Act Like You Love Me (Jessica) novel Chapter 178

Chapter 178

Author’s POV

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The sun hung high and indifferent over the emerald expanse of the Tyrone private estate in Florida.

This land, a vast stretch of rolling hills and ancient, moss-draped oaks, was a sanctuary of a different sort.

The Tyrones did not bury their own in public cemeteries or under the gaze of government records.

They kept their dead close, interred in a private mausoleum of white marble and limestone that stood at the edge of the property, overlooking the Atlantic.

The funeral was an exercise in practiced grandeur. Rows of folding chairs were occupied by men in bespoke suits and women in designer veils.

High-stakes players from the world of international finance, former governors, and legends of the sporting world had flown in from across the globe.

To the world, Kennedy Tyrone was a titan, a man who had built an empire from frozen ponds and iron-willed negotiations.

Wendy sat in the front row, her face a mask of serenity. She wore a black dress that looked more like armor than mourning

attire.

Beside her, a man of immense stature-a retired senator who had once shared cigars with Kennedy in the halls of power- leaned in, his voice a gravelly whisper.

“He was a singular force, Wendy,” the Senator said, his eyes moist with a sentiment that was only half-manufactured.

“A man of uncompromising character. They don’t make them like Kennedy anymore. He was the gold standard for what a leader should be. A good man, through and through.”

Wendy didn’t flinch. She felt the cold truth of his words-not the part about him being “good,” but the part about him being a “force.”

She knew that force better than anyone; she carried the faded marks of it beneath her silk sleeves.

“He was indeed a force,” Wendy replied, her voice steady and devoid of the grief the Senator expected.

“He ensured we never lacked for anything. He taught this family the value of discipline and the cost of power. There will never be another like him.”

She didn’t mention the bruises or the terror. In this moment, she chose to honor the provider, the man whose greed and relentless pursuit of status had inadvertently bought the very freedom she now enjoyed.

His hardness had been the whetstone that sharpened her children; his obsession with wealth had created a reservoir that would sustain them for generations.

She allowed him this final, public dignity-not for his sake, but for the sake of the legacy they were now reclaiming

A few yards away, near the back of the gathered crowd, Jessica stood with a vintage camera around her neck and a notebook.

in hand.

She wasn’t just there as Aaron’s fiancée; she was there as a chronicler.

She watched the ceremony through the lens, capturing the way the light hit the marble, the way the great men of the stood in solemn formation.

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Chapter 178

Her presence was a quiet rebellion. Kennedy had wanted her silenced, tucked away, or erased.

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Now, she was the one who would write the narrative. She saw the irony in it all: the flowers, the eulogies, the towering monument. It was a beautiful lie for the public, but beneath it la the remains of a man who had died confused and alone in a basement of his own making.

Aaron stood by the mausoleum, his hand resting on the cool stone.

He wasn’t crying. He felt a strange, detached peace. He watched the paramedics’ report being whispered about in the back rows-how Kennedy’s heart had finally given out in the hospital after the ‘accident’ at the warehouse.

The family had kept the details of the shooting buried deep, shrouded in the same luxury that covered everything else.

As the final prayers were said and the heavy bronze doors of the tomb were closed, the crowd began to disperse toward the main house for the reception.

The high-stakes conversations resumed; deals were being brokered even as the dust settled on the casket.

The heat of the day began to break as the sun started its slow descent toward the horizon, painting the Florida sky in shades of bruised purple and burnt orange.

The funeral was over, the guests were retreating to their hotels, and the Tyrone house was finally quiet.

Aaron, Adrian, and Jessica slipped away from the estate, walking down the quiet, tree-lined streets that bordered the property. The air was thick with the scent of pine needles and blooming hibiscus.

They walked in silence for a while, the only sound being the soft cuff of their shoes on the pavement.

Adrian wandered a few paces ahead, poking at interesting stone with a stick.

He was absorbed in his own little world, but they never let him drift past their line of sight.

