My Dad's Bestfriend
Chapter 59 Love Turned Ache

A few moments ago

Evelyn

I was dead wrong when I thought I could spend the whole day convincing myself that Jacob didn't matter anymore. It didn't work. Well, that plan went up in smoke faster than a lit matchstick. Just an hour of soul-searching, and I could tell I was crashing, burning, and falling apart. What stung me the most was that I'd seen it coming, but I still let it happen. I knew he had the power to break me in an instant, yet I trusted him and let myself dive in.

I never thought he'd hurt me. How foolish of me!

As I thought about the moments we had shared, my mind raced, my heart ached. The thought of losing him terrified me, even though I'd already lost him. Why did it hurt so much? Especially when I'd already lost him. Why?

Was it because this was my first heartbreak? Maybe. But in this situation, I felt utterly helpless.

How could what we had mean nothing to him? How could he act so cold and distant, throwing away all the promises he made to me like yesterday's news?

It just didn't add up. Could one conversation with Chloe really be more important to him than all the love I gave him? I was ready to make him my whole world. Wasn't that enough for him? How could it not be, and how could a woman who had once torn his life apart become the bee's knees to him?

Everything seemed so real and flawless until that moment when it all crumbled away...

This was driving me insane. If it was all a charade, why did it have to feel so achingly incredibly real? When he whispered "I love you," when his lips touched my forehead, and his hand provided solace for my pain, how could every gesture and word cut so deeply?

Could there be another side to this story that I hadn't uncovered? Was he using this flimsy excuse to hide something from me?

"Fuck it, here I am, making excuses for him when he couldn't even bother to check up on me," I muttered with bitterness as I slipped into the white dress. If anything, that shower had only intensified my inner turmoil; I was on the brink of losing my mind. The amount of time I'd spent replaying every moment with Jacob and dissecting what happened last night was unhealthy.

What was he hiding, anyway? Apart from that cryptic conversation with Chloe, I struggled to replace any reason for his secrecy. But, of course, I had overlooked the most glaring truth-he was hiding his true self, a self-centered, cold-hearted opportunist.

Before the party, everything had been perfectly fine, but a single moment shattered it all...

No. I refused to cry any longer. I'd shed enough tears, and I wouldn't let him have any more power over my emotions.

I ran a comb through my slightly damp hair and headed for my bed, hoping to replace comfort under the familiar duvet and maybe squeeze in another hour of sleep. However, my gaze fell upon the half-finished portrait of him.

Damn it. It felt like the entire world was conspiring against me.

I found myself taking a few steps toward the portrait, my fingers delicately reaching out to trace the image, the contours, particularly his hair, which I had painstakingly captured. A strange sensation washed over me, mirroring the exact feeling of running my fingers through his silky locks.

I squeezed my eyes shut, struggling to maintain my composure, a trembling sigh escaping my lips.

What had I done to deserve this? What had I done wrong? I had loved him with all my heart, and yet, it hadn't been enough...

My thoughts began to converge, focusing on one central point.

"No, this isn't right. I shouldn't even consider talking to him..." I hastily muttered, attempting to shake off the intrusive thoughts.

But what if there's something I genuinely don't know, and he was indeed concealing something? I couldn't shake this unsettling feeling. It was just too difficult for me to accept that everything we shared meant less to him than his connection with his old flame.

Fuck this!

Before I could second-guess myself, my feet had already propelled me forward. I found myself walking out of my room and toward his, not having a clue about what I was going to ask. Perhaps seeing him would trigger all the questions in my mind, the ones that had robbed me of my peace.

***

Present

Betrayal - I had grossly underestimated the pain it could inflict until this very moment when I witnessed Jacob and Chloe in this compromising position. With Jacob's shirt unbuttoned, Chloe's mouth locked onto his neck, and his hands tightly gripping her arms, there was no need for further scrutiny to decipher the truth.

God, it was painfully obvious. The disheveled state of Jacob's hair, their ragged breaths - only a complete fool would attempt to sugarcoat this situation. And I wasn't about to let my love for him blind me to the harsh reality and let me be that fool.

As I observed them, I momentarily lost my ability to react. It felt as though I couldn't quite grasp the situation - the realization that Jacob had been fucking Chloe behind my back, perhaps throughout the entire time when I, like a naive fool, had done everything to safeguard our connection from harm.

How could I have known that the greatest damage would come from the very person I had sought to protect

My heart had already begun to numb itself. The pain was beyond words, cruel and merciless, threatening to shatter me.

Jacob hastily pushed Chloe away as he caught sight of me, his eyes widening with realization. But why was he so concerned? After all, he had already cast me aside, hadn't he? So he could fuck whoever he pleased, and I wouldn't even have the right to object.

"Evelyn..." He gazed at me, almost at a loss for words, while Chloe, her gaze now on me, clearly had quite an opinion.

"Don't you understand that it's common courtesy to knock before entering someone's room?" She crossed her arms over her chest, visibly irritated.

Yet, my focus remained steadfastly on Jacob. I didn't spare a word for Chloe. I was frozen... simply locked in a stare with Jacob, who didn't look away either.

So, this was the man hidden beneath that carefully crafted facade all along? Had I fallen in love with nothing more than a mask, oblivious to the hideous being beneath it?

My hand slipped from the doorknob, and I entered the room slowly. Why was I growing so numb? He tracked my every movement, every step, perhaps attempting to decipher what lay behind my cold expression. However, he didn't dare to ask, and eventually, I stood before him.

I scrutinized his features just as I had been from the first day we met, reminiscing about how they had once utterly captivated me, and now, they equally repulsed me. His once mesmerizing green eyes, the ones that used to make my heart skip a beat, now only caused it to ache. I used to see my entire world in his face, even just the night before, but now all I saw was my own destruction - how he had used me to forget his ex, all in the name of love, and then discarded me like some object.

He disgusted me... everything about him disgusted me.

"Evelyn..." He began to speak, his voice perfectly working to shatter my last remaining restraints.

And that was...finally the breaking point. Without a single word spoken, I hoisted my hand and slapped him, a fiery sting coursing through my own skin upon contact with his cheek. The sound of it reverberated throughout the room.

"How could you?" I seethed, my words quivering, my hands trembling with rage, "How could you do this to me?!"

He remained silent, his expression devoid of guilt or remorse, yet there was something unreadable there. And I didn't even try to read it.

"You fucking bitch, how dare you slap him?" Chloe snapped, making a threatening move toward me, her raised hand signaling her intent to strike.

Without a moment's hesitation, I seized her hand, stopping it in its tracks, and then I delivered the retribution a person like she deserved – a firm slap across her face, causing her to stumble backward.

All I could see was red.