Act Like You Love Me (Jessica) novel Chapter 80

Chapter 80

Jessica’s POV

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I stayed by the kitchen window, staring out at the hollow, vacant sky. There were no stars, no moon-just a vast, ink-black expanse that felt uncomfortably like a mirror of my own soul.

The world outside was quiet, but inside my head, the noise of the day was still screaming,

“Jess,” Aunt Lydia’s voice was barely a whisper, but it was enough to pull me back from the edge of the void.

I glanced over my shoulder. She was standing by the refrigerator, her silhouette framed by the dim yellow glow of the stove light.

Seeing her up and out of bed sent a pang of anxiety through me.

With her health the way it was, every movement she made felt like a risk I wasn’t ready to take.

“Auntie, what’s wrong? Is it the pain again?” I asked, my voice thick.

She didn’t answer right away. She just crossed her arms over her chest, her eyes searching mine with that terrifyingly perceptive look only she has.

“I should be asking you that, Jessica,” she said sternly.

I couldn’t hold her gaze. I turned back to the window, watching a single droplet of leftover rain trek down the glass. I heard the soft, uneven shuffle of her footsteps as she crossed the kitchen.

When she reached me, she didn’t say a word; she just leaned against the counter and placed a hand on my shoulder.

“You aren’t okay,” she murmured, her voice blending into the shadows of the room. “You haven’t been okay for six years, Jess. But this… moving back here, taking that job… it’s ripping the stitches out, isn’t it?”

A heavy tear finally broke free and rolled down my cheek. I looked down, fumbling with my fingers, picking at the edge of the bandage on my hand until it stung.

She pulled me into her, wrapping her arms around my neck and resting her cheek against the top of my head.

The familiar scent of her lavender detergent and old-fashioned peppermint candies enveloped me.

I closed my eyes and leaned into her weight.

Sometimes i wondered-If she hadn’t found me that day, the day I passed out on a random sidewalk with nothing but a suitcase and a secret growing inside me-I don’t think Adrian or I would be here.

She was my anchor, and the thought of her sickness taking her away was a terror I tucked into the back of my mind every single morning.

16:03 Wed, Jan 21

Chapter 80

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“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked softly, swaying us just a little, the way she used to do when Adrian was a colicky infant.

I stayed silent for a long time, the only sound in the kitchen being the low drone of the fridge.

Finally, I let out a breath that felt like it had been trapped in my lungs since I left the office.

“Why does it still hurt so badly?” I choked out. “It’s been six years. I have a life. I have a son. I should be over this, but seeing him… hearing that word… it’s like I never left that boat. It’s like I’m still standing there in the cold, watching my world end.”

Aunt Lydia pulled back just enough to look me in the eye, her thumb brushing the tear from my jaw.

“It hurts because you never got to finish the story, Jess. You just closed the book and ran. But characters like Aaron? They don’t stay in the pages where you leave them.”

I let out a watery, bitter laugh. “He’s engaged, Auntie. He’s moved on to a whole new book, and I’m just… I’m the ghost hauntng his lobby.”

“Is he?” she asked, her eyebrows pulling together. “Or is he just as haunted as you are?”

I shook my head, thinking of the way he looked at me: the fury, the desperation, the way he’d gripped my arms like he was afraid I’d vanish into thin air again.

“I don’t know what he is. All I know is that I saw a side of him today that terrified me. He looked at me like I was the one who betrayed him.”

“Maybe in his version of the story, you did,” she said quietly.

I let out a long, ragged sigh and wiped my eyes, the friction of my sleeve stinging my skin.

“How could I have been the one to hurt him? By leaving? Auntie, any sane person would have walked away. I saw the man I’d loved my entire life, the man I’d just given everything to kissing his ex-girlfriend mere hours later. What was I supposed to do? Stay and thank him?”

The bitterness tasted like copper in my mouth. I thought of his grandfather, too-the way he’d looked at me like I was a smudge on the floor of his grand mansion.

He’d made it crystal clear how ‘out of my league’ they all were. He wasn’t wrong; I was a scholarship kid with a broken family, and they were royalty.

“You need to confront the past, Jess,” she said, her voice firming up. “Talk to him. Get it over with. This is eating you alive, and you know who else is going to feel the bite?”

