Chapter 271
And for now, I couldn’t be.
JACOB
I watched the whole thing unfold with a blank expression. I’d gotten good at that lately–masking emotion, keeping the truth of what I felt locked down tight behind the kind of smirk or shrug that made people think I didn’t care.
But inside?
I was reeling.
Elena had forgotten Derek King.
I hadn’t believed it at first. When she looked at him and said, “Do know you?“–some part of me thought it had to be a joke. Some kind of petty game. A shot across the bow. Maybe she was angry, maybe she was playing him, maybe this was her versi of revenge.
But it wasn’t a game.
It was real.
And for a flicker of a second, just before reality came crashing back down, I let myself feel something I’d never dared to hope for.
Maybe, I thought, this is my chance.
Maybe fate finally leveled the field.
Elena Hart.
The girl I’d been orbiting from the shadows, even when I pretended I wasn’t. The one who always seemed too far above me, too sharp to be impressed by my jokes or political maneuvering, too rooted in something real to be swayed by charm.
The one woman who made me feel like I didn’t have to wear a mask–just not in the way that felt safe.
And yeah, maybe I’d signed on to the Foundation scheme as a way to take a shot at Derek. Maybe I was just trying to show the world–and her–that I could build something of my own.
Maybe I’d gotten close to her because I wanted to see if I could shake him. If I could matter more.
But that wasn’t what this was anymore.
It hadn’t been for a long time.
I’d fallen in love with her somewhere between her storming out of a boardroom with fire in her eyes and showing up to a charity event in flats because she “didn’t feel like impressing anyone.” Somewhere between the way she fought for the wolves no one else cared about and the way she looked when she thought no one was watching–tired, brave, and still trying.
She was the first person who made me want to be… more.
Not just clever. Not just calculated.
Better.
And because I loved her, I couldn’t look at that kid–her kid–curled up against Derek like he was trying to keep his world from falling apart, and not feel something split open in my chest.
I didn’t like children. Never had. They were loud, unpredictable, always demanding some kind of honesty I didn’t know how to give.
But Aiden? Aiden was different.
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Chapter 271
+25 BONUS
He was sharp. Observant. Fierce in a way that reminded me more of a soldier than a kid. The way he watched people–like he was already preparing for who might hurt his mom next. Like he didn’t trust the world to stay still long enough for him to feel
safe.
He’d looked at me before like he could see through every version his father’s arms.
And I hated it.
me I tried to present. And now he was breaking, quietly, in
I hated how small he looked. How still. Like he was trying not to hope.
So I stepped forward–not because I had anything clever to say. No because I had some move to make.
But because something in me couldn’t stay back anymore.
So I stepped forward.
Derek looked up, surprised to see me move. I could see it in his eyes–he didn’t expect me to say anything Maybe he thought I’d be gloating.
I wasn’t.
“I know this sucks,” I said, crouching down a bit so I could look Aiden in the eye. “But this doesn’t mean your dad won’t be around.”
Aiden turned toward me, sniffling. “It doesn’t?’
“No,” I said, glancing between him and Derek. “I have an idea.”
