Novel Square
Chapter 203
Chapter 203
She didn’t seem to avoid suspicion even when she was close to Bryce, so why was she so secretive about making a phone call now?
Shoving his hands deep into his pockets, he watched her with a leery gaze. approached, he reached out and snatched the phone from her gras
grasp.
As he
Estrella stood up quickly, reclaiming her phone with a huff. “Cut it out, Jason! With the way things are between us now, you’ve got no right to snoop through my phone.” Back when she hadn’t left Ravenwood, and before the talk of divorce had even started, she used to find his jealousy somewhat endearing, a reason to tease him and flirt back. But times had changed. She was a mother now, and playing these games with him. the last thing she wanted.
1 was
“Not worthy, huh?” Jason’s mood soured instantly. He grabbed her face in his hand and pulled her close. “We’re still married, Estrella.”
Stumbling into his chest, Estrella shrugged it off. “For now, but not for much longer.”
Her indifference was like a punch to the gut. He had come here out of concern, and she repaid him with frustration. Releasing her face with a mix of anger and restraint, Jason warned, “You better hope I don’t find anything.”
“Don’t bother.” Estrella shot back defiantly. “I was talking to my man. Why don’t you just throw me out the window if you’re so tough, huh?”
Her words stung less than he expected. Maybe she was just trying to get a rise out of him. He studied her for a moment, then reached out to brush a stray lock of hair from her forehead. “You just can’t stand it if you’re not getting under my skin, can you?”
No sooner had he spoken than his own phone began to ring from his pocket. Pulling it out, he recognized a work-related number. He answered and spoke briefly before stepping out to return to his own room, leaving Estrella alone.
As Jason left, Estrella exhaled a silent sigh of relief. The last thing she needed was for him to discover Isaac’s existence-that would only complicate matters further.
Meanwhile, Jason, having finished his call, was about to head back to Estrella’s room when he was struck by her laughter with someone else and her eagerness for a divorce. His steps halted.
“Drew, look into who Estrella’s been in touch with these past years.” In the end, Jason couldn’t resist. He had to know. If he found out Estrella had a lover, Jason wouldn’t rest until he’d made the guy pay. Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!
After hanging up with Drew, Jason’s phone rang again with more work calls. By the time. he finished, it was already past ten in the evening. He headed straight for Estrella’s room,
Chapter 203
not even pausing to think.
Inside, Estrella was asleep, with Bryce keeping watch beside her. After adjusting her blanket and checking her forehead, Bryce tenderly held her hand before placing it back. under the covers and standing up.
Jason, witnessing Bryce’s attentiveness from the doorway, couldn’t take it anymore. He knocked loudly on the door.
Beside the hospital bed, Bryce glanced back. Seeing Jason approaching, he quickly stood up from the chair. The two stepped out to the corridor’s end, where a small balcony served. as a smoking area.
Jason glanced at Bryce through the dissipating smoke, seeing clearly that Bryce’s feelings for Estrella had transcended mere friendship. Jason knew that look-it was the way a man looks at a woman he desires.
a
Taking a deep drag on his cigarette, Jason broke the silence. “You’ve fallen for her, haven’t you?”
Estrella was smart, beautiful, and had a great personality. It was no wonder she drew people in, especially someone like Bryce, who spent so much time with her.
Bryce exhaled a stream of smoke, dismissing the idea with a chuckle. “It’s not the kind of liking you’re thinking about.” He paused, then continued, “It’s more pity and guilt. your behalf, Jason. I feel bad for Estrella; she’s had it tough being married to you.
Guilt on
As Bryce leveled his gentle accusation, Jason remained silent, continuing to smoke. Bryce turned to look at Jason. “You were pretty hard on Estrella three years ago, blaming her for the pregnancy she didn’t tell you about, and for losing the baby, weren’t you?”
Before Jason could respond, Bryce added, “She didn’t tell you back then because she knew Holly was back. If you had chosen her, not Holly, things wouldn’t have come to this point.”
Jason listened, his expression unreadable as he smoked.
Finally, Bryce said, “I’m telling you this to make you feel bad and guilty. Don’t treat Estrella like she’s a fool. It’s your fault, Jason. It’s your fault the baby didn’t make it.”
The accusation deepened the shadows on Jason’s face. He remembered Estrella’s question from three years ago, about what he would do if she were pregn
pregnant.
After snuffing out his cigarette, Jason faced Bryce squarely. “I care about Estrella, and I won’t divorce her. You handle your own feelings, Bryce.”
With that, he returned to the hospital room, leaving Bryce alone on the balcony.
Everyone thought he didn’t like Estrella, even hated her. But Jason knew better. Why would he marry someone he didn’t love? Why would he let Landon threaten him? His choices had always been his own, made willingly, happily. Yet, often, fate had other plans. Now,
08:03
Chapter 203
even if he confessed his feelings to Estrella, she wouldn’t believe him.
As for Bryce, he had matured. The time for sibling rivalry had passed. No more fights, no more feuds. Only the unspoken truths of the heart remained.
Bryce stood on the small balcony, his gaze lingering on Jason’s retreating form until he disappeared into Estrella’s hospital room. Jason stepped inside, and Bryce knew he wouldn’t get in.
It was a familiar feeling, a bitter echo from six years prior when he had failed to confess his feelings to Estrella and watched helplessly as she obtained her marriage certificate, sealing his fate to the
sidelines.
Inside the sterile room, Jason’s expression darkened upon noticing Estrella had kicked off her blankets – some habits die hard, he mused. Jason remembered that when they used to sleep together, he would always get kicked a few times during the night. There were a few times when she even kicked him off the bed.
Approaching the bed, Jason bent over and tenderly tucked Estrella back in. He then took a seat in the same chair Bryce had just vacated. Jason’s presence declared an unspoken message: what belonged to him – his place and his woman – was his alone to claim.
As he watched Estrella sleep, her hands soon emerged from the sanctuary of the blankets. Jason stood up and gently guided her hand back under the covers, but as soon as her right hand was secured, her left hand surfaced. He promptly tucked it back in, only for the right hand to reappear.
With his patience waning, Jason leaned over Estrella to restrain both hands at once. But as he did so, Estrella’s eyes flickered open, abruptly awake.
08.03