Act Like You Love Me (Jessica) novel Chapter 106

Chapter 106

Jessica’s POV

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The noise in the hallway rose to a fever pitch, a cacophony of ringing phones and hushed gossip that battered my senses.

I couldn’t bear the exposure a second longer.

Reaching out, I grabbed Aaron’s wrist. His skin was warm, a bleak contrast to my ice-cold fingers.

He hesitated for a heartbeat, his frame tensed as if he were debating whether to stay and face the cameras or follow me into the lion’s den.

Then, he let me drag him inside.

I slammed the door and threw the bolt.

In the safety of my apartment, cut off from the hallway uproar, let out a long, ragged sigh.

I pressed my back against the wood, my heels digging into the carpet as if my own meager weight could hold the entire world at bay

The chaos from the hallway filtered through the wood: distorted shouts, the frantic trill of a ringtone, and a few lingering, star-struck screams-but they sounded miles away now.

Yet, the safety of the apartment felt like a trap.

The silence that filled the living room was infinitely more terrifying than the noise outside

I kept my eyes squeezed shut, trying to force my lungs to remember how to take a full breath.

“Jessica, what’s going on?” Aaron’s voice snapped me back to reality, low and honed with confusion.

I opened my eyes to find him standing in the center of my small cramped living room. He looked entirely out of place—a titan in a dollhouse.

His eyes were fiery, a dark, burning amber that felt like it was searing right through me.

They weren’t just angry; they were bottomless, filled with a restless, boiling heat that made the air in the living room feel thick and scorched.

The stillness in his body was terrifying, it scared me to my bones it was the look of a man who had already stopped asking questions and was simply waiting for me to stop lying.

“Aaron-” I started, but the name caught in my throat. I swallowed hard, my gaze flickering toward Adrian.

My son’s earlier excitement had evaporated, replaced by a wary, wide-eyed stare. He looked from me to Aaron, sensing the tectonic plates of his world shifting beneath his feet.

“Your silence isn’t helping, Jess,” Aaron said, his voice dropping an octave. He stepped forward, the air in the room seemingly tightening around him.

“Why is there a little boy in your apartment? He called you ‘Moma. You told me you didn’t have a partner in Madrid. You told me there was no one.”

His voice began to rise, the controlled mask finally cracking. His aw was clenched so tight I could see the muscles leaping in

his neck.

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Chapter 106

“But you have a son? A son who looks exactly like…”

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He trailed off, his eyes darting back to Adrian. I was visibly shaking, my hands knotted in the fabric of my nightgown.

I didn’t know where to start. I didn’t know how to tell him that the “no one” I had in Madrid was actually a piece of him that I’d stolen and nurtured in the dark.

Before I could find the breath to speak, Adrian moved. He scrambled across the floor and threw his small arms around my legs, shielding me with his own body.

“Don’t talk to my momma that way!” His voice was small but fierce, trying to shield me like I was the one who needed protecting.

His baby face was twisted into a savage scowl, his small chest puffed out as he glared up at the “superstar” he had admired only minutes ago.

For a flickering second, Aaron’s anger diffused into a look of stared amusement-a ghost of a smile at the boy’s bravery.

But it vanished as quickly as it appeared, replaced by a grim, hard-edged intensity as he turned his gaze back to me, demanding a truth I wasn’t ready to surrender.

“Jess?”

The voice came from the hallway leading to the bedrooms. My eyes snapped toward it, and Aaron’s gaze followed mine like a predator tracking movement.

Aunt Lydia was leaning against the doorframe, her hand clutching her abdomen. Her face was a sickly shade of grey, contorted in a mask of agony as she tried to limp toward us.

“Aunt!” I cried out in a fresh wave of panic, rushing toward her.

The moment I reached her, she sagged against me, putting her entire weight on my shoulders.

I could feel her trembling, her skin clammy through her thin nightshirt.

“Why did you come out here?” I scolded her, my voice thick with tears as I began to guide her toward the couch. “You aren’t well, you should be resting.”

She managed a weak, ghostly smile as I eased her onto the cushions.

“I heard the commotion,” she croaked, her breath coming in short, fractured gasps. “I just… I wanted to see what was happening. To know you were safe.”

Her eyes drifted upward, over my shoulder.

Aaron was still rooted in the center of the room, looking profoundly confused, caught between his demand for an explanation and the unfolding medical emergency.

Aunt Lydia smiled weakly at him.

“The infamous….. Aaron Tyrone,” she said with a faint chuckle th dissolved into a cough, her hand pressing against her side.

“I’ll go get you some water,” I said, starting to rise, but her hand hot out with surprising strength, catching my wrist.

“Stay with me, Jess,” she pleaded.

