CHAPTER SEVENTY ONE
I let out a painful, bitter laugh that echoes off the walls of the suite.
Did he just… call me Mel?
His voice, low, hoarse, impossibly affectionate, cuts through the tense silence of the suite.
Jake’s voice is low, hoarse, heavy with something I can’t identify. Surprise? Regret? Desire? I don’t know, and I don’t want to.
My hands tremble slightly as I clutch the bracelet, like it anchors me to a past I swore I would never revisit.
"I want to go back to my work." I say.
His voice comes again, softer this time, almost a whisper: “I… I’m sorry.”
I freeze. Did he really just say that? After everything? After the lies, the betrayal, the nights I cried myself into exhaustion, the public disgrace he helped orchestrate?
No. No. I cannot forgive him. I will never forgi
