Ruin Me Slowly

Chapter 17

Rosie POV

“You have got to be kidding me.”

That was the first thing I said when I walked into the kitchen and saw the front page of the newspaper sitting on the marble counter.

There it was.

In bold, glossy print.

Carter King Proposes to Jane Ellis at Nobu.

I nearly choked on my coffee.

“No, no, no,” I muttered, flipping the paper open like the headline might magically change.

But it didn’t.

There was a huge photo of Carter on one knee, holding up a sparkling ring the size of my ego, and Jane freaking Ellis looking like she’d just won the damn lottery.

I could feel my heart thudding in my chest, my blood heating like boiling water.

“What the actual hell were you thinking, Carter?” I growled at the paper.

Right on cue, my phone rang.

Dad.

Of course.

I answered, already bracing myself.

“Rosie.”

“Yes, Dad, I saw it.”

There was silence for a beat.

“Is it true?” he asked, his voice clipped, controlled—but laced with fury.

“Apparently so,” I said, pinching the bridge of my nose. “He proposed to her. In public. With cameras.”

“What was he thinking? Has he lost his mind?”

“I don’t know,” I snapped. “I’m trying to figure that out right now.”

“Fix it,” Dad said simply. “I don’t care how. That girl is an Ellis. We are not merging with that family in any form. Do you hear me?”

“I know,” I hissed. “I’ll take care of it.”

I ended the call and immediately dialed Carter.

No answer.

I called again.

Voicemail.

I texted.

“We need to talk. NOW.”

Nothing.

“Where the hell are you?” I muttered, pacing across the room.

And then it hit me.

Emma.

I called her immediately, not even giving her a second to say hello.

“Emma!” I shouted.

“Uh—hi?”

“What the hell happened?! I thought you were supposed to be with Carter! That was the deal!”

Emma sighed on the other end. “I tried, Rosie. I really did. But he ghosted me.”

“What do you mean ghosted you?”

“I mean, I couldn’t get a hold of him! He wasn’t at Empire. He wasn’t answering calls. He just… disappeared.”

I stared at the wall, my jaw clenched.

“I gave you one job, Emma,” I said slowly, dangerously. “One job.”

“I can’t seduce a man who isn’t there!” she snapped back. “He didn’t even show up to Empire all week!”

I gritted my teeth. “Unbelievable. Do you know what this means?”

“Yes, Rosie, I read the damn paper,” she muttered. “It’s everywhere. Even the blogs are calling it the biggest shock of the season.”

“Yeah, well, it’s about to be the biggest disaster of the decade,” I hissed. “Thanks for nothing.”

I hung up before she could respond and grabbed my coat.

I didn’t care where Carter was hiding. I was going to find him.

And when I did, he was going to wish he hadn’t ignored my calls.

***

Twenty minutes later, I got the call—Carter was back in his office.

I didn’t wait. I went straight there and pushed the door open without knocking.

There he was. Sitting at his desk. Sipping coffee.

Scrolling through his phone like he didn’t just explode our entire family name across every gossip page in America.

“What. The. Fuck is going on here?!” I shouted.

He looked up, one brow raised. “Good morning to you too, Rosie.”

“Don’t you dare play casual with me right now,” I said, slamming my bag down onto the desk. “You think this is funny? You think proposing to Jane Ellis of all people is just some little joke?!”

“I didn’t do it for laughs,” he said calmly, taking another sip of coffee. “I did it because it felt right.”

“Felt right? FELT RIGHT?!” I repeated, practically shrieking. “Carter, are you out of your mind?! That girl is the daughter of Richard Ellis. Have you completely forgotten what he did to our family? To Dad?!”

Carter set down his mug and leaned back in his chair. “I haven’t forgotten anything.”

“Then what the hell is this? A rebellion? Some twisted power move?”

He stood now, facing me directly. “It’s none of that. It’s about the baby. My baby. And Jane. I’m not abandoning either of them just because you and Dad have a vendetta.”

I laughed bitterly. “Vendetta? This isn’t about me, Carter. This is about protecting our name, our legacy—everything we’ve built. And now you’ve tied it to them.”

“I’m not tying our legacy to anyone,” he said. “I’m taking responsibility.”

I stared at him, chest rising and falling.

“Responsibility?” I spat. “You’re marrying a scandal.”

He looked me in the eye. “No. I’m marrying a woman who’s been through hell. And I’m standing by my child.”

My words caught in my throat. I wanted to scream, to tear this whole building down.

Fucking piece of shit.