Chapter 25

On their way back, Grace suddenly said to Jason, “Jay, do you know Sean?”

“The president of the Stevens Group?” he asked.

“You know him, too. Yes, he’s been in the news lately—Page Six gossip, mostly. He’s the groom in the Stevens-Atkinson marriage, and…” She paused. “He’s my ex-boyfriend.”

Jason stopped walking and stood beside her, looking at her. Perhaps she'd been bottling up her emotions for too long.

“Don’t you think it’s incredible that someone like me was once his girlfriend?” she laughed bitterly. “Back then, I was a newly graduated lawyer, and I thought we’d get married. Then the accident happened. I swear I wasn’t drinking—I rarely drink and never drive after drinking! I was charged with vehicular manslaughter. Sean broke up with me. I got a three-year sentence, but I was fortunate to get out early for good behavior…”

“What was it like in jail?”

She paused, unable to continue. She shook her head. “I… can’t.”

Jason regretted asking. He watched her flex and curl her fingers, noticing the scars—the improperly set bones, the swollen joints—evidence of her ordeal.

“Forget it. It’s nothing. It’s all in the past.” She attempted a smile, failing miserably.

Jason pursed his lips. She hadn’t told him what happened in prison, but Terrence's investigation had made it clear. He'd reviewed the documents impassively, processing the information like quarterly accounting statements. But hearing her struggle—or rather, her inability to speak of it—brought a tightening in his chest.

Did he feel sorry for her? When had he ever felt sorry for a woman?

She took a deep breath. “From then on, I decided not to trust so-called ‘love.’ One day someone loves you; the next, you’re trash.” She punctuated the statement by kicking a pebble into the street.

“I wouldn’t throw you away,” he said impulsively.

She smiled unexpectedly. “I know, Jay.”

She continued more cheerfully, “So, I don’t think about dating, marriage, or children. They’re unattainable, so why dwell on them?”

He frowned.

“It’s like that ad,” she said, pointing to a large billboard. “Sean put it up for Lily. Great PR, right? The charming couple, the perfect quote about waiting a lifetime. Very romantic, isn’t it?”

Jason grunted noncommittally.

“Nonsense. No one really means those things,” she laughed. “I wonder how Lily would feel knowing Sean said the same things to me. Loving someone, or changing lovers—it’s easy.”

Jason studied the ad—a striking image, a massive publicity campaign designed to boost both families' stock values.

He looked at the slender woman beside him. Her calm resignation spoke of a wounded heart. She seemed to have seen through everything, her spirit unmoved.

His chest tightened. What about him?

He raised his hand and covered her eyes, still fixed on the billboard. “Sister, if you don’t like this ad, how about we get it removed tomorrow?”