Aaron adjusted his sleeves, having long since ditched the stifling uit jacket. He watched Jessica for a moment, seeing the way she stopped to stare at a cluster of flowers, her arms wrapped lovely around her body as if holding the moment together.

The fading sun caught her profile, and in that light, her blue eye seemed to hold the entire sky.

For the first time since he’d known her, he saw a profound peace in her pupils. Usually, there was a spark of vigilance there— the guardedness of a woman who had been through so much.

But today, the tension had vanished. The constant, quiet static of fear had been replaced by a clear, deep stillness.

It was the look of someone who no longer had to prepare for a bow.

“You did a good job today,” Aaron said, breaking the silence. He stopped for a second, turning to look at her fully.

“I mean, watching you today-doing what you loved…. you were so focused. And so beautiful”

Jessica blushed, a warm color creeping into her cheeks, and a small, genuine smile graced her lips. It wasn’t the polite smile she wore for people; it was one meant only for him.

“It’s a fascinating story, Aaron,” she said, her voice soft. “A man who built a kingdom and almost burned it down just to pee he could. I’m glad your grandma allowed the ceremony, though It’s a closing of a door that needed to be shut.

“It’s more than that, Aaron mused. He looked at the way the fading light caught the sapphire of the king at face ther

the first time I’ve walked these streets without looking over my shoulder. It’s strange. I kept waiting for his voice become booming out of a car window, telling me to stand up straighter get back inside ”

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He looked at the manicured lawns of the neighboring estates. Memories of summer holidays surfaced-fragments of a childhood spent behind high gates.

“I remember being Adrian’s age,” Aaron said, gesturing toward lison.

“My cousins and I would sit by the tall hedges and just watch. We see the kids from the other families playing tag in street or riding bikes together. Even in an upscale place like this some parents let their children be… children. They h memories that weren’t curated or coached. But Grandpa never us. If we weren’t practicing or studying the family business, we were ‘wasting time.’ We were little trophies meant to stay on the shelf.”

He watched Adrian skip toward a butterfly, his movements free and unburdened.

“He’ll never have to watch from behind a hedge,” Aaron whispered.

“He’s gone, Aaron,” Jessica said softly. She reached out and caught his hand, her fingers sliding between his-a perfect. familiar fit.

“He can’t reach us anymore. The gates are open. Forever.”

They reached the base of a small, grassy hill that overlooked the town and the distant glitter of the ocean. It was a spot they had found years ago, back when their love was a secret and the world felt like an enemy.

They climbed to the top, the grass swishing against their legs.

Aaron turned to her, and the orange light of the sunset caught his gaze, his deep brown eyes reflecting the gold of the descending sun.

He looked at her-really looked at her—and felt a surge of something that wasn’t just love, but a profound, settled gratitude.

For a long moment, the silence between them was comfortable, lled only by the distant sound of the ocean and Adrian’s muffled humming.

Jessica watched the way the light played across Aaron’s face.

“You have that look again,” she whispered, her voice barely audible over the breeze.

“What look?”

“The one where you’re actually here. Not in the past, not in a boardroom, not worrying about the next move. Just… here.” She reached up, her thumb grazing the corner of his eye.

“Your eyes used to look like they were always scanning for an exit. Now, they just look like home.”

Aaron leaned into her touch, his eyes drifting shut for a second as the tension of the last few days finally drained away.

“Maybe that’s because I finally found one,” he whispered.

He reached up, cupping her cheeks in his palms. The air between them was warm, smelling of the sea and the cooling grass.

He pulled her closer until their foreheads rested against each other, a quiet, shared space where the rest of the world didn’t

exist.

“You know,” he said, his voice dropping into a playful, flirting note, ‘for a journalist who’s supposed to be objective, you kouk remarkably biased toward me right now.”

Jessica giggled, leaning her head against his shoulder.

“Is that so? And what gave it away? My professional interest in your profile?”

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