Chasing His Rejected Wife
Chapter 66 -

AIDEN

We both whirled around at the sound of Jessica's voice. She stood at the door leading into the house, and relief crashed through me to see her. At least, she was safe, even though she looked pale and tired, eyes red and puffy from crying. I wanted to take her into my arms and comfort her, to slay all the demons that worried her and keep her safe. She had to know I was there, but she avoided looking at me, focusing, instead on her mother. "Jess," The words slipped out, unbidden. I took a step towards her before I could stop myself from moving but stopped when she flinched and took a step back. I stood still, hands formed into fists, throat tight with all the words I wanted to say.

Margaret scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Why should I? He's the one who barged in here making demands like he owns the damn place."

I had stopped listening to her a long time ago. Instead, I kept my eyes on Jess, taking her in from head to toe. "Are you alright?"

She glanced my way briefly and looked away. "How did you replace me?"

"I was worried, the way you left... I was scared something had happened to you.." I broke off when she seemed to shrink into herself, as though I had meant to scold her, which was the last thing on my mind. I fumbled for what to say next, which was a first for me.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it the way that sounded," I explained, blowing out a breath, feeling utterly out of my depth. "I'm just glad you're okay."

Jessica shrugged in studied nonchalance. "I sent you a message..." Another quick glance in my direction, then away. "I didn't expect you to follow me here."

"I understand," I replied, then glanced at Margaret who was watching us with a smirk. "Please, can we talk? Just for a couple of minutes, and I'll leave if that's what you want."

She mulled this over for a moment then gave a resigned nod. She turned to Margaret, "Mom -"

Margaret huffed and rolled her eyes. "Five minutes and then I want him out of my house. Use the living room, you know where it is." She spun on her heel and stalked away, her footsteps fading away.

Without a word, Jessica turned to lead the way, she kept a careful distance from me, holding herself stiff and overly conscious. In the living room, she hovered until I had sat down on one of the uncomfortable white leather couches, then chose a seat as far away as possible, then sat upright, feet together, head down, hands clasped.

"How did you know to come here?" She asked after a beat of silence. She still didn't look at me directly, and it hurt a little bit.

"I had your number tracked," I replied truthfully. At this, her head lifted and she raised her eyes to me, a splotch of red on her cheeks.

"What?" the question came out sharply and I winced, knowing she didn't like what I'd done. "You tracked my phone?"

"I had to know where you were if you were safe," I said softly. "I know it's an invasion of your privacy and I'm sorry about that."

She huffed and said nothing, but she still didn't look happy. I decided to go right to the point since I wouldn't put it past Margaret to make a scene after our time was up.

"What happened, Jess?" I leaned forward, making my tone as gentle and free of rebuke as possible. "I came back to the room and you were gone, no notes, no texts or calls. I was nearly out of my mind with worry that something or someone had hurt you."

"I had to leave...I just couldn't...I couldn't stay there...not after... replaceing out...how stupid I've been." Her voice broke and she buried her head in her hands, letting out a sob. Hearing that sob felt like I'd just been stabbed with a dagger, slicing a trail of pin through my sternum. It doubly hurt because I knew that I was the direct cause of her pain and misery, and I wished I could take it all from her.

I longed to hold her so much that it was a palpable ache in my limbs. I had to settle for words, ineffective and shallow in the face of her grief. "Please, don't cry Jess. You did nothing wrong. And whatever it is, we can fix it, I promise?" Still sobbing, she raised her head and looked at me for the first time, and the knife struck deeper at the pure misery in her reddened eyes. "Nothing?" She rasped in a hoarse voice. "Fix it? How do you just 'fix' over ten years of lies? Blackmail..." her voice wobbled and she drew in a shaky breath, "Murder? Are you going to 'fix' that poor girl who did nothing wrong but died because two people were too selfish and scared to save her life?"

I winced as each question hit with brute force. It brought back fresh memories of the horror I had experienced when I first learned the truth. The revulsion I'd felt towards Julian, every vestige of admiration I'd had of him stripped bare. For months afterward, I could barely look at my father without becoming deeply unsettled.

"And can you 'fix' the damage my mother has done to your family? To you?" Jessica was still demanding answers, her voice getting stronger and angrier. She scoffed and shook her head in disbelief. "All these times, I was so foolish to believe he really cared, that he was someone to look up to, that he loved me as much as he loved his own kids."

Her laugh was self-deprecating. "Mother's right. I am a naive fool." She seemed to run out of steam then and her shoulders slumped in defeat. "Walking around with my head in the clouds, living a life that has been nothing but a fantasy... enjoying the fruits of my mother's schemes. I'm just as culpable as she is."

"No, you're not." I vehemently denied it. "You didn't know what she was doing, so there's no blame on you?"

She shook her head again, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Ignorance is just as bad. On some level, I should have known and should have asked questions about why she had allowed me to stay with your family even though it was clear that she and Julian despised each other. I should have questioned his generous gifts and his clear preference for me over his own kids. But maybe, I was enjoying myself too much to care."

I couldn't just sit there and let her blame herself, the one person who stood blameless in all this, the one who had been used as a pawn, who had to be feeling very unloved and unwanted right now. I rose and in quick strides, I was across the

room.

She noticed me coming and her eyes widened in panic seconds before she shot to her feet and backed away, shaking her head frantically. She looked like a spooked deer, staring helplessly as danger approached.

"Please...stop." she pleaded in a broken whisper and I froze mid-step, my heart plummeting down my ribcage at the desperation in her voice.

"Okay," I struggled to keep my own voice calm and soothing, while inside, it felt like I was being torn to shreds. I held up my hands in a gesture of surrender and backed away. "I'm sorry I invaded your space. I just wanted to offer a shoulder to cry on."

"You can't..." she whispered, back to avoiding my gaze again. "You shouldn't. How you must have hated me back then, I used to lie awake and wonder what I had done wrong to make you act like that, but it all makes perfect sense now." "Jess," I fought back the torrent of emotions threatening to overwhelm me. The room seemed to close in, and the air grew heavier with the weight of our shared pain. I wanted to reach out to Jessica, to erase the hurt etched across her face, but I remained frozen, a silent witness to the unraveling of the carefully constructed facade that had shielded her from the truth.

I wanted to tell her that I had never hated her, but that would not be the truth, would it? Because even though what I had felt at the time when I believed her capable of evil was not exactly hate, it had come pretty damn close. And even before the truth had come out, the intensity of my feelings had lessened, the more time I spent with her, my mind struggled to reconcile the sweet, naive girl who looked at me with such love with the monster Julian had claimed she was. When I had watched Julian's confession, whatever residual animosity had melted away and in its place had sprouted something else.

"My feelings for you are no longer what they used to be," I replied. "I may have started from a place of hatred, but what I feel right now, here in this moment, is a long way from that. Jessica, you have no idea how much I regret wasting our time together, how much I want to spend even more time getting to know the real you; the beautiful, kind, and loving person that I know you to be."

She caught her breath and went stock still for a moment. Then she shook her head in denial. "You don't have to say all those nice things, Aiden. Please, don't try to make me feel better by embellishing the truth."

My shoulders sagged. She didn't believe me. Not that I was entirely expecting her to jump into my arms at the first nice words she'd heard me say. Not when she'd just learned the extent of my father's betrayal and the lies he'd fed her these years.

Her heart was wounded, and it would take a long time and patience to mend.