She didn’t have to say his name. I knew. Adrian. My son was a sponge for my emotions; he felt every tremor

voice, and every moment I went distant.

in

my

“What’s the point, Auntie?” I let out a breathy, hollow laugh.

“He doesn’t want to address it. When he saw me again, there was no joy. No relief. He was just cold- indifferent-like I was a stranger who happened to have a familiar face. Like I never mattered at all.”

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Chapter 80

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“It’s because he thinks you threw him away without a single word, Jessica,” she pointed out, her eyes soft but unyielding. “You’d be just as guarded if the roles were reversed. You’d be lashing out, too.”

I bit my bottom lip so hard I tasted blood. I shook my head.

“Not if I was the one who went back to my ex the second her back was turned,” I countered. “I wouldn’t get angry knowing what I had done.”

She opened her mouth to respond, a thoughtful, heavy gaze lingering on me, but she never got the chance.

The front door creaked-a slow, agonizing groan of wood against metal. We both froze.

A soft, sleepy mumble came from the hallway. It was Adrian. He was probably looking for a glass of water or a midnight cuddle.

“Go,” aunt Lydia whispered, giving my shoulder a supportive squeeze. “Go look at the one good thing that came out of all that pain. I’ll make us some tea.”

Aaron’s POV

The rain was drumming a relentless, uneven beat against the floor-to-ceiling windows of my penthouse.

I stood there, staring out at the blurred lights of the city, my reflection a ghost in the glass. I looked tired. I felt

worse.

Behind me, Lauren’s voice was a sharp, grating edge that sliced through the fog in my head.

“You don’t even try, Aaron! Not an ounce of emotion. You’re always ‘busy, always ‘working. Do you have any idea how much I’ve given up for this? I wanted the media to cover every single second of the wedding prep, but I suppressed all of that for you. Because you wanted privacy. The least you could do is show up for our wedding preparation dates and pretend to care!”

She paced the length of the rug, her heels striking the hardwood in a rhythmic staccato—a ticking clock marking exactly how much of my patience was left.

“I’m putting in all the effort here,” she snapped. “I’m not the only one being forced into this, you know. We’re

both in this boat.”

I didn’t move for a long time. I just watched a droplet of rain race down the glass, thinking about a different set of ocean-blue eyes that had looked at me with such pure, unfiltered agony earlier today.

Compared to that, Lauren’s “sacrifice” felt like a bad joke.

I finally turned around, my movements slow and heavy. “Then back out, Lauren.”

Her jaw dropped. Her grey eyes flashed with a mix of shock and pure ego.

“What?”

I pinched the bridge of my nose, a dull throb starting behind my temples.

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“Back out of the wedding. I didn’t force you to accept the arrangement, and I certainly didn’t force you to ‘put in effort. If you’re so miserable, walk away.”

“Aaron, you can’t be serious. Our families-”

“I’ve had the longest day of my life,” I hissed, stepping toward her. “The last thing I need is you nagging me about a date I never agreed to. I’m not going. Let that sink.”

She opened her mouth to argue, but I cut her off, my voice dropping to a dangerous, low vibrate.

“And let’s get one thing straight-we are a couple in front of our families. That is the deal. Beyond that, I owe you nothing, and you owe me nothing. Any ‘effort’ you’re making? That’s your choice. I made it clear from day one: I never wanted this union. You had the power to kill this months ago, but you didn’t. You wanted the name, you wanted the status. Now, deal with what comes with it.”

I didn’t wait for her to find her voice. I turned my back on her and headed for the stairs, my heart thudding against my ribs like a trapped bird.

“Aaron! Don’t you dare walk away from me! Aaron!”

I didn’t answer. I didn’t even flinch when I heard the muffled sound of a decorative pillow hitting the wall behind me.

Once I was inside my room, I shoved the door shut and twisted the lock. The silence that followed was deafening.

I collapsed onto the bed, staring up at the dark ceiling. Everything in my head felt tangled.

How was I supposed to face Jess tomorrow? How do you even begin to pick up pieces that have been ground into dust for six years and expect them to hold weight again?

The bridge between us hadn’t just been burned; the ashes had long since been scattered by the wind.

But as I closed my eyes, one question burned through the bone-deep exhaustion, screaming louder than the wedding plans or my grandfather’s looming threats. It was the only thing that mattered.

Why did she run? I needed that answer. I’d crawl through glass for it. Because if I didn’t know why she left, I’d never know how to make her stay.

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