eyes and wait for the resentment, outrage, or whatever I'm supposed to be experiencing. I feel sadness, I guess. I liked him, but I didn't love him. And I have no interest in dragging this out.

"I know you're sleeping with Kendra Forde."

"What?" her face pales. "We talked about this. I didn't-"

"Don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining! You fucked her in our bed, Eunwoo." I shake my head. "I'll move my things out in a couple of weeks. You need to go."
I turn to open the door.

He grabs my elbow. "I can explain."

"Let go." I glare at her grip. Then his hard eyes.

"You're ten kinds of fucked in the head, Roseanne." He releases my arm. A razor-sharp burn hits my throat, and I grab for the door, opening it. He slaps it shut and holds a hand against it. My scalp tingles, and icy dread drips down my spine. his breathing sounds too fast, his body too tense.

"She actually enjoys sex." He leans in, his expression cruel. "And multiple positions."

"I want you to leave." Needles prick the backs of my eyes as I yank on the door, unable to budge her hand. "Move. Right now!"

"You need help." He clucks his tongue, his mouth twisting into a snarl. "Gorgeous girl like you... It's a shame you can't-"

He flies backward, off the porch and across the front lawn, with the back of his shirt caught in Lisa's fist. A second later, that fist blurs into swift, punishing arcs that land across Eunwoo' face over and over. Lisa lives by a code of etiquette that embodies southern manners, such as inviting in visitors, ma'aming and siring, and tipping her hat at the ladies. But her good ol' boy upbringing also means she will fuck someone up if she thinks one of her own is threatened or harmed. As she lays into Eunwoo with the fury of a thousand fists, I don't scream or interfere. She knows when to stop, and Eunwoo isn't worth putting myself in the path of Lisa's swings.
Eunwoo doesn't get a single punch in before Lisa pulls away from his sprawled, bleeding body.