Until now.
Disgust. Fury. Pain. All those emotions fought to be felt at once, and she slid down the door to sit on the tiled floor. She couldn’t believe this. He’d manipulated her life in a way that made her feel violated. Was she even good at what she did? She had wanted to think so, but the only person giving her compliments on her efforts thus far had been Noah.
Yeah, she was definitely going to be sick.
Jane gulped in several breaths of air, but it wasn’t doing a lick of good to her burning lungs. She was feeling dizzy as more of this twisted reality came crashing to the surface.
Noah had lied about who he was. He was a millionaire. Or maybe even a billionaire. She knew the rumors. The person who had started up this charity had done so out of the goodness of his heart. He’d wanted to use his money for the greater good. Most of the funding came from that source.
How much did he really have?
Jane released a groan. He probably thought she was such an idiot as he sat back listening to her talk about her job and how amazing the program was. Then not making a single comment when she told him she’d never want to be wealthy.
Now she was gasping in the oxygen as tears stung her eyes. This was all a stupid game to him, wasn’t it? He’d swept back into her life with his flirty smile and his suggestions that they follow through on their marriage pact. Then he’d inserted himself into her life with the promotion and the job at the ranch, all the while keeping the biggest secret of his life from her.
Shewasan idiot.
“Jane? Jane! Are you okay?”
Someone sat down at her side. Apparently, they’d entered from another door, because Jane was still leaning against the one at her back. Soft, cool hands flittered against her flushed skin, sweeping tears from her cheeks. A wave of dizziness was threatening to block out Jane’s vision, and quick movements were out of the question. Slowly, she lifted her gaze to find Paige’s face hovering a few feet from her own. Her brows were creased with concern, and she whipped around to speak to someone, but her voice sounded like it was coming beneath water.
Jane closed her eyes and rested her face against her knees, not caring if her tears left marks on the fabric of the dress she wore.
Her whole life, she’d had one thing going for her. She had value when it came to her career and the charities she’d worked with. She’d changed lives. She’d worked her way through different programs and had finally started to gain recognition for the efforts she’d made.
But that wasn’t entirely true anymore. Who was to say that she hadn’t been hired by Noah in the first place? She didn’t know how far up the chain applications went. For all she knew, he could have recognized her name and told the supervisor to hire her. That realization only added more pain to the cracking organ in her chest. It was splintering right down the middle the more she thought about it.
She hadn’t earned anything. What if the job she had now had been orchestrated? Had Cassidy actually left on her own accord? It had been a sudden change, but Jane hadn’t thought twice about it because she’d been reeling from the offer to take over her position.
Entitlement.
Anyone looking in from the outside would likely believe that Jane was just as bad as anyone else who thought they deserved to have the world handed to them on a silver platter. She shouldn’t care what other people thought of her. And normally, she wouldn’t. But there was a wound deep inside her that had never truly been healed. Inadequacy. She’d never felt like she was good enough, that she’d done enough with her life, or that she’d ever amount to anything besides her career.
Her job was the one thing she had that was hers—the one thing that she had been able to claim she’d made sacrifices to maintain.
And Noah had ripped that all away from her the second he’d meddled in her life.
She scowled and scrambled to her feet. How dare he steal the one thing of value she could lay claim to.
A new wave of dizziness washed over her, and she teetered a bit before someone pushed a glass of water in her face. Paige was still here, and now, so was Lacey.
Well, that was just great. If Lacey was here, it was only a matter of time before Mack found out and told Noah. That was the last thing she needed right now. She couldn’t face him—not when she still had an event to oversee.
“Drink it, Jane. You look really pale.”
Lacey frowned from where she stood. “Is everything okay? Do you want me to go find Noah?”
“No,” Jane snapped.
Both women gawked at her like she’d literally bitten off a hand for that question.
Closing her eyes to draw some semblance of control back into her body, Jane shook her head and accepted the glass. “No, I’m fine. I have a lot to do, and so does he.”
The two women glanced at one another. No doubt they’d seen the commotion after the journalists had swarmed Noah. The secret was out, and he was likely dealing with the aftermath. Jane didn’t know who was in on it. His brothers probably knew. His folks, too.
She swallowed down another sip of water, and her face flushed even hotter. She was such a fool. They were probably all laughing behind her back.
“I’m going to make sure everything is still going according to plan, okay?” Paige offered. “Kelsey can wrangle the journalists, and Brooke can make sure that people find their seats. Do you need me to give anyone any messages?”
