“You can go now,” Jake had commanded.
Stella’s voice had dropped to a venomous whisper. “Don’t be so harsh on me,Daddy. You know I’m carrying your child.”
Now, Emily sat in her condo, feeling like the biggest fool to ever walk the planet. It was a stark contradiction to what most people viewed her as. Brilliant. Radiant. Talented. After all, it was only four years ago that she was Hollywood’s youngest A-list actress. Her face graced every magazine, billboard, and television screen.
She’d met Jake at her last movie premiere. The co-owner of Starz Media, a global media company that also operated a talent agency, had charmed her with a boyish smile. Much to Jake’s luck, his timing in pursuing her was impeccable. So, after two months of wooing the actress, Jake received a ‘yes’ to a first date.
For the first time in ages, Emily had felt like someone understood her beyond her glittery façade. She’d fallen in love. This love helped her heal. Therefore, she was brave enough to take a break from the spotlight. Her career had become a dark path, but Jake’s love became her beacon of hope, a promise of forever.
As her luck would have it, that promise turned out to be smoke and mirrors.
After catching him kissing Stella, Jake had vanished. He’d shown no sign he realized he’d been caught when he dropped Emily off, so she was puzzled.
There was no text. No call. Nothing.
It was an unscripted moment, the kind years of scene study, or life in general, never prepared her for. She had no idea how to respond to this deviation from their love, and even if she had, confrontation now felt impossible.
Then, on what would have been the eve of their wedding, her phone rang. Jake’s name came blinking on the screen with a red heart emoji next to it.
Emily answered on the first ring. “Jake?”
“Hey, babe.”
She opened her mouth to speak but paused at the clink of ice against glass. Was he drinking again? He always did when stressed. If he claimed to be, where did that leave her?
“Where are you?” Her voice came out sharp.
Unfortunately, restraint was a luxury she couldn’t afford. Not after discovering that her fiancé—scratch that,ex-fiancé—had been unfaithful. As if the betrayal wasn’t enough, he’d also gotten the other womanpregnant.
At this point, Emily wasn’t living real life, she was starring in a soap opera. And not even the good kind.
Of course, she had no intention of walking down the aisle with this man anymore. Chewing rocks seemed more appealing. But still, it was the principle of the matter.
“Jake, we need to talk abo?—”
“Listen.” His tone was dry. “I can’t do this right now.”
“Can’t do what?” A scoff left her absently. “Call me back? Tell me the truth about why you’ve disappeared for as long as you have? Jake, you’re such a?—”
“Emily.”The chuckle that came from him was strained. “My company’s facing a crisis right now. The investors are threatening to pull out because of a missed business milestone. Stella’s…situation isn’t helping either. We’ve put so much money into her new movie and it’s all going up in flames because the viewers are calling her a miscast. So…I just…I need to focus. One thing at a time.”
“So, you’re canceling our wedding?”
“Don’t be dramatic,” Jake said patronizingly. “It’s apostponement, not a cancellation,” he hissed through the line. “Do you want me walking down the aisle worried about gains and losses? I want to be happy that day. Don’t you want me to be, Emily?”
Happy?
She almost laughed out loud.
Happy was spending time with the people you loved and who loved you back. Happy was celebrating someone’s birthday with cake and bad singing. Happy was the small, ordinary things that made life feel warm.
Postponing your wedding because your business came first? That wasn’t happiness. And it didn’t matter because he wasn’t telling the truth, not theentiretruth anyway.
After a beat, he finally aired, “I’ll let you know when the rescheduled date will be.”
Then the line went dead before Emily could utter a single word about how she felt.
2
