Ruin Me Slowly

Chapter 10

Jane POV

“At least I tried.”

That was all I could tell myself as I stepped out of the cab and stood in front of the Ellis estate. My legs felt like jelly, my heart still racing from what just happened at Empire.

Rosie King.

God, I hated her.

I went there to do the right thing. To tell Carter the truth. But she made sure I never even got the chance. She threw me out like I was nothing. Like I was trash.

At least I tried.

The next week blurred into a mess of rejection and silence. I sent out my resume to every place I could think of. Coffee shops. Galleries. Front desks. PR firms. Half of them didn’t respond. The other half politely told me I was underqualified—or worse, pretended to be interested until they heard my last name.

The Ellis name opened doors once. Now it slammed them shut. My father had made too many enemies, burned too many bridges. And I was guilty by blood.

No one was going to give me a chance.

The iron gates creaked closed behind me as I walked up the stone pathway toward the front door. I pulled my coat tighter around me. The afternoon sun offered no warmth. It was quiet. Still.

But the second I stepped inside the house, something felt… wrong. And that’s when I saw it, my father’s shoes. Black leather, polished to perfection, sitting in the middle of the hallway.

My stomach dropped.

He never left his shoes there.

“Lila?” I called out, voice tight.

Suddenly, she came rushing in from the side hallway, her face pale, eyes wide with fear. Her hands were wringing the hem of her apron like she didn’t know where to place them.

“He’s back. And Miss Jan… he knows,” she whispered.

My heart stopped. “He knows what?”

“I…I tried to stop him—” Her voice cracked.

I grabbed her arms. “Lila. What did he find out?!”

“Your father,” she choked. “He went to your room looking for you. He couldn’t find you. And then… then he saw it.”

“Saw what?”

“The test.” Her voice trembled. “The pregnancy test. On your nightstand. I was too late. He’d already seen it.”

My whole body went cold.

“No,” I whispered. “No, no, no.”

Before I could say another word, a door slammed upstairs. Then footsteps. Heavy. Angry. Thunderous.

I turned toward the grand staircase just in time to see him appear—Richard Ellis.

His face was red. His eyes bloodshot. His jaw clenched so tightly I thought it might snap. He looked like a man about to erupt.

And I was the target.

“Wasn’t it enough humiliation that you spread your legs for a Carter fucking King?” he bellowed, storming down the stairs. “You think I haven’t been cleaning up after your messes for years? You think this one won’t stick?!”

His voice echoed through the hallway like a slap. His face was red, twisted with rage.

“How dare you do this to me— to this family !”

“I—”

“Shut the hell up!” he shouted, spittle flying from his mouth. “Do you know what you’ve done?! The damage you’ve caused?!”

I took a shaky step back. “I didn’t plan this.”

He laughed bitterly. “Of course you didn’t. Because you never think. You’ve always been reckless, just like your mother.”

I clenched my fists. “Don’t talk about her.”

He ignored me.

“You’re pregnant with a bastard child,” he spat. “A King bastard! Do you have any idea what this means for me? For this family?”

I looked him straight in the eye. “I’m not your family.”

His face twisted with rage.

“You ungrateful little mistake,” he hissed.

I wanted to scream. To cry. But I did neither. I just stood there, holding in the fire rising inside me.

“I gave you everything. And this is how you repay me?”

“You gave me nothing,” I said coldly. “Not love. Not support. Just rules. Just pain.”

His nostrils flared. His hands curled into fists.

“You want to be grown? Fine.” He walked past me toward the front door. “You’re not my daughter anymore.”

He flung the door open.

“Get out.”

“What?”

“You’re done here,” he snarled. “Take your whore body and your bastard child and get out of my house.”

I looked at Lila, then back at him.

“You already froze my account, now you’re kicking me out?” I whispered. “You’re throwing me away?”

“I should’ve done it years ago,” he hissed.

He stormed back inside, reached for the antique vase by the entryway, and smashed it against the wall. Shards flew everywhere. I jumped back, my heart pounding in my ears.

I slowly walked outside, every part of me numb. The wind hit my face like ice. I didn’t even have a bag. Just my phone, my coat, and the weight of the world in my stomach.

Lila stood behind me, tears in her eyes, mouth covered as the door slammed shut between us.

I was out. Homeless and pregnant.