She bit the inside of her cheek hard enough to taste blood, but he was already watching, dissecting every flicker of emotion on her face.
“And I prefer to keep it that way.”
Her fingers curled tighter. So that’swhy he was here. But strangely—painfully—Nina felt a bitter flicker of relief. Because according to Leonard Hayes’s file, Jasper had never married. He’d raised Lynn on his own. No other woman had taken her place. No one had been Lynn’s mother but Nina.
“That’s why,” he continued,“you need to stay away from her.”
His tone was calm, but the warning beneath it was unmistakable.
Something inside her clenched. A hot, sharp ache pushed up under her ribs, but Nina didn’t let any of it reach her face. She forced her breathing to steady even as everything burned inside her.
Jasper watched her closely, waiting for a reaction. Anger. Defiance. Outrage.
But Nina only smiled—bitter, resigned.
“I wasn’t planning anything,” she said quietly but firmly.
His expression barely changed. He only lifted a brow slightly, as if he didn’t believe her.
“Good,” he said, leaning back in the chair.“Glad we understood each other right away.”
For a few seconds he said nothing, just studied her as if seeing her for the first time. Then:
“Lynn is the most important thing I have. And I won’t let anyone destroy that, Nina.”
She latched onto those words. He was afraid. Afraid she’d ruin his perfect little world. Afraid she’d tell Lynn the truth—and that his daughter would turn away from him. But he didn’t understand that Nina herself didn’t want Lynn to know.
Because she was ashamed.
Because she wouldn’t be able to look her daughter in the eyes.
Because she’d abandoned her—left her like something disposable—out of fear and some pathetic illusion that it was the right thing to do.
What place could she possibly claim in her daughter’s life now?
Nina lowered her gaze, unsure what to do with her hands.
“You have nothing to worry about, Jasper,” she managed, forcing out his name even as every nerve in her body rebelled.“Everything will stay the way it’s always been. This… was an accident. Nothing more.”
Not exactly a lie.
He studied her for a few more seconds before giving a small nod.
Once again she felt like a stranger in her own house.
Jasper rose slowly from the chair.
“Well, since we settled everything so quickly,” he said evenly,“I have no reason to stay.”
She didn’t answer. She sat there, unable to move.
The air felt too thick. Her ears rang. Something hollow and aching gaped in her chest, yet her heart was pounding so hard it hurt. Her whole body was tense, her fingers dug into the blanket—a lifeline anchoring her to reality.
That was it.
He was finally leaving. She should’ve felt relieved. Safe. She should’ve breathed again. But instead a crushing emptiness spread through her.
She feared him—down to the bone, down to the tremor in her fingertips. But there was something else too. Something that made her feel shattered. Broken. She didn’t look at him. She just pressed into the back of the couch and stared at a point on the floor.
