Chapter 53

“I didn’t try to sneak around him,” Jasmine said in defiance. “I went to him. I didn’t go to the press, or anything like that. I’m not here for money. I—” she stuttered, replacing what she was going to say with, “—care about him.” She’d announced her feelings about Nick to Natalie in a moment of desperation, and it was not something she’d repeated to anyone else.

“I know. Nick probably knows too, but the idea of a kid with someone you’ve only known a few months is a lot. He loves this company, and being a dad is a massive responsibility to put on top of all the other weight on his shoulders.”

Jasmine knew that would be the answer in the end. He had to take care of Whitlock.

Merrick leaned over and placed his hand on top of hers. “But let me tell you something. He hoped the kid was his. As much as he hated Autumn for trying to manipulate him, he talked about a future kid with all the love in the world. He never said it explicitly, but I saw the joy in his eyes when he talked about the baby. It made it all the worse when the results didn’t come back in his favor.”

“Then why hesitate with me? I feel like it’s obvious I’m different.”

Merrick laughed. “You are leagues ahead of her. I never liked Autumn, but you’re a bright spot in this gloomy world. I bet it’s what’s holding him back. The fear that we were wrong about you, that the kid will not be his again, and probably wondering if it’s something he wants.” He squeezed her hand.

“If I were you, I’d give him no warning and just tell him straight. Then he’ll have to confront it head on.”

It had taken her months to build up the courage to tell him the first time. She didn’t know if she could do it again, but she had no other option.

“Okay. Tomorrow morning. Do you mind if I take the rest of tomorrow off afterwards?”

“Not at all.” He stood up. “No matter what happens, I’ll make sure you and the baby are taken care of.”

“You’re too good to me Merrick,” she said with a soft smile.

“What can I say? I feel protective of you. You’ve got special place in here.” He tapped his chest just over his heart, winked, and left.

Jasmine pulled out her phone and sent Morgan a quick text letting her know that she’d be coming over. Since she was already doing one hard thing tomorrow, might as well get it all out of the way.

She’d been thinking about the photos and how nice it would be to have a small scrapbook she could show her kid one day of all her accomplishments. Maybe they’d find it inspiring. But she needed to know which ones were missing and which Aaron had. Reluctantly, she opened the DM conversation with her ex.

Sure enough, Aaron had sent a dozen messages about dropping her things off over the course of the last month. They sounded a bit desperate, which made her feel good. It wasn’t right to think about “winning” breakups, but regardless of the morality, Jasmine was confident she had emerged the victor.

She sent him a simple message that read:

Meet me at Roger’s Deli with my stuff at 6 p.m.

It used to be their favorite place to go out to get cheap food in between paychecks. Almost instantly she got a response.

Okay, see u soon

Her phone dinged again. She expected another message from Aaron but instead it was Morgan.

You may want to belay that. I’ve seen a few of the frequent cars skulking around today.

They still hadn’t given up. Something must have happened if they were this desperate to find her. She remembered her sister’s expression when she saw her at Cannes—if it was actually Andrea. It was angry, vengeful, and maybe upset.

Jasmine was upset to leave her behind all those years ago, but Andrea was far more willing to fit their parent’s expectations. Even as a kid, she seemed to adore all the outfits they stuffed her into, the attention of the cameras; it seemed like the kind of life she’d always wanted. With Jasmine out of the way, she could take it.

Maybe she didn’t want it, though. What if everything had gotten worse for her after Jasmine ran away?

She snapped herself out of the spiral and focused on the task at hand. Organize the photos she had, get the rest from Aaron, and get back to the penthouse without being followed. It was simple enough.

Her family could wait. She confirmed she’d still come and finished up the last of her work before heading out.

It was a surprisingly cool summer evening. It was odd to think that in less than five months, the snow would cover the city in a thick blanket, and she’d be holding her baby. Instead of focusing on Aaron, Nick, her family, or any of her other problems, she focused on the fact she’d find out the baby’s sex soon. Jasmine didn’t really care one way or another and planned on a neutral room theme for them either way, but the idea of finally picking a name excited her.

In her dream weeks ago, when she was in the hospital, they were called Asher. It was a cute name, and she decided her unconscious mind had picked well if they were a boy.

If they were a girl, well, she’d have to think of something else.

She made it to her old apartment, and Morgan quickly let her in.

“You’ll want to be in and out fast. They’re out in force today.”

She nodded. “I will. How are you doing?”

Morgan forced a smile. “Okay, for the most part. My name is getting cleared at least, but they’re still searching how much my accounts were involved.”

“That’s great; hopefully, that means you can get your place book soon. Mind helping me with these photos?”

Sure enough, when they searched through the box about half of her photos, most of them from her undergrad years were missing. Birthday parties, celebrations of the end of semester, and trips to the lake were all gone. She sighed.

“I hate him so much.”

“I tried to tell you he was shit.”

Jasmine playfully shoved her. “You did. I should get going. He might be petty and cancel if I’m late.”

“Be careful. Make sure you’re not getting tailed.”

“Of course.” She gave her friend one more hug and left. Jasmine checked her mirror several times but didn’t see any cars following her.

She arrived at the deli a few minutes early, so she got herself a sandwich and sat down. Jasmine opened her laptop and started sorting through some stray emails for Astrid’s projects. She’d be back soon with the heat coming off the Whitlock family, and she wasn’t going to cut Jasmine any slack if a project had fallen to the wayside.

She glanced up when she heard the small bell ding. Her ex walked through and made a beeline to her seat, box in hand.

He set the box down and sat down across from her.

She wasted no time and sorted through the photos.

“Hi to you too,” he grumbled. “Everything’s there.”

After another minute of searching, she nodded. “It looks like it. Thanks.” She stood up and grabbed the box.

“Hey, wait, can’t we catch up for a minute?” he asked, his tone desperate.

“I’m not interested in hearing whatever you have to say.”

“Come on, we can at least be friendly. We were together for a while.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, and you went and screwed some other girl anyway. The chance of being friends ended there. Bye, Aaron.”

The bell rung again, and instinctively she looked.

She froze as her gaze met her sister and mother’s.