Act Like You Love Me (Jessica) novel Chapter 112

Chapter 112

Jessica’s POV

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The voice rang in my ears, sarcastic and biting. At first, I thought it was my subconscious, but then the wind shifted.

I caught a whiff of something else-cigarette smoke mixed with cheap perfume, cutting through the earthy smell of leaves and water.

I froze, my heart slamming against my ribs, and slowly turned my head.

The person standing there was the last person on earth I expected to see in the middle of a bridge in America.

“Mabel?” I whispered.

The woman who had been our “escort” in Madrid stood a few feet away, but she looked like she’d been through a war.

Her face was a map of purple bruises and yellowing skin.

Dark circles hung under her eyes like heavy curtains.

She wore baggy pants that hung loose on her frame and an oversized shirt that swallowed her up, nothing like the glamorous suits she wore in Spain.

“Mabel?” I whispered, my voice trembling.

She smirked, but it didn’t reach her eyes, and she began striding toward me with a deliberate swag.

“What happened to you?” I asked, my gaze fixed on her injuries.

“You mean my face?” She pointed to a particularly nasty welt on her cheek with a casual flick, then let out a harsh laugh that echoed oddly over the water.

“I got this because of you, Jessica.”

Her words hung there, unnerving in their cheerful delivery. I didn’t know how to feel about that smile-it was too bright, too forced, like a mask over something darker.

My eyes narrowed. “Because of me?”

Mabel nodded, swiping her tongue across her teeth in a thoughtful gesture.

“You see…” she began, leaning against the rail a safe distance away, her voice casual as if we were chatting over coffee.

“Kennedy Tyrone-that old bastard-is on the hunt for the lady who ‘went out’ with Aaron. Using all his power and connections, he tried digging through hotel check-in details. Of course, he couldn’t touch the airport records since Aaron whisked you away on his private jet. And the hotel? Zilch-they couldn’t provide a damn thing.”

She laughed again, her eyes lighting up with what looked like geuine admiration.

“Aaron really had everything covered. Bro is madly in love withou.” She smirked at me, a knowing glint in her battered

eyes.

“He protected you so well he totally forgot about the rest of us.”

She stepped closer, her expression turning grim.

“Somehow, Kennedy found me. He had me abducted all the way from Spain. Brought me here in the hold of a ship like

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Chapter 112

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cargo. I’ve spent the last week being tied to a chair and beaten because he wanted a name. He wanted to know who the ‘whore’ was.”

She paused, holding up a hand as if to stop my reaction.

“But hey, I didn’t say a word. He realized your pretty big ass owned my loyalty, so he let me go.” She winked, but the hurnor fell flat against her bruises.

My lips quivered. I felt sick. “He did that to you?”

“I said that already, Jessica.” Her tone was matter-of-fact, but underneath, I sensed the steel that had gotten her through it.

How cruel could Kennedy get? He was a monster, a tyrant hiding behind his family’s wealth and legacy.

I wished he would just drop dead, rot in whatever hell awaited men like him.

“I came around to search for you and Aaron, to let you know what that ex-hockey player prick did,” Mabel continued, pride edging her voice.

“I was once a street fighter, and I can play with the internet like is my bitch-hacking basics, public records, social media trails. So here I am-and here you are.”

She gestured to the bridge.

I remained still against the railing, the metal digging into my palms, my legs dangling over the void.

Her story grounded me for a moment, pulling me from the edge of despair.

“If I were you, Jessica, I’d come down from there,” she said, her tone shifting to something firmer, almost commanding.

“Don’t make this…” She pointed at her ruined face. “Go to waste. So get the fuck down.”

The reality of her sacrifice hit me. While I was hiding, this woman was bleeding for me.

Aaron’s pain, Adrian’s innocence-it all deserved better than this cowardly exit.

They didn’t deserve the silence of my grave; they deserved an apology I had spent six years running away from.

I took a deep, shuddering breath and prepared to swing my leg back over.

But my hands were numb from the cold. As I shifted my weight my foot slipped on the wet metal.

“No!” I screamed, my body lurching outward.

Gravity claimed me for a terrifying second before I latched onto the rail with my fingernails, my body dangling over the black abyss.

I screamed again, a raw sound of pure terror.

“Jessica!” Mabel called frantically, her boots pounding the pavent as she ran over.

“Help! Please!” I begged, my eyes locked on the churning water low, the darkness seeming to reach up for me.

“Here, give me your hand.” She extended hers, strong and steady her bruised face set in determination.

But I was paralyzed. I kept glancing down, the vertigo making stomach churn.

“Save me, Mabel-please, I don’t want to fall!”

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Chapter 112

“Trust me, okay? Focus on me, not the water,” she assured, her vice calm amid the chaos.

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“Take a deep breath. Think about your son-Adrian’s smile, histle hugs. Think about Aaron, the people you love most.”

Their faces flashed through my mind like a reel of film: Adrian’s augh, Aaron’s smile before the world broke, Aunt Lydia’s warm embraces.

Gathering every ounce of courage, I pushed with my free hand, sing all my strength to hoist myself up.

I reached out, and Mabel grabbed my wrist.

She groaned, her bruised muscles straining as she used all her power to haul me upward.

I scrambled, the tip of my toes catching the ledge, and tumbled ver the railing, crashing onto the hard pavement.

I didn’t move. I couldn’t. I just lay there, gasping for air, until Mabel collapsed beside me.

I reached out and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug, sobbing to her shoulder.

“It’s alright,” Mabel murmured, her breath fractured and uneven against my car. “You’re safe. We’re both safe.”

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