Decision

Chapter 6

“Stop smoking.”

Felix’s voice cut through the room,sharp, controlled, but carrying something deeper beneath it. Not just anger.

Fear.

Jessica didn’t turn immediately. She stood by the window, the faint curl of smoke rising lazily from between her fingers, dissolving into the still air like it had nowhere else to go.

“Stop all these uncultured behaviors,” he added, his tone tightening. “A lot has changed about you since you returned from school.”

That got her attention.

Slowly, she turned.

There was no apology in her eyes.

No guilt.

Only a calm, unsettling awareness.

“Changed?” she echoed, her voice soft, almost amused. “Or revealed?”

Felix frowned.

“This isn’t a game, Jessica.”

She took one last drag, then let the cigarette fall, crushing it beneath her heel without looking away from him.

“Everything is a game,” she said quietly. “You just didn’t tell me the rules.”

Felix exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair.

“I’m serious,” he said. “You’re spiraling, and I’m trying to help you.”

Jessica walked toward him slowly, deliberately.

“Help me?” she repeated.

“Yes.”

She stopped just a few steps away.

“And how exactly are you helping me?” she asked.

Felix hesitated,just briefly but it was enough.

“I want you to go back to school,” he said firmly. “I know you might feel ashamed because of the carryovers, but that’s not the end. I can fix it.”

Jessica’s expression didn’t change.

“I’ll send you abroad,” he continued. “A fresh start. Better opportunities. You don’t have to stay here.”

A pause.

Then,

“No.”

The word was quiet.

But final.

Felix blinked.

“What?”

“I don’t want to go back to school,” Jessica said calmly.

His jaw tightened.

“You’re making a mistake.”

“And I do not want a business either,” she added, as though he hadn’t spoken.

Silence filled the room.

Heavy.

Unyielding.

Felix stared at her, disbelief turning slowly into frustration.

“What do you want, Jessica?” he demanded.

She tilted her head slightly.

“You should already know.”

“I don’t,” he snapped.

She smiled faintly.

“That’s the problem.”

Felix took a step forward.

“Enough of this,” he said. “You’re not thinking clearly. I’ve been patient, but this version of you isn’t real.”

Jessica’s smile widened.

“No,” she said softly. “This is the most real I’ve ever been.”

Something in her tone unsettled him.

Deeply.

“Jessica”

Felix’s expression hardened.

“I’ve done everything for you,” he said.

“Everything.”

Jessica laughed.

Not loudly.

Not wildly.

But coldly.

“And that’s exactly why I don’t trust you,” she said.

That hit harder than anything else.

Felix’s patience snapped.

“Get out,” he said.

Jessica blinked.

“What?”

“I said get out of my house,” he repeated, his voice rising. “If you won’t listen, if you won’t change, then leave. And don’t come back.”

Silence.

Jessica stared at him.

Searching his face.

Waiting for the shift.

The softening.

The regret.

But it didn’t come.

Instead, she smirked.

“You’re joking,” she said.

“I’m not.”

The finality in his voice was undeniable.

Jessica’s smile faltered,just slightly.

But then she shrugged.

“Fine.”

She turned, grabbed her keys, and walked out without another word.

Felix didn’t stop her.

Didn’t call her back.

Didn’t even move.

He just stood there, staring at the space she had left behind.

His hands clenched into fists.

Jessica drove out of the compound with a strange calm settling over her.

The gates opened.

Closed behind her.

And just like that,

She was alone again.

But this time…

It felt different.

Not like before.

Not desperate.

Not afraid.

She leaned back slightly in her seat, her fingers tapping lightly against the steering wheel.

“I knew he would never stay angry,” she murmured under her breath.

Felix wasn’t the type.

Her phone buzzed.

She glanced at it briefly.

A notification.

An alert.

Her brow furrowed.

Then her eyes widened slightly.

Ten million dollars.

Transferred.

From Felix.

Jessica let out a small laugh.

Soft.

Knowing.

“I knew it,” she whispered.

Of course.

Of course he couldn’t let her go just like that.

This was his way of holding on.

Of staying connected.

Of making sure she didn’t disappear completely.

She slowed the car slightly, her mind racing.

Ten million dollars…

That wasn’t just money.

That was leverage.

Power.

Freedom.

Or…

Something else entirely.

Her phone buzzed again.

This time,

A call.

Felix.

She smiled as she answered.

“Hi, baby,” she said lightly.

Silence greeted her for a second.

Then his voice came through.

Cold.

Controlled.

Unfamiliar.

“I’m sure you’ve seen the money I sent.”

Jessica’s smile widened.

“I have,” she said. “That’s why I told myself you could never stay mad at me.”

Another pause.

Longer this time.

Then,

“Don’t call me again.”

The words landed like a slap.

Jessica’s smile froze.

“What?”

“Don’t come back to my house,” Felix continued. “And never try to contact me again.”

Her grip tightened on the steering wheel.

“Felix”

“I hope you do something great with the money,” he finished.

And then,

The line went dead.

Jessica stared at her phone.

Her heart began to pound.

Not fast.

Not panicked.

But heavy.

Something about his voice…

It wasn’t anger.

It wasn’t frustration.

It was final.

She pulled the car to a stop by the side of the road.

Silence filled the space around her.

The city moved on without noticing.

Cars passed.

People walked.

Life continued.

But inside the car,

Everything shifted.

“Okay…” she whispered slowly.

“That’s new.”

She leaned back in her seat, her mind spinning.

Why would he do that?

Felix wasn’t impulsive.

He didn’t make emotional decisions

.

Everything he did had purpose.

Meaning.

Calculation.

But this,

This is total rejection.