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My jaw dropped, and I was taken aback. "Excuse you?"
"Shut up!" Her voice rose with each word. "He was all mine before you strutted in with your ugly self. Mine! You stole him from me."
Nobody spoke for the first five seconds. Inside, I was reeling. Was Jade seriously accusing me of stealing Aaron? Like he was some property to be owned?
It was the most ridiculous thing I'd ever heard, mainly because if anyone had been doing the pursuing here, it definitely wasn't me. In fact, I vividly remember asking and begging Aaron to stay away from me.
This bitch was out of her damned mind.
"Are you, by any chance, referring to me?" Aaron was the one who broke the silence. "Because if I remember correctly, we broke up more than a year ago."
Jade's throat worked, her green eyes glistening with tears. "Aaron…I still love you."
Arjun snorted. "That ship has sailed, crashed, and sunk like the fucking Titanic. Get over it."
But Jade wasn't listening. Her gaze was fixed on Aaron, and it was the first time I'd seen any kind of sincerity floating in her eyes. How she looked at him was almost like how I used to look at Jeremy. Like he was my entire world. Fuck me, I kind of felt sorry for her.
I was out of my damned mind too, it seemed.
"I don't love you, Jade," Aaron's voice was barely above a whisper, but everyone heard him. "I don't think I ever did."
The words shocked Jade. Her eyes widened, and a tear slipped down her cheek. "That's a lie. You loved me."
Aaron shook his head. "Did I ever tell you that?"
She blinked, momentarily looking away from him, taking a staggering step back. "But…but…" She fixed him with a hurt gaze full of tears. "Don't say that. It's because of her, isn't it?" She gestured to me.
"Well, yes and no. Yes, because I wasn't sure what love was before her, and no, because I was sure enough to recognize that I didn't love you."
My heart squeezed inside my chest. A part of me wanted so badly to believe that Aaron loved me, while another part was fighting hard not to get caught up in that web again.
But he'd shamelessly told everyone that he loved me. Would he have done that if he hadn't? At the same time, Jeremy had said all the right words and done all the right things before everything had fallen apart.
"I'm not sorry for what I did," Jade said, raising her chin. “She took something from me, so I took something from her, too."
"Only, your analogy is flawed because now everyone knows you're a scheming piece of shit, and your so-called revenge just exploded in your face," Maddy said smugly. "Dumb bitch."
"Madeline," Jeff scolded, albeit weakly.
Maddy gave him a shrug, not even bothering to look remorseful. "What? It's not like I lied."
He rolled his eyes at her. “In light of recent events, Jade, I'm afraid you will no longer be working with us. Please clear your desk."
Was it me, or did the words come out easier than when he'd said them to me?
Jade curled her lips into a snarl. "Whatever. I'm a badass IT specialist. I'm pretty sure Blizzard Games would hire me on the spot."
The last sentence was directed at me.
She swung on her heel and strutted off, and it only took me a second to decide to follow her. She was out of the office and halfway to the elevator when I caught up.
"Jade,” I called.
Her head snapped around, her eyes shining angrily when she saw me. "What the fuck do you want now? Was getting me fired not enough?"
I almost blurted out that she had tried—and briefly succeeded—getting me fired. "I, too, know what it's like to love someone who didn't reciprocate. Unrequited love can be a bitch."
Jade scoffed, rolling her eyes. "So what? Am I supposed to feel sorry for you?"
