CHAPTER 12
“What the hell was that, Asher?”
“What the hell are you talking about?” He asked, looking at me like I was crazy.
“You knew.” I said in an accusatory tone. I looked out of the car window before turning back to him. “You knew about the photo and about what everyone was saying, and you didn’t say anything. Why would you do that? Why would you let me be humiliated like that?”
“Are you being for real right-”
I put a hand up, cutting him off. “You know what? I don’t want to hear it. I can’t even talk to you right now.”
Asher scoffed, but respected my wishes. The rest of the car ride was spent in absolute silence with tension so thick, you could cut through it with a knife.
But the second we stepped out into our driveway, Asher.couldn’t hold himself anymore.
“I cannot believe you’re the one who’s giving me the silent treatment right now!”
We had barely stepped into the villa before he turned on me. His jaw was tight, his eyes stormy the tension in his frame vibrating like he’d been holding this in for hours.
I dropped my clutch on the counter with a clatter and spun toward him. “What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb with me.” His voice was low, but dangerous. “That photo. You and Matt. You were at a café. Smiling and sitting across from each other like old times! And you’re mad at
me!?”
My pulse spiked. I froze for a beat, then forced a sharp laugh. “You think I was smiling? That man stalked me, Asher. He found me, he cornered me-”
“You stayed.” His voice cracked, the words heavy with accusation. “You stayed and sat there long enough for someone to snap a picture. You didn’t walk out, you didn’t call me. You sat there
with him.”
I clenched my fists. “Because he wouldn’t let me leave without making a scene! Do you have any idea what that would’ve looked like? There would be more cameras, more headlines-”
“Don’t,” he snapped, his eyes narrowing. “Don’t act like you did this to protect me. If you wanted to walk away, Jada, you would have. You didn’t. And now the entire world thinks my wife is crawling back to her fucking ex!”
His voice cracked on the word wife, and it sent a pang through me, but I shoved it down, meeting hím glare for glare.
“Do you even hear yourself right now? You sound insane. I don’t want Matt. I don’t love him. I don’t love him anymore! Now that I’ve met you, I don’t even think what I felt for him was even love.”
“Really?” Asher stepped closer, towering over me. His voice was colder and quieter now. “You lived with him. You wore his ring. You defended him every time people whispered that he wasn’t good enough for you. You gave him years, Jada. Years. And you expect me to believe that you can just turn all of that off overnight?”
CHAPTER 12
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12:13 pm
I flinched. The words cut deeper than I expected, maybe because they carried a truth I didn’t want to admit.
But my anger rose quicker.
“Don’t you dare,” I hissed, pointing a finger at his chest. “Don’t you stand there and question my loyalty when I married you. You. Do you think I would have stood in front of the board, in front of the press, and named you my husband if I was still in love with Matt?”
His lips curled, but it wasn’t a smile. It was bitterness. “Maybe you did it for convenience. Maybe you knew I was the only one strong enough to protect Sinclair Industries from him.”
My chest burned. “You bastard. You really think I married you for convenience?”
“Didn’t you?” His voice rose now, sharp and biting. “Because from where I’m standing, it looks like this marriage is nothing more than another business deal. Just like your father’s arrangement with Matt. You’ve always been playing pieces on a board, Jada. And maybe I was just your next move.”
The words landed like a slap. My vision blurred with hot tears, but I refused to let them fall.
“You think you know me?” My voice trembled with fury. “You think you’re so much better thar him, standing there acting like the noble savior. But let me tell you something, Asher. At leas Matt never pretended to be anything else. You? You swoop in on your high horse like a knight in shining armor, offer me a ring and a name, and now you’re looking at me like I owe you something.”
His face hardened. “I never asked you to owe me.”
“No? Because that’s exactly what this feels like. Control. You don’t trust me. You don’t believe me. You think I’m still crawling back to Matt, when all I’ve done is fight to prove myself. And now I have to fight you too?”
The silence after my words was deafening. His breathing was harsh, ragged, like he was seconds away from breaking something.
Finally, he said, “Maybe I was wrong.”
The air whooshed out of me. “Wrong about what?”
“About us,” he muttered, shaking his head. “About thinking you could ever stop running back to
him.”
My throat closed. The tears I’d been holding back spilled hot down my cheeks. I grabbed the nearest bag, unzipped it with shaking hands, and started stuffing clothes inside.
“What are you doing?” he demanded, his voice sharp.
I didn’t stop. “What does it look like? I’m leaving.”
“Leaving?” His voice broke with disbelief. “You think you can just-”
“Yes!” I whirled around to face him, my eyes blazing through tears. “I’m not going to stay here and be treated like a prisoner of your jealousy. I thought marrying you meant I’d finally found someone who would see me and trust me. But all you see is Matt’s shadow. And I won’t live in it anymore.”
I zipped the bag shut with a violent tug and threw it over my shoulder.
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12:14 pm 2
“You’re overreacting,” he growled. “It’s just a stupid misunderstanding. We can fix this.”
“No, Asher. You don’t get it.” My voice cracked, raw and broken. “I’ve spent my entire life being controlled. By my father. By the board. By Matt. And now you? No. Not again.”
I moved toward the door. He stepped into my path, his face tight with desperation.
“Jada, wait-”
“Move.” My voice was low, deadly.
For a moment, he didn’t. His fists clenched at his sides, his body trembling with the effort to hold
back.
But then, slowly, he stepped aside.
I walked past him without another word, my heels echoing across the marble like gunshots.
The villa door slammed behind me, the sound ricocheting in my bones.
The night air hit my skin, sharp and cool. My tears blurred the stars above into streaks of silver. I pulled my phone from my purse with shaking hands, booking the first flight home.
As the confirmation email pinged, I exhaled shakily, whispering to no one, “Never again.”
I didn’t look back.
12:14 pm
