Chapter 4
865 Words
After that day, Jesse turned into a shadow I couldn't shake.
He'd time it perfectly, showing up at the restaurant door right when I finished work.
When I started slipping out the back, he'd be waiting at the entrance to my building instead.
No matter what I did, I couldn't escape him.
After a while, the sight of him turned my stomach.
One evening I finally reached my limit.
I stopped walking and turned to face him.
"Jesse, you're married to Serena. You have everything you ever wanted. So why are you here?"
He stepped closer, his eyes full of what looked like devotion.
"But Penny, I'm not happy. Not even close. You were the only one who stayed by my side when I had nothing. You're the one I love."
I let out a low, humorless laugh.
"So that's your idea of love, dropping me without a second thought?"
His face went pale. He scrambled to explain.
"Penny, I had my reasons back then, I—"
"Enough." I cut him off, shoving his hand away when he reached for me. "I don't want to hear your excuses."
I walked away. He didn't come after me this time.
A few days later, Serena came to find me herself.
She sat by the window in a sleek designer suit that looked completely out of place in my little restaurant.
Her lips curved into a smile, but her eyes held a warning she didn't bother to hide.
"Penny, you took my money. That means you follow the rules. Stay away from him."
She tapped a fingertip lightly on the tabletop, her tone almost breezy.
"Otherwise, I can't make any promises about this place staying open."
Something bitter settled in my chest.
Clara had entrusted this restaurant to me on her deathbed.
I couldn't let it fall apart in my hands.
After that, I was even more careful to avoid Jesse.
But my suppliers started pulling out anyway, one after another, cutting off deliveries without a word.
I went to every supplier in the city. Not one was willing to work with me.
Then the rumors started spreading across social media.
A: [She uses recycled cooking oil. The food is filthy.]
B: [Clara didn't just die. She killed her, all so she could get her hands on the restaurant.]
My posts trying to clear my name got buried without a trace.
I was so stressed I broke out in sores. I lay awake night after night, unable to sleep.
A few days later, the complaints started piling in.
Authorities showed up and sealed the door, ordering the place closed pending investigation.
And then the troublemakers came.
They blocked the entrance. They shoved me and screamed in my face. They pelted me with rotten eggs and threw dirty water across the glass front door.
I stood and looked at what was left of the place.
Everything Clara had built over a lifetime. Everything I had fought with everything I had to protect.
Reduced to a wreck in the space of a few days.
The tears came before I could stop them, hitting the ground at my feet. Despair swallowed me whole.
That was the first time I truly felt it, felt it in my bones. Power could destroy someone like me in an instant.
That was when Jesse appeared again.
He looked at me standing there, wrecked and shaking, and pulled me into his arms the way he used to.
"Penny, stop being so stubborn. Come back to me, and I'll make all of this go away."
But wasn't he the reason I was in this mess?
I shoved him hard.
"Jesse, why won't you just leave me alone? You're a married man. You got everything you wanted. So why won't you stop?"
Anger and hurt made it hard to stand straight.
I watched his eyes slide away from mine and felt nothing but contempt. He wanted it all, every last bit of it, and didn't care who got crushed along the way.
"Penny, have you forgotten how long we had each other? You worked through illness to help pay down my debt.
"No amount of hardship ever broke us apart. You loved me that much. I refuse to believe you can really just let go."
Jesse kept going, his voice climbing higher. He grabbed me and shoved me back against the wall, pinning me between his arms.
"I couldn't even afford a birthday cake back then. But I can give you the best of everything now. Penny, you're the only one I've ever loved."
His hand moved toward my face.
I slapped him without hesitating.
"Jesse, that is enough. You go after whatever you want no matter who gets hurt, and you stood by while Clara's life's work got destroyed. You have no right to talk to me about love."
The sting of it froze him.
I looked straight into his eyes. One tear slid down the corner of my cheek.
"I forgot to mention. The reason you and Serena got together — I allowed it.
"She gave me five million dollars to walk away, so I did.
"Jesse, I stopped loving you a long time ago."
- Writer
