Mr. Fake-Mute's Love Game Ended When I Stopped Playing the Fool novel Chapter 55

Chapter 5

After I quit, I didn’t look for another job, but started a kidswear studio.

Peyton volunteered to be my little model.

Enough to get by. Even save a little.

I thought quitting meant I was done with Jasper for good.

Turns out–I was just kidding myself.

He showed up at my door with a paternity test.

wasn’t surprised.

The night before, while I’d been giving Peyton a bath, she kept biting her lip, looking nervous.

‘Mommy, I saw that uncle at school again today.”

didn’t say anything. Just kept scrubbing.

She waved her hands around anxiously, trying to reassure me.

‘He didn’t talk to me! He just… touched my hair and left.”

Mommy… you’re not mad, right?”

looked at her worried little face, sighed.

To a kid, parents are everything.

When Peyton first learned to talk, the first word she said was “Mama.”

he second? “Dada.”

But no one ever answered.

When she was three, she asked me why all the other kids had mommies and daddies, and she only had me.

told her the truth.

You do have a dad. But he and I aren’t together. And he doesn’t even know you exist,”

You can go find him if you want. You can even live with him. But I don’t know if he’ll want you.”

Having you without asking him first–that was Mommy’s fault.”

showed her a photo of Jasper.

he was smart. Kids remember faces.

hat one glance at kindergarten–she recognized him instantly

sut she chose not to walk up to him.

My tiny, cluttered living room felt even sinaller with bar sitting in it

Chapter 5

He leaned back on the single couch, tossed a manila folder onto the coffee table.

“Paternity Test” printed across the front.

“Explain.”

I poured myself a glass of water, but didn’t look at him.

‘Explain what?”

‘How I got pregnant? Why I kept the kid?”

‘Or why I lied and said she wasn’t yours?”

‘If it’s the last one, I did it to avoid drama.”

‘If it’s the first two, you know exactly how it happened.”

The last time we hooked up was right after graduation.

We hadn’t seen each other in almost a month. No calls. No messages.

Ever since that day in the car–when I asked if he loved me and he said “We’re graduating soon“-we were done.

Well. Not completely.

We ran into each other a few times.

Everyone was busy job hunting, partying, getting drunk and talking big.

Jasper was the busiest. But somehow, that never slowed down his love life.

Three days before graduation. Two weeks after we’d stopped talking.

Most of my roommates had already moved out, just me and Vivian left.

Vivian was at her desk, putting on lipstick.

Downstairs? That familiar black car.

That was Jasper. He did whatever he wanted, never cared how anyone else felt.

Vivian’s phone buzzed, and she answered fast.

I couldn’t hear what he said, but I saw her smile.

could still hear his voice through the speaker.

tried to ignore it, but it hurt anyway.

Before she left, her smile got wider.

Quinn, you had Jasper for three years. I’ve been jealous for three years.”

“Now that you’re done, don’t act like I stole him from you.”

I stood there frozen.

My finger hovered over my phone screen. I didn’t dare press call.

So… we were already broken up.

4th 1 CLAmmed Flaving the Foof

Chapter 5

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