I was a wreck, a ball of raw nerves and saltwater. Tears were pouring down my face as I knelt beside her.

Aaron ran a frustrated palm through his face, the beanie shifting back to reveal his stressed expression.

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Chapter 106

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“Can someone please explain what is happening here?” His tone was feral now, though he was clearly fighting to keep it controlled for the sake of the child in the room.

“Jessica? Who is this woman? Who is the boy?”

I knew he already had the answer. I knew he had done the math the moment he looked at Adrian’s face.

He just wanted the confirmation-he wanted to hear me say the words that would change everything.

I opened my mouth, my heart pounding against my ribs, but Aunt Lydia beat me to it.

“Let me… help…” Her voice became suddenly strangled. I watched in horror as the light seemed to drain from her eyes in an

instant.

doll.

“Aunt? Aunt Lydia!” I screamed. Her body went limp, sliding down the back of the couch like a rag

“Please! Call an ambulance!” I shrieked, shaking her shoulders as if I could rattle the life back into her.

Adrian didn’t hesitate; he dashed toward the bedroom to grab my phone, his little face pale with terror.

Aaron, moved by an instinct that bypassed his anger, stepped forward.

“Move, Jessica,” he commanded. It wasn’t a request.

With effortless strength, he reached down and scooped aunt Lydia into his arms, cradling her against his chest as if she weighed nothing at all.

He looked at me, his eyes sharp and focused, the “boss” taking charge in a crisis.

“Get the boy. We’re going. Now.”

I was a sobbing wreck, tears and breath coming apart at once. I grabbed Adrian, who was clutching my phone with white knuckles, and we followed Aaron out the door.

The second we stepped into the hallway, a group of teenage girls from two doors down practically fell over.

They had been pressed so close to the wood that they lost their balance, their cheeks flushing a deep, embarrassed pink at being caught eavesdropping.

I didn’t even see them. I didn’t care about the gossip or the head nes that would surely follow. I just wanted my aunt to breathe.

“Not the elevator,” Aaron grunted. “It’s too slow.”

He took the stairs, his boots thudding heavily against the concrete as he carried her down three flights.

I scrambled after him, holding Adrian’s hand so tight I was worried I’d hurt him, but he didn’t complain. He was sobbing quietly, his free hand over his mouth.

When we burst out of the lobby doors into the cool night air, we practically ran into Ella and Tony. They were walking up the path, arm in arm, looking like they’d just come back from a quiet dinner.

The smiles on their faces vanished the moment they saw the grin procession.

“Jess? What happened?” Ella rushed forward, her eyes landing on the unconscious woman in Aaron’s arms.

“She passed out,” I choked out. “I think… I think it’s her heart.”

“Oh my God. We’re coming with you,” Ella said, turning to Tony who simply nodded, his face grim.

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Chapter 106

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We didn’t wait for an ambulance. Every second felt like a drop of sand slipping through my fingers, and Aunt Lydia didn’t have any to spare.

Aaron’s SUV was idling at the curb, a dark beast of a machine that looked completely out of place in our modest neighborhood.

He moved to the rear of the SUV. With a tenderness that made my throat ache, he laid Aunt Lydia across the back seat, adjusting her head gently so she could breathe.

He stayed there for a split second, his hand hovering over her pulse, before he stepped back to let me in.

“Get in, Jess. Hold her steady,” he commanded.

I scrambled into the back, pulling her limp, cold hand into mine. Aaron didn’t waste a heartbeat; he rounded the car and buckled Adrian into the front passenger seat.

My son was a mess of heavy, racking sobs, his eyes wide as he watched the man he called a “superstar” take control of our lives.

“Hey, hey,” Aaron said, his voice surprisingly soft as he checked Adrian’s belt.

“Look at me, buddy. I’ve got her. I’m going to get her to the best doctors in the city. Do you hear me? She’s going to be okay.

Adrian looked up at him, nodding slowly, lured into a fragile calth by Aaron’s assurance.

Aaron hopped into the driver’s seat and the engine roared to life. He floored it, the tires chirping against the asphalt as we tore away from the curb.

Behind us, I could see Tony and Ella following closely in their own car, their headlights a constant, reassuring presence in

the rearview mirror.

I leaned over Aunt Lydia, pressing my forehead against hers, my tears dripping onto her pale skin.

“Please, Auntie,” I whispered, “don’t leave me. Not now. Just hold on. We’re almost there.”

In the front seat, Aaron’s hands were locked tightly on the steering wheel, his eyes fixed on the road with intense focus.

He was saving the woman who had helped me hide from him, and I knew-I just knew-that once the sirens stopped, the real reckoning would begin.

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