Act Like You Love Me (Jessica) novel Chapter 109

Chapter 109

Aaron’s POV

I didn’t go to my penthouse. I couldn’t risk running into Lauren or her mother. They’d only add fuel to a fire I was barely holding back.

Instead. I drove to Dave’s.

I pushed the car with a feral, reckless speed, my knuckles white and veins bulging against the leather of the steering wheel.

My mind was a storm, lightning-strikes of memory clashing with the cold reality of the present.

I had a son. A fucking son, hidden from me for six years.

I really wanted to hate Jessica-fuck, part of me screamed for it. But I couldn’t. My love for her was stronger, a stubborn flame that refused to die, even now.

A piece of me understood her flight; she’d been hurt before, by me, by life. High school me had been a prick, tormenting her because I didn’t know how to deal with my own shit.

But what broke me was the distrust, even after I’d shown her a glimpse of change, a hint of my good intentions.

The fact that she saw a silhouette on a deck and decided our entire future wasn’t worth a five-minute conversation? That was the knife in my back.

If she hadn’t come back to Los Angeles, if she hadn’t landed that ob at my firm, I’d never have known about my mini-me breathing somewhere out there.

Her decision was cruel, plain and simple.

Yeah, I got protecting her heart-not wanting to confront what she thought was the truth.

I’d been cheated on by Fiona; I knew that gut-wrenching, sick-to-your-stomach betrayal Jessica thought I’d caused her.

I lived through that fire. But when it happened to me, I fought for the truth.

I looked Fiona in the eye and demanded answers. Jess didn’t even give me the chance to lie, let alone tell the truth.

She should’ve tried. She should’ve screamed at me, hit me, or dragged me off that deck to explain myself. Instead, she just vanished.

Our son-Adrian-had nothing to do with her misconceptions. He wasn’t a pawn in our drama, yet he’s the one who pand the highest price.

That was the real cruelty of her decision. She played god with three people’s lives, and she did it all based on a he whispered by a man who never wanted her to win.

When I saw that boy at the school. I’d felt it. I’d seen my young self in his eyes, but I’d dismissed it I told myself the world was full of look-alikes. I didn’t want to assume

I had gone to her house tonight to finally end the games. I was going to call off the wedding with Lauren.

I was going to tell Jess I didn’t care about the past, that I wanteder and only her. I went there to find a beginning, and instead, I found a devastating ending

The tears finally broke, blurring the road into a smear of light. wiped at them angrily, but they kept coming.

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09:41 Mon, Jan 26 GBB

Chapter 109

By the time I pulled up to Dave’s opulent ranch-style house, I was a wreck.

I stumbled to the front door and rang the bell, leaning my forehead against the cool wood.

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When Dave opened the door, his face was set in a scowl-probably annoyed at being woken up-but it melted instantly when he saw me.

“Ron?”

I didn’t say a word. I just sagged against him, my hand clutching my chest as if I could hold my heart together.

Dave caught me, grunting under my weight, and kicked the door shut with his foot.

He half-dragged, half-carried me toward the couch.

The room smelled like his cologne and whiskey-the smell of a fe that wasn’t complicated by billions of dollars or six-year- old secrets.

I collapsed onto the cushions, the fight draining out of me in on long, shuddering breath.

The silence of the room was heavy, broken only by the hum of Dave’s gaming PC in the corner.

Dave hovered over me, his brow furrowed in that rare moment where he actually looked concerned.

“Holy hell, Ron. You look like a billionaire who just found out he’s actually broke. Did the stock market crash, or something?”

I leaned my head back against the headrest, staring at the ceiling. At least I had one person left in this city who didn’t lie to

“Worse,” I mumbled, my voice sounding like I’d swallowed glass Way worse.”

Dave opened his mouth to push further, but then he hesitated, seeing the way my hands were shaking.

He defaulted back to the only defense mechanism we both knew Dark humor.

“Well, look,” he said, gesturing to my slumped frame.

“If you’re going to bleed out or something, move to the rug. I had this couch shipped in from Milan and I’m pretty sure the leather is worth more than all your cars combined. Don’t ruin the aesthetic.”

I looked up at him through the haze of my own exhaustion.

“I’ll buy you a dozen of these damn couches, Dave. I’ll buy the whole showroom and have them burned in your front yard if it’ll make you shut up.”

Dave rolled his eyes, a “whatever” huff escaping him as he turned toward the bar.

“You’re lucky you’re pretty, Ron, because your personality is a solid two out of ten right now.”

He grabbed a crystal decanter and two glasses.

“You want a drink, or are you going to keep sitting there looking like a Victorian orphan who lost his last piece of bread? You’re ruining my ‘effortless bachelor’ aesthetic with all that broting.”

Despite the crushing weight in my chest, a short, wet laugh escaped me. It was a miserable, jagged sound, but it was the only reprieve I could find.

It was so absurd, so perfectly Dave, that for a fleeting second the burden lifted-long enough for me to catch my breath.

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09:41 Mon, Jan 26 GGB.

Chapter 109

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But the mercy of the laugh was short-lived. The gravity of the night rushed back in, heavy and cold, pinning me to the cushions.

I looked up at him, the tears streaming freely now, blurring the edges of his beige living room.

“Dave. I have a son. I have a six-year-old son.”

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