Chapter 0006
JANET’S POV
“Janet, are you alright? What happened?” Jasper’s voice cut through the line, sharp with concern. His tone was so intense it made my chest tighten. Before I could answer, he added, “I’m coming.”
I told him my address and hung up.
For someone I once refused to acknowledge as family, Jasper’s concern only made me feel more guilty than comforted especially when I compared it to how Rowan had treated me…
—
I let out a shaky breath, limping to a quiet corner of the hospital. My ankle burned with pain, but my chest felt worse-like something heavy was pressing down on it. My heart still raced from everything that happened.
Rowan was right about one thing: I was a mess. And I needed rest – with my family.
–
For the first twenty five years of my life, I thought I was an orphan. Until three months ago.
That was when my birth family found me. Jasper
– reached the one who claimed to be my eldest brother – out. He showed me the DNA test, told me he’d been searching for me for years, and asked me to come home. But I pushed him away.
How do you trust someone who says they love you when they never showed up before? I rejected him, politely. I wanted peace.
But Rowan had broken the last piece of me.
The headlights of a sleek black Toyota GR86 flashed across the hospital parking lot. I didn’t have to guess. I know it’s Jasper’s, I was trying to stand from where I was sitting before the car door opened.
His dark hair perfectly styled, his chiseled features accentuated by the dim light. His piercing blue eyes locked onto mine, filled with concern.
“Janet,” he called, rushing toward me. “What the hell happened? Why are you limping?” His body tensed, and the sharp edge in his voice made it clear that if I told him the truth, it wouldn’t go well.
“It’s nothing,” I said quickly. “Just an accident. I slipped while taking my bath.”
Jasper stopped in front of me, his sharp blue eyes narrowing. “You’re lying,” he said flatly.
I forced a smile to make it more convincing to him. “I’m fine, Jasper.”
His jaw clenched, but he didn’t argue. Instead, he wrapped his arm around my waist, carefully helping me toward the car. His grip was firm, as if I’d break if he let go.
In the car, he opened the passenger door.
“I can get in by myself,” I said. “It’s not that serious.”
Jasper didn’t say anything. He helped me into the seat anyway before closing the door and sliding into the
driver’s side.
1/4
“Where are we going?” he asked.
Rowan never asked me that. Every time we went out, Rowan decided where we were going without even asking me.
“I… need to go to Park Avenue,” I said quietly.
He raised an eyebrow, but he said nothing. I wondered if he recognized Rowan’s address didn’t press.
Instead, he reached to the side and pulled out a folder.
–
but if he did, he
“You asked for this,” he said, handing it to me. “Standard divorce papers. The names are blank.”
I stared at the file in my lap, unsure how to respond. Jasper’s focus remained on the road, his expression
unreadable.
“Thank you,” I murmured.
–
How was I supposed to explain this? That the man I fell in love with had chosen someone else not just someone else, but his first love
over me, his wife. That Flora had ruined our trip, and Rowan had let her.
That I had been foolish enough to believe he would ever be mine…
“If only we’d found you earlier,” Jasper suddenly said under his breath. “We could have protected you.”
I heard the anger in his voice. He blamed himself for something he couldn’t have known.
“This is your car?” I asked, trying to steer the conversation away from dangerous territory.
Jasper hesitated. “No. It’s a friend’s,” he said, shifting in his seat. “He’s out of town, so he let me use it”.
“Must be a good friend.”
Jasper let out a short laugh. “Yeah. He is.” He said as he turned to the other side and ran his hand through his hair as if something was bothering him.
I didn’t ask anymore. I had never seen Jasper, my brother, in years, and now here we were, driving together as if we hadn’t lost time. It was strange. Strange… but warm.
After passing an intersection, we pulled up to Rowan’s building.
“Just drop me off here,” I said.
Jasper cut the engine but didn’t move. “Janet.” His voice was low, steady. “If something’s wrong… if he hurt you… you can tell me.”
I glanced at him, surprised by the quiet strength in his tone.
“I’m fine, Jasper,” I said. “I just need to pick up a few things.”
Jasper’s gaze lingered on me for a long moment. Then he smiled faintly. “No one ever told you you’re a terrible liar?”
I blinked
–
then smiled back.
2/4
I got down from the car as I walked to the street. I got to Rowan’s penthouse as fast as I thought, though the pains in my ankle seem to be reduced. I don’t feel hurt like I was in the hospital, maybe it wasn’t my ankle, maybe it was just my heart that I feel it’s pierced already that is causing pain for me.
The penthouse was quiet when I stepped inside.
Everything looked the same. The sleek marble floors, the glass shelves, the faint scent of Rowan’s cologne lingering in the air. But it felt different.
I walked upstairs, heading straight to the bedroom. I grabbed my suitcase and started shoving my clothes inside, not bothering to fold them. Just needing to get out.
My hand brushed against something cold.
The necklace Rowan gave me on our first anniversary.
My heart skipped. The memory hit before I could stop it – the soft glow of candlelight, the scent of his favorite dishes filling the room. The way his lips curved into a rare smile when he kissed me that night. It was the first time he had smiled at me since our wedding.
I set the necklace down carefully, as if touching it too long might reopen an old wound.
My gaze drifted toward the framed photograph beside it. His grandmother had insisted we take that picture after the wedding.
In the photo, I smiled sweetly. Rowan’s arm was wrapped around my waist, his hand resting at my hip. His smile was faint, restrained but it was there.
–
How nice it would have been if that moment could have lasted forever.
I laughed under my breath. Forget it.
He was probably thinking about her even then. About Flora.
I placed the photo back where it belonged, closed my suitcase, put the divorce paper on the table, and turned toward the door.
The sound of the front door opening made me freeze.
My heart seized. Rowan?
—
I stepped out onto the landing but it wasn’t Rowan.
It was the last person I wanted to see.
Mrs. Caroline. Rowan’s mother. She stood at the bottom of the stairs, her sharp eyes cutting through me like a blade. Her gaze swept from my tousled hair to the suitcase at my side, and disgust twisted her perfectly painted mouth.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?”
I swallowed the bitterness rising in my throat. “I’m heading out,” I said, my voice steady.
She took a step closer. “And where exactly do you think you’re heading to? Don’t make me repeat myself.”
3/4
The old me-the Janet from three years ago-would have flinched at that voice. But today, I felt nothing. Maybe because Jasper was waiting for me outside. Maybe because I was finally done being scared.
I lifted my chin, meeting her gaze without fear. “You can repeat yourself all you want, but where I’m going is none of your business.”
4/4
Chapters 0007
