Chapter 70 Chapter Seventy
Lena’s POV
Thud!
I crashed straight into someone the moment I stepped out of Jace's room.
Strong hands caught my shoulders, steadying me before I could fall.
"Whoa, hey…" I heard Noah's warm, familiar voice. "I was actually looking for you…"
He stopped mid-sentence when he noticed something was wrong.
My face was a mess; with tears streaming down my cheeks, eyes swollen and red, my glasses slightly crooked on my nose.
"Lena?" His voice changed immediately, going soft with concern. "What's going on? What happened?"
"Nothing. I'm fine." I tried to sidestep him, wiping frantically at my face. "I just need to find Mrs. Dawson. I need to explain…"
"Explain what?" Noah moved with me, blocking my path gently. "Lena, you're crying. Tell me what’s going on."
"Please, Noah. I really can't do this right now." My voice cracked. "I need to fix this before…"
"Before what?"
I tried to walk past him again, but he caught my wrist, his grip gentle but firm.
"Talk to me," he said. "Whatever it is, we can figure it out."
"There's nothing to figure out! I just need to… I have to…"
The sobs took over me again, cutting off whatever explanation I was trying to give.
Noah didn't say anything. He just pulled me into his arms, wrapping them around me like a shield against the world.
"It's okay," he murmured into my hair. "I've got you. Just breathe."
I shouldn't have let him hold me. I wanted to pull away and go find Mrs. Dawson immediately. But I was so tired. So completely, utterly exhausted from holding myself together.
So I buried my face in his shirt and allowed myself to fall apart, heartbreak and shame churning in my chest.
How could I have been so stupid?
"That's it," Noah said softly, his hand rubbing slow circles on my back. "Let it out. I'm not going anywhere."
I don't know how long we stood there in the hallway. But it was enough for the initial wave of sobs to pass, and for me to basically use his shirt as a tissue and feel embarrassed about it afterwards.
"Sorry," I mumbled against his chest. "Your shirt…”
"Is just a shirt," Noah finished. "Don't worry about it."
He pulled back slightly, keeping one arm around me as he guided me down the hall. "Come on. Let's sit down."
He led me to the small sitting room at the end of the corridor where Mrs Dawson used for reading. It was quiet here, away from Martin's playroom and Jace's bedroom.
Noah sat me down on the loveseat and disappeared for a moment, returning with a glass of water and a box of tissues.
"Drink," he offered gently, pressing the glass into my hands.
I took a sip, and then another. The water was cold and helped clear some of the fog in my head.
Noah sat beside me, angled toward me, one hand still rubbing soothing circles on my back. "Okay. Can you tell me what happened?"
I shook my head.
"Lena…"
"It's too much. It's all too much and I can't…” My voice cracked again. "I can't keep going over it."
"Then just start somewhere," Noah said. "Anywhere. I'll follow."
“I can’t.” I gasped, “I can’t.”
“Okay, okay.” Noah stood too, his hands on my shoulders. “Take a breath. You’re spiralling.”
“I’m not spiraling, I’m…” But I couldn’t catch my breath, I clutched at my chest with one hand, my heart going a mile a minute as I collapsed to the floor.
Sweat started to bead on my forehead, and no matter what I did, I couldn’t catch my breath.
I was a fool. The biggest fool of all. I let him use me again, and lie to me, and this time he’d taken it too far.
What would happen to the house if we couldn’t afford it anymore with my paycheck gone? Where would we live? Who would take us in? What about my scholarship?
How could he hurt me like this! I would never in a million years have done something like this to him. Ever.
“You’re hyperventilating, Lena. I think you’re having a panic attack, you need to catch your breath.” He tilted my chin up gently, his gaze focused on me.
I tried, but it didn’t work. I still couldn’t stop my mind from reeling, and I still couldn’t breathe. It felt like all the air had gotten sucked out of the room.
Jace’s eyes turned focused, as he took both of my hands in his and said firmly. “Look at me.”
My eyes snapped up and we stared at each other head-on, he told me firmly. “You’re safe. That’s my hand on yours. You can see me, feel me, hear me. I’m here. Do you understand? I’ve got you. Now breathe.”
I nodded shakily, trusting him.
“Good,” he said, “Now breathe with me. In… out… that’s it.”
We breathed together like that for a few minutes and slowly, the panic started to fade a little.
“Better?” Noah asked.
I nodded, not trusting my voice. I sit back against the wall and put my head in my hands, trembling with tension.
“Alright, now tell me what’s going on,” Noah whispered.
I took a shaky breath. "He told her… Jace told his mother…"
"Told her what?"
"That I was... that I've been..." The words stuck in my throat. "He said I was desperate. That I throw myself at guys, and that I'm clingy and pathetic and…."
