Act Like You Love Me (Jessica) novel Chapter 101

Chapter 101

Aaron’s POV

The air in my grandfather’s study was thick with the scent of old leather and even older grudges.

Kennedy Tyrone sat behind his mahogany desk, his eyes twin pits of cold judgment.

He didn’t offer me a seat, and I didn’t wait for one.

< 67%

“Who is she, Aaron?” The question was sharp, a blade aimed at my throat. “The woman in Madrid. The masked one in the photographs.”

I leaned back against the heavy doorframe, checking my watch with an intentional, slow motion.

“Is that why you summoned me? To discuss tabloid pixels? You’re wasting my time, Grandpa.”

His reaction was instantaneous. Kennedy’s fist slammed onto the desk, rattling the crystal decanters.

“I’ve tolerated your insolence for long enough! The Walters are a powerful family, a necessary pillar for our expansion. What you did-flaunting some whore in Spain-could ruin a union decades in the making.”

I let out a dry scoff.

“A union I never asked for? You know, it would be a personal faver if they called it off. At least then you’d finally get off my

neck.”

The room went deathly quiet. Kennedy didn’t explode. Instead. He leaned back, a slow, predatory chuckle bubbling in his throat. It was a sound that usually preceded a massacre.

“You’re bold today,” he mused, his eyes narrowing. “It seems you no longer care about the fate of your little pauper

roommate.”

My heart missed a beat, but I didn’t let a single muscle in my face twitch.

I let him savor his ‘power’, while I watched the smugness play across his wrinkled features.

“You know she dies if you try anything stupid,” he added, leaning forward to drive the point home.

I allowed a smirk to spread across my lips. I wasn’t afraid of his threats because he was bluffing with an empty hand.

“Do your worst, Grandpa,” I challenged, my voice steady as a heartbeat. “Do your absolute worst, but do it quickly. I have a meeting I actually care about.”

I pushed off the doorframe and turned my back on him. The silence behind me was heavy with his shock. It was the most satisfying moment of my adult life.

For years, this had been his leash-the bait, the weapon he’d wielded for years. Jessica.

He’d dangled her supposed “whereabouts” like a carrot on a string, using it to manipulate me into this sham engagement with Lauren Walters.

The forced engagement, the family politics-it had all been built on that lie.

The threats kept me in line because I believed he held her fate in his hands. But now? Now I knew the truth.

With Jessica found, the balance of power had shifted. But satisfaction came with an edge of caution.

1/4

12:30 Sat, Jan 24 DGD.

Chapter 101

3 67%E

My sudden defiance would tip him off; he’d realize I’d either found her or she was within reach. He’d start digging, and searching.

If he found out that my “missing” past and my current assistant were the same woman, he wouldn’t just threaten her. He’d erase her.

I needed to build impregnable shield around her before he even realized where to look.

This time, the game wasn’t just about survival; it was about winning.

AAAAA

It was evening, the sun was dipping below the LA skyline, bleeding orange and violet across the floor-to-ceiling windows.

David was just finishing our debrief, his tablet tucked under his arm.

“The digital scrub is working,” David said as I escorted him toward the door.

“But the Walters are making noise. Lauren’s father is ‘disappointed,’ which is billionaire-speak for ‘I’m going to sue you if you don’t buy my daughter a bigger diamond for embarrassing her.

“Let him talk,” I muttered, rubbing the bridge of my nose. “I’m done being managed.”

“Just stay sharp, buddy,” David said, reaching for the handle. “Were playing a dangerous game of hide-and-seek with Grandpa and the Walters-and they’re not the type to quit.”

David swung the door open, but he stopped dead in his tracks.

Standing in the hallway, draped in Chanel and smelling of expensive desperation, was Beatrice Walters. Lauren’s mother.

I suppressed the urge to groan aloud.

David looked at Beatrice, then back at me, a wicked glint entering his eyes.

