Act Like You Love Me (Jessica) novel Chapter 86

Chapter 86

Aaron’s POV

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I lay perfectly still, my back to her, but every nerve ending I possessed was tuned to the woman breathing just inches away.

The bed shifted; a restless, rhythmic tossing that told me her mind was as chaotic as mine.

Then, the silence was sliced by a persistent vibration. Her phone was buzzing on the nightstand, over and over, a frantic, muffled hum against the wood.

I felt her freeze. The tension radiating from her body was palpable, a sudden rigidity that made my own muscles lock up.

Then, the soft glow of a phone screen cut through the darkness, illuminating the ceiling for a split second before she snatched it up.

I felt the weight of her gaze on the back of my neck.

She was checking, waiting, hovering over me like a ghost to see if my breathing would hitch or if my eyes would flutter.

Her sneakiness made me uneasy; it was a practiced, desperate kind of caution that I didn’t recognize in the Jessica I used to know.

Once she was seemingly convinced I was dead to the world, she slipped out of bed.

Her footsteps were nothing more than a faint pressure on the carpet, ghosting toward the heavy glass doors of the balcony.

I didn’t move, but I stopped breathing, my heart hammering against my ribs as I strained to listen through the slight crack she’d left in the door.

“Auntie? Is everything okay?” her voice was a hysterical whisper, thin and jagged with a fear that made my blood run cold.

Auntie? I frowned into the dark. That didn’t make sense.

When I’d known Jessica, she was alone in the world. Her mother was long gone, and her father was a deadbeat who had traded his daughter’s affection for a bottle and a new family that treated her like an intruder.

She didn’t have an aunt. She didn’t have anyone but me.

“Did the doctor call? Is Adrian… is he alright?”

My heart stopped at the name. Adrian.

“Okay. Okay, thank you. God, I was so worried. Tell him I love him. Tell him I’ll call him the second I can. Please, just keep him safe.”

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Chapter 86

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There was a long pause, a heavy silence where I could almost hear her trembling through the glass. Then she let out a shaky, broken sigh.

“I know, Auntie. I’m trying. But it’s hard… it’s so hard being here with him. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Give him a kiss for me.”

She crept back into the room, the floorboards barely groaning under her weight, and slid back under the

covers.

I kept my breathing rhythmic, a practiced, shallow deception, but my mind was a Category 5 hurricane.

Adrian. Who the hell was Adrian? The “I love you” she had whispered was so tender, so instinctive, it felt like a knife twisting in my gut.

Was it a boyfriend? A man she had hidden away in the six years she’d been a ghost? Or was she living a life so entirely separate from me that I didn’t even know the names of the people she cherished?

The thought that she was sending kisses to another man while lying in my bed made my blood boil with a territorial rage I had no right to feel.

But the confusion was louder than the anger. She had an “Aunt” now. She had an “Adrian.” She had a doctor calling about someone’s health.

Jessica’s POV

I woke to a scent that shouldn’t have been there. It was a rich, woodsy mix of bergamot and expensive cedar. The permeating scent of Aaron’s cologne.

For a hazy, beautiful second, the last six years evaporated. I thought I was back in our college dorm, waking up to the sound of him shuffling around before a morning practice.

Then, the sunlight hitting the marble floors of a Madrid penthouse snapped me back to reality.

I bolted upright.

Aaron was already dressed in a maroon suit that looked like it had been molded to his frame.

He was standing by the mirror, adjusting his cuffs, looking every bit of the cold, untouchable billionaire.

“I… I’m so sorry!” I scrambled out of the silk sheets, my hair a wild nest around my shoulders.

“I slept in late. I didn’t mean to-I’ll be ready in ten minutes, I swear.”

I started rambling, my nerves shot.

“I usually have an alarm, but I must have been more tired than I thought, and the bed was just so-”

I stopped mid-sentence. Aaron hadn’t moved. He hadn’t even acknowledged my frenzy apology.

He was just staring at me-no, he was looking through me. His expression a brick of ice.

16:04 Wed, Jan 21

Chapter 86

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There wasn’t a trace of the man who had confessed his torment the night before, the man whose lips had brushed the corner of mine.

The silence stretched, becoming heavy and suffocating. I realized he wasn’t going to speak.

Eventually, I got the memo, my face burning with embarrassment.

I scrambled out of bed, grabbing my toiletry bag, and hurried into the luxurious bathroom without another word.

While the hot water sprayed over me, I leaned my head against the cool marble tile and groaned.

When exactly had he developed bipolar disorder?

One moment he was the vulnerable, hopelessly romantic partner whose soul was “bleeding” for me, and the next, he was this cold, arrogant, toxic shell of a man.

The emotional whiplash was giving me a migraine. I couldn’t keep up with which version of Aaron Tyrone I was supposed to be talking to.

“Ugh,” I muttered, scrubbing my face. The whiplash was going to give me a permanent neck injury.

When I finally finished and peeked my head out of the bathroom, the main room was empty.

I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding and hurried to get ready.

I chose a simple, forest-green knit gown with a modest neckline.

On the hanger, it looked plain—almost boring. On my body, it was a completely different story.

My curves had always been a blessing and a curse.

No matter how “simple” the fabric was, it tended to look extravagant because of the way it clung to the flare of my hips and the curve of my bust.

I stared at myself in the full-length mirror.

Over the years, especially after having Adrian, I’d seriously considered saving up for a reduction surgery just so I could finally disappear into a room without being noticed.

But life happened. Adrian’s school fees, juggling bills and taxes-there was never enough left over for my own

comfort.

Eventually, I’d just learned to love the skin I was in, even if it made me feel exposed.

I threw my hair into a messy but chic bun, swiped on a bit of clear gloss, and stepped into a pair of sensible

black flats.

I wasn’t about to navigate Madrid in heels while chasing after a man who walked like he was in a sprint.

Just as I spritzed on my perfume, the door creaked open.

16:04 Wed, Jan 21

Chapter 86

59

55 vouchers

Aaron walked back in, a thick leather folder in his hand. He stopped dead in the center of the room.

His gaze didn’t just meet mine; it drank me in. I felt his eyes travel slowly, deliberately down the length of my body.

They lingered on the curve of my hips, the knit fabric stretching just enough to be dangerous, before snapping back up to my face.

Every inch of my body lit up under that stare. It was an instant, visceral heat I couldn’t hide.

My heart hammered against my ribs, and for a second, the coldness from earlier vanished, replaced by a raw, hungry tension that made the air between us feel like it was about to combust.

“The car is downstairs,” he said. His voice was lower now, a rougher, darker version of the one he’d used earlier.

“Try to keep up, Jessica. We have a long day ahead of us, and I have very little patience for distractions.”

He turned on his heel and walked out, leaving me standing there, breathless and utterly confused by the man who seemed to hate me as much as he wanted me.

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