Chapter 11

Jace turned, his eyes wide with surprise, quickly replaced by anger. “Rea, try to be reasonable. Tanya—”

“I’m your fiancée!” I cut him off.

Saying that made me feel pathetic. Watching TV, I always thought the heroines in these scenes were too weak, that arguing with a jerk wasn’t worth it. Now that it was happening to me, I understood.

“Tanya is pregnant; I can’t let anything happen to her!” Jace said, stepping back. He then turned and ran outside.

He chose her over me. Sitting there, I saw him catch up to Tanya. They were pulling at each other, and finally, Tanya clung to him and fell into his arms. I lowered my head, unable to watch any longer. Whether there was anything between them or not, his choice gave my wavering heart its answer.

I barely touched the food but ended up paying the three-hundred-dollar bill. Instead of going back to Jace’s place, I went to Lena’s.

“Are you really breaking up with him?” Lena, the amazing gynecologist, asked as she gave me a massage to ease my period cramps. She could heal my body, but not my heart.

“Yes,” I said, lying on her bed, out of her sight, my eyes red-rimmed.

“Breaking up with him won’t be that easy,” Lena paused. “Don’t forget, you’re still working for him.”

“I’ll quit!” I had thought about this on my way over.

Lena nodded. “Alright, but even if you quit and stop working for Jace, what about his family? They raised you for so many years. You can’t just cut ties with them because of a breakup, right? As long as you stay connected with his family, you won’t be able to sever ties with Jace.”

Her words struck a chord. She was right. I owed the Johnstons ten years of care and support.

“This has nothing to do with that. I’ll explain everything to Lindsey. I can still be her goddaughter,” I said.

Lena didn’t say much after that, just added, “No matter what decision you make, I’ll support you.”

That night, I turned off my phone. I fell asleep without any sad thoughts, and when I woke up, Lena had already prepared breakfast.

“Creamy avocado soup, packed with Vitamin B3,” Lena said, glancing at my face. “Drink up.”

I didn’t disappoint her. I had two bowls and ate two poached eggs. Lena had the early shift today, and I needed to go to the office, so we left together. But as soon as we got downstairs, we saw Jace leaning against his car, holding a bouquet of white roses.

“Here comes the apology,” Lena nudged me. As she passed Jace, she remarked, “You really picked the wrong time to upset her, Mr. Johnston. Got it?” With that, she moved on, leaving Jace to approach me.

“I’m sorry about last night,” Jace said, extending the flowers toward me.

I didn’t take them. “Jace, we’re done.” I had already said it last night, and I wasn’t going to take it back just because he was being nice now.