Chasing His Rejected Wife
Chapter 63 -

Jessica

I didn't know what to expect once I sent the text with 'yes' written on it. Perhaps, the person, whoever it was, would never reply, or maybe they would then go on to demand an exorbitant sum of money from me in exchange for the information they allegedly had. Or maybe they would ask to meet in some clandestine location... the possibilities, while not endless, stretched a long way.

Either way, I wasn't really sure if I would get a valid answer or not. Before Anna's call, I had already made up my mind to ignore and delete the message, but now, in light of what I had just learned, that Aiden had met with my mom and neglected to mention it, I felt a renewed spark of curiosity.

So, I waited, gripping the phone in my hand, as the text indicated that it had been delivered. My heart was racing, a mixture of nerves and uncertainty. I tried to distract myself by getting ready for the day, my phone always nearby and within easy reach.

I had just finished getting dressed when a new text popped up. My mouth went dry and my heart began beating loudly in my ears as I set down my hairbrush to read the message. Good choice.

I stared at the two words, wondering what came next. Was that it?

I nearly jumped out of my skin as my phone started to ring. The Caller ID read a private number and I let it ring, while I debated whether to answer or not. Curiosity won.

"Hello?" I said cautiously. "Who is this?"

There was a beat of silence on the other end, then a woman's voice replied. "I will send you a video, it has all the information you need."

"Wait...who are you?" I asked, thoroughly out of my depth with all this cloak-and-dagger stuff. I tried placing the voice, but it wasn't one that I recognized.

"And why are you telling me all this? How do you know my husband? You're Elisa, aren't you? You're the one that's doing all this because you want me to leave Aiden right? You want him all to yourself." The more I spoke, the angrier I got because, at this point, I was done with all the bullshit.

That earned me a scornful chuckle. "That whore? All she knows is to spread her legs for other women's husbands." Her voice hardened, "I don't have time for your childish games. Do you still want to know the truth or not?" "Fine. Send it then." I snapped, my temper fraying rapidly.

The line went dead and I had to tamp down the urge to fling my phone against the nearest surface. Seconds later, I got a new notification. The video had been sent as promised and it was nearly eight minutes long.

I sat down, my legs suddenly feeling too weak to hold me any longer. With a shaky finger, I played the video. It opened without preamble to Julian's face and I was hit with a sense of loss, seeing his familiar face.

I recognized the background, the tall shelves that held huge tomes of books in his study. Julian was on the couch, half lying and half sitting, a blanket draped over his legs. He looked exhausted and sickly, with bags under his eyes, sunken cheeks, and sallow, pale skin. He was obviously in the early last stages of the illness when the treatments and cancer had taken a heavy toll on him. There seemed to be no one else with him, as he spent a few minutes trying to get the camera angle just right, muttering under his breath.

The task seemed to drain his strength because he flopped back against the cushions, breathing hard, his eyes closed. It took him a moment to recover but soon, those deep blue eyes, so like Aiden's, were staring at me through the screen. 'Son, I'm going to dispense with the usual bullshit and get right to the point. I'm dying. The treatments all failed and I've got a month at most to live. To be honest, I'm glad to go, I don't think I can take more of those goddamned chemicals that are killing me faster than the damned cancer itself."

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He paused to take several breaths, already sounding winded, grimacing in pain. My heart squeezed to see him suffering this way...he'd always presented a stoic front, never letting slip how much pain he was going through at any moment. "I made mistakes in the course of my life that still haunt me till this day, and the biggest one of all, you already know. I regret running away that night after I hit that poor girl. I should have stayed, called 911, and taken responsibility for my actions. Perhaps, if I had done the right thing, she would have gone on to live a full life. But I was a coward. Skylark was finally becoming the success it is today, and to get arrested for driving under the influence and murder would have plummeted us from the heights we had struggled to climb."

Julian sighed and rubbed at the back of his hand. "Jessica's mother, Margaret was in the car with me, I had no idea that she recorded me going to check on the girl by the side of the road. She kept that piece of evidence with her and for years, used it to extort money from me. She forced me to raise Jessica as a part of my household, to pay for her upbringing, get her into Ivy League schools, and eventually, give her a high-ranking position in the company along with a large amount of shares to go with it. I didn't know what her motives were then, but I had no choice but to agree. And so, I had a cuckoo in my nest, an unwanted burden that I had to put up with, and had to pretend to like.

As Jessica grew older, I drew her closer to me so I would be aware of any move her mother was making. It was easy enough to convince the naive child of my genuine care for her and kept no secrets from me.

When Margaret found out I was dying, she got greedy and wanted a part of Skylark, some assurance that she would continue to enjoy the benefits of her blackmail even after my death. As a compromise, I drew up that contract, and forced you to marry Jessica, granting her an extra twenty percent shares that would still remain in your control as long as you were married. At this point, I was still convinced of Jessica's culpability in her mother's schemes, which is why I told you she was aware and involved in the blackmail scheme."

But, I was wrong. When Jessica came to plead with me to let you marry whomever you wanted, rather than her, I slowly began to realize just how genuine her affections were. But I didn't, couldn't tell you that because I wanted, in some way, to punish Margaret by punishing her daughter."

I gasped, my hand flying to my mouth as I absorbed the news with a mixture of shock, disbelief, horror, and revulsion. Julian was still talking, but the rest of his confessions faded into white noise.

Julian...all this time, I'd believed a lie. All the moments I cherished, the fond memories I had of our times together...all that was an illusion? Nausea churned in my stomach and I barely made it to the toilet, spewing out what remained in my stomach.

I didn't know exactly what to think, or how to feel in this moment, now knowing the truth about Julian. He'd hit someone with his car and left her to die...my mother seizing the opportunity to extort money and more from him. And the fact that they had both used me as a pawn in their twisted games...

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And Aiden...his name sent a lance of searing pain through my heart. Oh god! No wonder he'd hated me so much. I let out a low, keening cry, one borne out of despair. How he must have despised having to live with the daughter of the woman who held a sword of doom over his family's head.

Oh god...I felt sick again and heaved until there was nothing but dry, empty heaves. Finally done, I dragged myself to the bath and cleaned up as best as I could, my body on autopilot. Numbness stole over my mind as I walked back to the bedroom, crossed to the wardrobe, and pulled out my suitcase. Methodically, I stuffed my clothes back inside, my mind empty of thoughts.

When I was done packing, I perched on the edge of the bed and buried my head in my hands, giving in to a fresh wave of panicked desperation. Blindly, I reached out for my phone, which thankfully, had finished playing that damning video. My hands shook violently, and it took several tries before I was able to call for a cab.

I didn't know what I wanted, or where I would go from here. I knew it was foolish, running away from Aiden, but how could I face him, knowing what my mother had done?

I was in a daze as I walked out of the room and entered the cab.

*******

I kept casting nervous glances at the door of Dr. Bernard's office, scared that Aiden was going to burst in at any moment, furious and demanding. Surely, he must have returned to the room by now and figured out that I'd packed my bags and left. He would definitely be looking for me, I'd already gotten several calls from him, and my voicemail was filled with messages that I hadn't bothered to read.

Was I acting rationally? Of course not. I was well aware of how foolish I was being by running away when the right thing to do was to confront Aiden about what I had discovered and talk things through. But right now, I wasn't exactly capable of rational thought, not when everything was like a freshly acquired wound, raw and bleeding.

I could only hope - a very slim hope, that it would take Aiden sometime before he figured out that I had come to the clinic ahead of schedule, intending to see the specialist on my own and leave before he arrived.