"Wait, slow down." Noah's hand stiffened on my back. "Jace said that? About you?"
"Yes. He said it to Mrs. Dawson." A fresh wave of tears threatened to fall. "And now she thinks I'm some kind of stalker and she's going to fire me and my mom and I need this job, Noah. We need the money…”
"Okay, hold on. Back up." Noah's voice was calm but I could hear the anger coming through it. "Why would Jace tell his mother that? When did this happen?"
"Just now. Upstairs in his bedroom," I stopped, realizing how that sounded.
Noah's expression shifted. "You were in his room?"
"I was tutoring!" I said quickly. Then stopped. Because that wasn't entirely true, was it? "I mean, I was supposed to be tutoring Martin but then Jace pulled me upstairs and we were talking and then his mother knocked and…"
"And what?"
"I hid under his blankets so she wouldn't see me and then she asked if he liked me and he said no and…” The words were tumbling out too fast now, running together in a jumbled mess. “He said all these horrible things to make her go away but she heard them and now she thinks I'm dangerous and…”
"Wait, you hid under his blankets?" Noah's eyebrows rose. "Why would you need to hide if you were just tutoring?"
My cheeks blushed red. "It's complicated."
"Lena. You’re not really making much sense here."
"I don't want to talk about it anymore!" I stood up abruptly, the water sloshing in my glass. "I need to find Mrs. Dawson and explain before she…”
"Before she what?”
Noah and I both spun around.
Mrs. Dawson stood in the doorway, her expression composed but her eyes sad. She was holding a white envelope and what looked like a small stack of cash.
My stomach dropped through the floor.
"Mrs. Dawson wait, I can explain…" I started.
"I think explanations are a bit late, dear." Her voice was kind but final. The tone of someone who'd already made up their mind.
She stepped into the room and set the money on the coffee table between us.
"Here's what I owe you for this week's pay," she said quietly. "As well as a small severance bonus. You've been wonderful with Martin, truly. But I'm afraid I can't continue your employment."
"Please," I whispered. "Please, Mrs. Dawson, whatever Jace told you…"
"Aunt Claire, this is a mistake," Noah cut in. "Lena hasn't done anything wrong…"
"Noah, sweetie, I know you want to help." Mrs. Dawson's expression was gentle but firm. "But this is between me and Lena."
She turned back to me, and I saw genuine regret in her eyes.
"I've dealt with stalkers before, Lena. My husband is a very powerful man, and we’ve had a lot of dangerous people around trying to take advantage of that fact.”
She sighed, “Not to mention some other girls who became... fixated on Jace and went through very extreme, violent lengths to get him to return their affections in the past.”
“But…”
“It's not your fault, I know teenage emotions can be overwhelming. But I cannot allow anyone with potentially dangerous tendencies around my sons."
"Dangerous?" I choked out. "Mrs. Dawson, I would never… Martin is like family to me, I would never do anything to hurt…"
"I know you believe that." She said it slowly and carefully, as though she was talking to a delusional child. "But Jace has made it very clear that you've been making him very uncomfortable. Making sexual advances that he's repeatedly turned down."
"That's not true!" My voice rose, desperate now. "He's lying! He only said those things because…"
I stopped. Because how could I explain that I'd been in his bed? That we'd been kissing when I was supposed to be working my job.
Who would believe a stranger over their own child?
Mrs. Dawson's expression softened with pity. "I'm sorry, Lena. Truly. But my decision is final."
She picked up the envelope and held it out to me. When I didn't take it, she set it back on the table.
"Please go get your things from the guest room immediately." Her voice was quieter now, heavy with regret. "Your mother is welcome to stay on, she's been wonderful and this situation has nothing to do with her employment. But I'm afraid you can no longer work in this house. You’re fired."
My vision went blurry, and my knees grew weak. I crumpled to my knees in shock, feeling beyond devastated.
Noah tried, "Aunt Claire, you're making a mistake…"
"That's enough, Noah." Mrs. Dawson's voice firmed. "This is my house and my decision. I appreciate your loyalty to your friend, but some things are non-negotiable."
She walked to the doorway, then paused and turned back.
"I'm sorry it had to end this way, Lena. You're a bright girl with a good future ahead of you. I hope you'll learn from this and move forward."
She walked out of the room, her footsteps echoing as she went down the hallway. Meanwhile I stood there, frozen, staring at the money on the table like it might bite me.
"Lena?" Noah's voice seemed to come from very far away. "Lena, hey. Look at me."
I couldn't look at him. I couldn't move, I couldn't think. Her words echoed over and over in my head in a loop.
What was I supposed to do now?