AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 26
Jenna
I need air. I feel like I can’t breathe. Did I just ruin everything for Stacey? I should have thought about what I said. I should have done something different. But I’m so angry at Brett for keeping secrets from me, and Stacey is my best friend. I thought from the start she had a right to know.
But now, she thinks I’m the liar.
As if this had nothing to do with Brett convincing me not to tell her.
I blame him for it. But I know I can’t put all the blame on him—I chose to listen to him.
What would the alternative have been? If I told Stacey before, how would it all have gone differently? Maybe I should have talked to her like I’d wanted to. Brett told me not to, and I understood his reasoning then. I trusted him.
But now, it turns out he just lies about everything. Trusting him and doing the same had been a mistake.
Stacey and Marc are somewhere, talking it out. I have no idea where their conversation will go. Maybe Marc can redeem himself. Maybe Stacey will be forgiving. But to start a marriage this way…
Stacey storms past me.
“Wait,” I say. “What happened?”
“Like you fucking care,” she spits at me.
“Don’t be like this.”
“You just fucked up my marriage. Don’t tell me how I should be. I’m done with him. And I’m done with you.”
She storms away, and I’m left behind feeling like I’ve been punched in the gut.
She’s done? With him, and with me?
I feel like I can’t breathe. A sharp pain between my ribs gets worse and worse.
“Jenna?” someone asks.
When I whirl around, I blink at the man standing in front of me. He’s wearing a suit; he looks like he belongs here.
“Charlie?” I ask. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“I had to see you one more time. Please, can we talk?”
My head spins. “You’re not supposed to be here.” I glance around to see if anyone noticed someone crashed the party. But we’re alone. “I thought you were leaving.”
“I was. But I couldn’t go without making sure. I won’t let you slip through my fingers again, Jen. I was a fool not to fight for you when we broke up. I tried so hard to move on, to forget you, but I can’t. It’s a sign.”
“The only thing that’s a sign of is that you can’t move on,” I snap. “It’s been more than a year. You could have contacted me at any point, but you chose to come here and make everything even more complicated than it already is.”
Tears spring to my eyes and I get angry that I can’t bite them back. I don’t want to cry in front of him, but everything is falling apart, and him being here just makes everything worse.
“Don’t cry, sweetheart,” Charlie says softly and steps closer to me. Maybe he wants to comfort me. He’s trying to be nice.
But I step away from him. “I’m not going to tell you again. We’re over. We’re not going to try again. You shouldn’t have come.”
“Jenna,” Brett says, appearing out of nowhere. “Are you okay out here?” He glares at Charlie. “Is this guy bothering you?”
“Please leave me alone,” I say to Brett.
“I’m not leaving you alone with this guy.”
