My Dad's Bestfriend novel Chapter 137

Jacob

I watched, frozen, as Bianca handed me the small camera supposedly belonging to Evelyn during her visit with Tyler. My breath caught in my throat, my hands trembling because of the exhaustion from a night spent searching for her and the weight of my own mistakes settling heavily upon me. Disbelief washed over me as I stared at the camera.

She did this for me… Sacrificed for me.

God! What the fuck have I done?

“Why didn’t you fucking tell me she was with you?” I blurted out, my voice thick with frustration. I barely had any control over myself. “I could have gone there and brought her back home! How could you just let her leave like that?!”

“The same home you made clear wasn’t hers anymore?” Bianca shot back, her anger searing. “You fucking forced her to go away! She didn’t even want to lay eyes on you—just because you’re my brother doesn’t give you a free pass to make her suffer, to force her to stay when she wants to leave. Any woman in her right mind would do the same after everything you put her through! You screwed up, uttered terrible things to her, and hurt her beyond you can ever fucking imagine. She did the right thing by leaving you after everything you did!”

Bianca’s fury washed over me, but it was the crushing realization that Evelyn was now on a plane, poised to leave, that truly stung. I hurt her… irreparably. With my fucking words, my actions, and the mess I’ve made of everything—I’ve destroyed her, all while knowing the pain it would cause.

How could I be so blind?

I stared at the hidden camera, my vision blurring with unshed tears.

She went to Tyler's house to help me, and I repaid her love for me with all those words full of cruelty...

God! I fucking despised myself.

My anger, my hurtful words, my own fears and insecurities, my desperation, weakness—all of it combined to drive her away. I pushed her so far that now, I had nothing. Nothing left at all.

"How could you say those things to someone as innocent as her? For fuck’s sake! She's barely twenty, Jacob! You can't expect her to be as mature as a woman in her thirties! Yet she tried, she tried so hard to be everything you needed even as she needed care herself, and you treated her with such recklessness—you shattered her, you bastard!" Bianca's voice cracked with frustration and anger. "She refuses to even look at you. She said she'd end up hating you if she did—you pushed her to that point! If only you’d seen her eyes when she said that—you’d have never been able to look at yourself the same way again!”

I won’t be able to look at myself the same way anyways…

I hurt Evelyn. My Evelyn—the one person I wanted to protect with all my life…I broke her beyond repair.

I collapsed onto the couch, shoulders sagging, hands trembling along with my breath.

She did it all for me, and in a fit of rage and insecurity, I accused her of the worst...

How could I have fucking done that to her?!

Bianca’s expression softened, her own voice wavering as she guided me to the sofa. “You’re thirty-four,” she chided lightly, wiping away my tears. “Don’t cry like a baby. We’ll figure something out.”

“I’ve hurt her, Bee,” I admitted in a hoarse whisper. “I don’t know how to make it right—she shouldn’t forgive me, and yet… I can’t imagine living without her. I can’t even breathe when she’s not here. What am I supposed to do?”

“She loves you,” Bianca assured, squeezing my hand comfortingly. “Sooner or later, she’ll forgive you. She knows how much you love her. But for now, she needs time, just like you do.”

She was right…

I didn’t have the courage to confront her now, and she likely wouldn’t want to see me either. She needed time to heal, and if I were the source of her pain, it would only set her back. I couldn’t bear to hurt her any further—not anymore.

“Okay,” I finally breathed out, after a few moments of heavy silence.

Just a few days, and then I would be there… with my Evelyn.