Act Like You Love Me (Jessica) novel Chapter 46

Chapter 46

Chapter 46

Jessica’s POV

Flash back

“I don’t need you to do the heavy lifting, Jessica,” he’d said, his voice a smooth, oily purr.

“I just need you to be my eyes and ears. Every milestone, every scout meeting, every offer that puts Aaron one step closer to the top-you tell me first. I’ll handle the rest. I’ll make sure those opportunities… evaporate.”

I remembered the cold sweat prickling my neck.

“Why? Why do you want to break him like that?”

Kennedy had leaned forward, his eyes glinting with a predatory light. “Because a man at the top is hard to control. A man whose dreams have turned to ash? He’s much more… malleable.”

He saw the hesitation in my eyes and slid a folder across the table. It contained everything-my brother’s spiraling debts, the legal mess my parents had left behind, the secrets that could ruin me before my career even started.

“Think of the reward,” Kennedy whispered.

“You help me, and I’ll ensure you marry into the Tyrone family. You’ll have the name, the protection, and the wealth. I’ll elevate your journalism career until you’re the most influential voice in the world. And your family? The people who hurt you? I’ll give you their heads on a silver platter. Revenge, Jessica. It’s a much better bedfellow than loyalty.”

It was a deal that promised me everything I’d ever wanted, at the cost of the only person who made me feel alive.

He wanted me to feed him Aaron’s future, piece by piece, so he could burn it down

And all of this-the threats… the calculated destruction-was simply because Aaron had the audacity to choose his own path.

He refused to be another carbon copy in the Tyrone dynasty, refusing the traditional family business to chase a dream on the ice. In their eyes, his independence was a defect that needed to be “corrected.”

Kennedy had somehow sniffed out my greatest vulnerability. He knew that despite everything, Aaron was my blind spot, and now he was weaponizing that love against him.

He wanted me to be the architect of Aaron’s downfall, to dismantle the one person who is the sole reason I’ve made it this far.

Could I actually do it? Could I look into the eyes of the man who represents my entire world and systematically burn his future to the ground?

Flashback Ends

A sharp intake of breath snapped me back to the present. The dark bedroom solidified around me. I was shaking, my hands gripped so tightly around the edge of my shorts that my knuckles ached.

“Jess?”

His voice was close. Too close.

I stared at Aaron. He looked so hopeful. For the first time, he looked like, the boy I’d known before he became the “bad boy” of the campus. He looked vulnerable in his success.

And I was the one holding the knife.

13:15 Mon, Jan 12

Chapter 46

“Jess?” he called again, his brow furrowing with concern as my silence stretched too long. “You okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“I… I’m just shocked,” I lied, the words feeling like ash in my throat. “It’s a lot to take in. February. That’s so soon.

“It’s perfect,” he said, misinterpreting my horror for overwhelmed excitement. “It means after the winter break, I go straight into camp. No downtime. No distractions.”

He reached out, his hand covering mine on the mattress. His palm was warm, solid, and trusting. It was the touch of someone who thought I was on his side.

“I couldn’t have stayed focused this year without you, Jess,” he said softly. “Having you here… it kept me grounded. I want you there when I sign the papers. I want you at the first game.”

I looked down at our hands. Every word he spoke felt like another brick added to a wall that was sealing me in.

I was happy for him-truly, deeply happy, but that happiness was being strangled by the reality of my situation.

If I refused to help Kennedy, I’d be walking away from everything he promised. And the most alluring promise of all? That he’d give me Aaron on a silver platter-not as a distant dream or a fleeting moment, but as mine, bound to me by the very family name Kennedy controlled.

But If I followed his orders, I destroyed the only thing Aaron truly loved. I’d be the one to snuff out the light in his eyes.

“Jess, what’s wrong?” He leaned in closer, his scent wrapping around me again, but this time it didn’t feel like a tease. It felt like a tether I was about to snap.

“Nothing,” I whispered, finally meeting his eyes.

My vision blurred. I had to get out of this room. I had to breathe. “I’m just… I’m so tired, Aaron. The exams, the news… I think I just need to sleep.”

He stared at me for a long beat, his thumb stroking the back of my hand.

He knew something was off, but he was too high on his own victory to see the shadow of the girl sitting right in front of him.

“Yeah,” he said quietly, withdrawing his hand. “Yeah, of course. Get some rest, flower. We have a long two days before the ship sails.”

He stood up, the mattress rising as he moved back to his own bed. He flicked off the main light, leaving only the small lamp on my nightstand.

“Goodnight, Jess.”

“Goodnight, Aaron,” I replied, my voice cracking.

I crawled under the covers, my movements mechanical. My hand brushed against the pillow, and for a split second, I felt the hard plastic of the rose toy underneath. It felt like a joke now.

A pefty, childish secret compared to the mountain of lies I was currently buried under.

I lay there in the dark, listening to the steady rhythm of Aaron’s breathing from across the room.

He was sleeping the sleep of a man whose dreams had finally come true.

I lay there wide awake, realizing that the cruise wasn’t just a trip anymore. It was the beginning of an end.

13:15 Mon, Jan 12