“Well,” David chirped, patting my shoulder with unnecessary forde. “See you later, buddy. Enjoy the evening. I have a feeling it’s going to be… enlightening.”

“Go to hell, David,” I hissed under my breath.

He winked and slipped past Beatrice, leaving me alone with the woman who wanted to be my

mother-in-law.

She didn’t wait for an invitation. She swept into the penthouse, Her eyes scanning the minimalist decor with clear disapproval.

“To what do I owe the visit, Beatrice? It’s a bit late for a social call

“We need to talk, Aaron. It’s about my daughter, Lauren.”

I shut the door with a controlled click, crossing my arms as I turned to face her.

The living room felt smaller with her in it, her perfume-overpowering floral-clashing with the clean lines of my space.

“What about her?”

She turned, her face a mask of practiced, high-society grief.

“You’re making a mockery of this engagement, Aaron,” Beatrice mapped, her manicured fingers trembling as she gestured wildly.

2/4

12:30 Sat, Jan 24 DGD.

Chapter 101

3.67%

“She’s been nothing but devoted, painstakingly planning every detail of this wedding while you treat her like a footnote in your schedule! Running off to Madrid with some mystery wom? The photos are everywhere-do you have any idea how much work it’s taking to keep our social standing from collapsing? It’s a disgrace to our family.”

Her voice pitched higher with every word, a loud, shrill sound that grated against the silence of the penthouse.

I remained still, my expression a mask of bored indifference.

I knew better than to match her energy; if I let my temper slip een an inch, the fallout would be catastrophic, and I had too much at stake to waste my rage on her.

“You haven’t even sent flowers!” she shouted, as if a bouquet of roses could fix a broken life. “You haven’t called, you haven’t checked in-nothing!”

“I have nothing to apologize for,” I said, my voice dropping to a dangerous, icy level.

“Lauren and I-our union is an arrangement. It was never a romance.”

“An arrangement?” Beatrice’s voice rose a frantic octave. “It is a dynasty in the making! You are being fundamentally cruel, Aaron, and acting like a spoiled child, not the titan the Tyrone name demands you to be.”

I felt the familiar tension coiling in my jaw.

“The Tyrone name demands I be a puppet. I’m retiring from the theater, Beatrice.”

“You think you can just walk away?” she scoffed, stepping closer.

“The Walters family has invested millions into your infrastructure. You owe Lauren a future. You owe us the respect of keeping your… urges… out of the press.”

The mention of “owing” triggered something primal in me.

I’d spent the morning being threatened by my grandfather and the afternoon being scolded by a woman who saw me as a bank account with a pulse.

“I don’t owe you anything,” I said, my voice dropping to a dangerous, quiet rasp. “And I certainly don’t owe Lauren a life of pretending I love her while she spends my money. This conversation is over.”

“Aaron, don’t you dare-”

“Goodbye, Beatrice.”

I stepped forward, my height forcing her to retreat toward the hallway.

She looked like she wanted to slap me, her face contorting with mix of rage and disbelief.

“You’ll regret this!” she shrieked as she crossed the threshold. “The Walters won’t be cast aside so easily!”

I didn’t give her the satisfaction of a reply. I grabbed the edge of the heavy oak door and slammed it shut.

The thud echoed through the penthouse, a final, violent sound the day’s demands.

I stood in the silence of my home, my forehead resting against te cool wood of the door.

My grandfather was a shark in the water, the Walters were vultus on the wire, and somewhere in a quiet apartment across

town, Jessica was the only bit of sunlight I had left to find my way home.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone, my thumb overing over her name.

3/4

12:30 Sat, Jan 24 D G D.

Chapter 101

I wanted to call her, to hear her voice, but I stopped. Every connection was a trail. Every word was a risk.

I had to be the monster they thought I was to keep her safe. I had to be colder, faster, and more ruthless than the lot of them.

67%

I walked to the window, looking out over the flickering lights of os Angeles. The storm was coming, but let them bring their worst. I finally had something worth protecting.

4/4