I was involved with him. I did care about him. But thankfully, I wasn’t in love.
Covering up my expression as much as I could, I gave them both a quick hug and bid them goodbye, and I finally exhaled.
A minute later, Evie dashed upstairs to grab her favorite Olaf, and I wandered back to the living room, where Jonah was watching me, eyes warm and steady.
“What’s on your mind?” he asked, taking my hands again. “Was it something they said?”
I shook my head. “No. Just their reaction to seeing you here. It reminded me that maybe we’ve been living in our own little bubble. And bubbles always burst eventually.”
Jonah tugged me closer. “Let them. As long as you and I are in the same one, I don’t care,” he said, settling his mouth on me and kissing me deeply.
44
LEXI
The weekend didn’t go as planned. I was ready to spend the day catching up on all the housework I’d ignored, but Jonah had other ideas.
First, he sent groceries, enough for the week, delivered to my door. He sent fresh fruits, pantry staples, my favorite snacks … even chocolate-covered almonds I hadn’t bought in months.
Then I discovered he’d planned all our meals and had them cooked and delivered from a catering place in Manhattan that I’d never heard of.
On Sunday, we had chicken noodle soup with sourdough, followed by a butternut squash soup and an apple-walnut salad. On Monday, it was lemon-garlic salmon with quinoa. He even sent turmeric-ginger shots and honey-lemon tea for my throat.
And so on. I didn’t have to lift a finger.
And the best part was Anne, the nanny, that Jonah had staying with us. Evie was thrilled to have someone playing with her all day, and Anne was amazing. She stayed with me a few nights until I was ready to go back to work, helping me and Evie at home.
On Wednesday morning, when I assured her that I truly was better, she left after giving me her number and telling me to call her if I needed her the next day, free of charge.
I looked at her business card. My own mother hadn’t responded the same way as Jonah or Anne did. My mother had called again earlier, reminding me about the money. When I’d told her I was unwell and needed my paycheck for the doctor bills, whether it was true or not, she sounded grim and hung up. She had not offered help.
I lay my head back against the couch while Evie played with her blocks on the floor.
Jonah had stayed all night, gotten me a doctor, and gotten me a babysitter for Evie. He’d seen me almost faint, seen me feverish, and stayed by my side all the time. I’d told myself for the longest time that he was a different kind of person, and he wouldn’t understand people like me, and my background with limited finances.
But he understood mewithout me ever having to say a word.
And nobody had ever taken care of me with such devotion before. I felt safe and cared for around him. What did the differences in our social standing matter?
45
JONAH
The presentation screen dimmed to black behind me, and sunlight flooded the fortieth-floor boardroom, illuminating the chairs arranged around the oval table. A few days had passed since Lexi’s illness, and I was back at work for a strategic board meeting.
All the chairs were occupied except one, which was already pushed back and abandoned mid-meeting.
The board members stood and filed out slowly, several stopping to congratulate me. “Brilliant results, Jonah.”
I glanced down at the quarterly report showing a 15% increase in revenue. The numbers should have made me feel accomplished. Instead, I nodded and shook hands while my eyes kept drifting to Dad’s empty seat. He’d left halfway through without a word.
Derek Wei clapped me on the shoulder. “That was exceptional work.”
“Thanks,” I said automatically, but the praise felt like it was bouncing off glass. Why did everyone else’s approval feel like white noise compared to the silence from the one person whose opinion shouldn’t matter most? The board was thrilled. Thefinance team was celebrating. But none of it felt real until Dad acknowledged it.
And I hated that it did.
That evening,I lingered at Lexi’s apartment door. The Friday night had been unexpectedly nice, more than making up for my difficult workday. I’d had dinner with her and Evie, we’d laughed, and it had all felt comfortable and easy. But as I prepared to leave, Lexi stopped me.
