Chapter 10 The Cheating Boyfriend

• Mid-January, 2018
• Grace drove down the road that led to Jarred’s house. She had put off breaking up with the man for the longest time, mulling it over and thinking of ways to evading the fallout for as long as possible. But she couldn’t put off breaking up with Jarred any longer.
• In the beginning, being alone made Grace feel more comfortable. But in the last couple of months, when she saw less and less of him, it was the first time since they started dating that Grace was sure she was uncomfortable with her relationship with Jarred before. It was time for them to break up. More so because Jarred held animosity toward Liam unlike everyone else who flocked to the little boy and showered him with love.
• Jarred saw Liam as an outsider encroaching on his time and though she felt horrible for choosing, she did end up choosing Liam in the blink of an eye.
• Olivia knew what Grace had planned to do and promptly took Liam and Edward for the biweekly grocery shopping trip. Not only would Grace have time to break up in a way that felt right to her, but also give her the space needed to process what she did afterward. There wasn’t a lot they had planned to do that day, but Olivia didn’t want to plan a lot of things in case Grace needed her.
• Grace stopped in front of Jarred’s house, she stepped out of the car. Still, she slowly walked to the front door in an attempt to calm down and not make a scene when she needed to break up. She didn’t want to leave any issues behind once she walked out.
• Grace hadn't had a chance to knock on the door yet when she heard some strange sounds coming from inside. It seemed to be Jarred and Emma?
• Grace just stood there in shock, he was with Emma? Emma of all girls in the world?
• She managed to snap out of her shock, reminding herself of why she had come to his place, it was something more important, something that would free her from what she called a relationship.
• As much as Grace didn’t want to be with Jarred, it still stung that he betrayed her. Moreover, with her step-sister. Grace swallowed the ball of hurt stuck in her throat and felt anger prickle at her heart. If she had any uncertainty about her decision, seeing Emma had washed them all away.
• Gracy banged on the door twice, and after a long while, Jarred finally opened it.
• "Gracy, I can’t believe you got time to come over. Come in!" Jared, wearing only a pair of pants, looked at Gracy in surprise.
• “I heard Emma’s sound. What was she doing here?” she asked out of sheer curiosity, wanting to know what excuse Jarred would come up with.
• “Her dad send over some fish for my parents,” he explained. There was a hint of nervousness in his voice when Grace cocked a brow.
• “That’s funny. You don’t hear how illogical you sound, do you? Edward hasn’t gone fishing in a long time. He sent Emma to give you guys fish? He went out on a date with my Mom though. And Emma hasn’t come to our house in a few weeks.” Grace sighed. “Don’t lie to me, Jarred. You know I hate that.”
• Jarred’s eyes widened, “Gracy, baby—”
• "Don’t even start…" Grace said coldly. "Don’t call me that."
• “Call you what? Baby? Gracy? What? What is wrong?” He had the audacity to sound confused.
• “Both. You are not close enough to me to call me by affectionate nicknames. You are not allowed.”
• “Grace, I don’t understand what the fuck you are going on about. I am not in a mood to be put through a loop,” he commented, starting to get angry. He didn’t understand what Grace was trying to say. Grace laughed coldly.
• “I know you are cheating on me with Emma.”
• Jarred took an involuntary step back, as if burned by her words. “Grac—, it was all a mistake. She threw herself at me.”
• “Don’t pin this on Emma, Jarred. You know you slept with her because she had feelings for you and you used it. You knew you could manipulate her when I didn’t want to have sex with you. Trust me, I have never been more thankful for my decision to hold back on the physical part of our relationship.”
• This time, Jarred scoffed. “Oh, really? You hold out on me for years, Grace. You even had a hard time giving me a hand job. I am a man and I have needs. Need you could not fulfill and Emma was all too happy to supply. I was not going to allow you to yank me around in that capacity.”
• Grace laughed out loud. She felt tears at the corner of her eyes and her lungs burned with the need for air. Jarred looked beyond confused by this point.
• “What is funny? I think it is a fair trade. I am only with her because she gives me sex.”
• He looked thoughtful in an instant. He had no idea how hard it was becoming for Grace to contain her fury.
• “I have the perfect solution.” Jarred smiled at her. Grace stared at him in suspicion.
• "I promise to break up with Emma if you give it up to me,” he said like it was a good option.
• Grace controlled her emotions and thumbed the little tears away. “You are serious about that? Good god, how stupid are you? I drove to your house to break up with you. I have no feelings for you and I never will. I understand that struggling to like you is a chore. We need a clean break and we can move on with our lives like none of this ever happened.”
• “Are you serious?” he asked.
• She looked at him like he was an alien. “Of course I am serious. Even if you weren’t cheating on me, I would have still broken up with you today.”
• Jarred stepped forward and grabbed her arm. “You will do no such thing,” he said roughly.
• “What are you talking about?” she asked, feeling frightened all of a sudden.
• Jarred narrowed his eyes and his hold on her arm tightened painfully.
• “Ouch! Let me go this instant!!” Grace cried out in pain due to the force he used in holding her.
• “Let me go, Jarred. Quit being a jerk!” She fired at him in anger as she kept struggling with him, but Jared was relentless.
• From the look in his eyes, Grace could see that she was not giving up soon. He would do whatever was going on in that head of his.
• “Stop struggling Grace..” Jarred said and before Grace could even say anything else to him, he had torn her clothes off her body.