Beautiful Mistakes

No, that wasn't true.

She just couldn't wait to pay Matt a visit.

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As soon as her shift was over, she was off the clock and out the door, on her way back to the apartment. Leigh had given her a funny look and asked why she was taking the empty cheese box, but Julie just murmured that she had some stuff she needed to box up.

After stopping at Aaron’s apartment very briefly, she tossed her cheese box full of stuff in the passenger seat and headed to Matt’s house.

As she marched up the steps to the apartment she had been to more times than she wanted to admit, she could feel the anger as she gripped the box in her cold hands.

She had waited until she knew he would be home. She didn't know if Emma would be home—didn't care if she was—but she knew Matt would be home.

That was the only person she wanted to see.

She couldn't believe her luck, but when she got there, he was the one to come to the door.

Frowning, he said, "Julie? What are you doing here?" Then he glanced at the box in her arms. "What is that?"

She shoved it at his c

hest as hard as she could and he grunted as he caught it, frowning at her. "What the hell—”

"This is everything," she stated, not letting him even finish his exclamation. "It's everything you've bought for me, all your stupid little bribe gifts—the earrings are in there, the dress, the purse, the slippers—anything you have given me is in that box. You can have it. I'm done with you and your games, and your wife and her games, and I can tell you right now, sweetheart, it will be over my cold, dead body that you sick fucking people will ever come near my child. So you and Emma can take your offer and shove it up your asses—I'm not Shannon, you can't buy me off."

With that, she turned on her heel and went to walk away.

She heard the box drop behind her, but she didn't even slow her steps, she just focused on getting back to her car and as far away from Matt as she could.

"Julie!" he said, coming after her. "I don't know what he told you, but I can imagine. It's not what you think; if you stop for a minute I'll explain everything to you."

"More lies?" Scoffing, she said, "No, thanks, you can keep 'em."

"I'm not lying to you, Julie," he said, catching her by the arm and prompting her to turn toward him. "Please, let me explain."

She gave him an icy glare, but she didn't walk away—that was as much encouragement as he was going to get.

Sighing, he said, "Shannon…was Aaron's girlfriend."

"Yes, I heard," Julie said shortly.

"What did he tell you?"

"What do you think he told me? That she was the 'Julie' before me—she got knocked up, but she let you guys bully her, didn't she? Also, when are you ever going to learn to always use condoms? How many pregnant mistresses do you have to have?"

"He's lying to you."

"Whatever," Julie said, rolling her eyes and turning away. "I guess expecting you to actually own up to what you did to your own brother is just too much to ask, isn't it?"

"Julie, that whole situation got blown out of proportion! I never even touched her, she came up with this idea that she could somehow get ahead—would you listen to me?" he said, following after her.

She stopped, turning toward him with her arms crossed over her chest.

"I didn't pay her off to get an abortion. She was never even pregnant, Julie. We never slept together—she told people that we did, because she tried coming onto me and I turned her down—it was my brother's girlfriend, Julie, you think I would really do that to him?"

Frowning, a seed of doubt slipped in.

That was all he needed. His eyes softened and he shrank back just a little, asking, "Is that really what you think of me, Julie?"