From Broken to Beloved-Chapter 189- as a man

Deep down, she did like Ford—she acknowledged him as a man. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have introduced him to Catherine in the first place. She had always believed that his feelings toward her were purely brotherly, never once daring to expect anything romantic between them.

Who could have known that fate would twist so unexpectedly, that he would one day tell her the person he liked was her?

Caught completely off guard, all her insecurity, anxiety, and lack of confidence surged at once. Instinctively, she began to reject him—pushing him away, resisting him at every turn, constantly clashing with him.

She thought that if she kept this up, he would eventually give up.

But instead, he only pursued her more relentlessly.

She might be carefree and seemingly thick-skinned, but that didn’t mean she had no heart. She was still a girl—what girl didn’t long to be cherished, doted on, treated with tenderness and devotion?

To say she wasn’t moved would be a lie. And it was precisely because she was moved that she felt so torn and miserable.

Perhaps it was because he was simply too outstanding. Compared to him, she felt painfully inadequate—felt she didn’t deserve him, felt he deserved someone better. And so she had said those words about breaking up...

Ford’s expression hardened. His dark eyes locked onto her, cold as ice.

"Riley!"

She could hear the clenched fury in his voice, along with the faint but unmistakable disappointment and hurt.

"Do you have any idea how cruel the word ’breakup’ is?"

Riley admitted that something inside her wavered at the sight of his expression. There was pain too, as though something shattered in her chest. But after a brief moment, she steadied herself again. She looked at him and smiled indifferently.

"What’s so cruel about it? I don’t love you. What’s the point of you forcing me to be with you every day?"

The moment she said I don’t love you, Ford’s face turned utterly frigid. His jaw tightened, his teeth visibly clenched as he struggled to restrain his anger.

She was driving him insane.

She clearly liked him—yet she stubbornly refused to admit it.

If she didn’t like him, how could she have slept with him again and again? Given her personality, if she had let him touch her without having feelings for him, she would have dragged her burly brother over to beat him up long ago. Why else would she keep ending up in his bed?

And earlier, in the car on the way back, when she was drunk and rambling, she had even said she loved him—only that she was too insecure to be with him. Ford couldn’t understand what she had to feel insecure about.

He loved her. Wasn’t that supposed to be her greatest source of confidence?

He stood there, glaring at her, eyes practically breathing fire. But slowly, the rage in his chest began to subside.

His mind raced, searching for a solution. They couldn’t keep going like this. He needed to force her hand, to make her face her own feelings. He had thought he had enough patience to keep chasing her, but he was realizing more and more that he couldn’t endure this imbalance any longer.

He desperately needed her response—needed her love in return. He wanted to marry her, openly and legitimately, so that he could finally feel secure. Her spirit was too wild; he was terrified that one day she would leave him behind.

Now that she had stubbornly brought up breaking up, Ford made a decision after a split second of calculation. He decided to play along.

His eyes cooled, and he let out a short, icy laugh. His voice was hard and merciless.

"Fine. If you want to break up, then break up. You can leave now."

Riley turned to go—but then suddenly realized how little she was wearing. She froze, turned back to him, and said,

"Can you lend me some clothes?"

She couldn’t possibly go out like this. People would think she was some kind of exhibitionist and call the police.

To her surprise, Ford crossed his arms and stood there unmoved.

"No."

Riley was furious.

"You expect me to go out like this?"

This was going too far. Even if she was the one who suggested breaking up, he didn’t have to be this heartless. It was freezing outside—was she supposed to walk out wrapped in nothing but a towel and freeze to death? And wasn’t this completely indecent?

Ford kept his face cold.

"If you want to borrow clothes," he said flatly, "then sleep with me first."

Riley never expected him to stoop this low. She froze for a second—then started shaking all over with rage. Completely losing it, she cursed at him,

"Ford, you pervert! You disgusting creep! Shameless, absolutely shameless!"

"Then go out naked," he replied coolly.

He ignored her yelling entirely. After throwing out that line, he walked straight to the bed, lifted the blanket, and lay down as if nothing had happened, leisurely settling in to sleep.

Riley felt like her lungs were about to explode from anger. She rushed over, yanked the blanket off him, and raised her hand to strike him, blinded by fury and desperate to vent it through force.

She forgot, though, that she had never once been a match for him.

He caught her wrist easily. With a sharp pull, she fell forward onto him. He took the opportunity to flip them over, and in the next instant, she was pinned firmly beneath him.

Riley was furious. She glared at him, teeth clenched as she spat out,

"Ford, how can you be this shameless? We already broke up—you agreed to it! And now you’re asking me to sleep with you? What kind of man does that make you?"

Ford leaned down and kissed her. His hand moved without restraint, his tone wicked and infuriating.

"Precisely because we broke up," he said, "it’d be a waste not to."

Riley nearly choked on her anger. She couldn’t break free at all. He held her there, using every trick he had to provoke and overwhelm her. In the end, there was nothing she could do but let him have his way.

She had feelings for him to begin with. And thinking that they were already broken up—that this might be the last time they would ever be this close—she finally allowed herself to give in.

They spent the night lost in passion and lingering intimacy.

When Riley woke up, it was already late morning. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

No one was in the bedroom. On the bedside table lay a clean set of women’s clothes, complete from inside out. Riley stared at them—the exact kind of relaxed, casual style she liked best—and all at once, her chest filled with an overwhelming ache and bitterness.