Filed To Story: The Broken-Hearted She and The Icy He Book PDF Free
She couldn’t change Jackson’s bias, but she also didn’t want him and James to get into a fight. She tugged at his sleeve again. “James has helped me many times…”
“Hmph, and you’re taking James’s side?”
Around others, Jackson could be perfectly mature. But in front of Lily, he liked to be childish, to act spoiled and vie for her attention. “You said I was the most important in your heart. Now you’re speaking for James…”
If she remembered right, Jackson was twenty-one now.
Twenty-one, not twelve. So why was he still acting like a kid?
Still, he was her little brother, and she would always spoil him.
Besides, James had already said he didn’t want to see her again. Their relationship was long over, and even if she still liked him and couldn’t let go, she wasn’t going to upset her brother for his sake.
So, despite feeling a bit exasperated at Jackson’s immaturity, she humored him just like she used to when they were young. “You’re important to me.”
The moment she said it, Jackson’s face lit up with joy.
He even cast James a smug look, like a little dog proudly guarding its bone.
James pressed a pale hand to his chest.
But no matter how hard he pressed down, the ache and loneliness there only grew sharper.
Seeing Lily and Jackson talking and laughing together, looking so sweet and at case, while he stood there like an unnecessary, glaringly out-of-place lightbulb, he finally turned away, still clutching at the pain in his chest, and walked out into the cold.
“Lily…”
As James turned, Lily’s eyes reddened and followed his retreating back. Jackson saw it-saw that even after the divorce, she couldn’t let go of him.
It left a sour taste in his heart.
Since reuniting with her, he had done everything he could to pull her and James apart so he could take his place.
But seeing the sadness and longing in her eyes, he realized that more than wanting to take James’s place, he wanted her to be happy.
Swallowing the bitterness, he smiled brightly and asked, “You really like James, don’t you? I can tell he cares about you too. Have you thought about getting back together with him? Giving my little niece or nephew a complete family?”
“He… he has someone he likes. He’s about to get married.”
Lily’s hand brushed her stomach, her beautiful face shadowed with loss. “He doesn’t want the child I’m carrying. When I first got pregnant, I asked him what he’d do if he had a child. He said he’d get rid of it.”
Jackson frowned.
If Lily was carrying James’s child and he still wanted to get rid of it, then he really was the worst of the worst.
But a man’s instinct told him James did care for her.
Otherwise, James wouldn’t look at him with such hostility every single time.
A thought struck him, and he said quickly, “Didn’t you say before that you couldn’t have kids? At the time, James didn’t know you were pregnant… Do you think maybe he thought your question was about another man’s child?”
Lily froze.
Back then, James and the others had indeed believed she was infertile.
Could it really be that there had been a misunderstanding between them?
But then she remembered what she had seen that morning-James holding that stunning, seductive woman.
And when she’d asked if he was getting married soon, he had answered yes.
Even if he wasn’t entirely against her having his child, it was true that he wanted to start a new life.
It was also true that he had said he didn’t want to see her again.
And since she had promised not to bother him anymore… she wouldn’t intrude on his life.
After the divorce, James had indeed given Lily several properties.
But living alone in a huge villa felt far too empty, and if she was honest, a little frightening.
So the afternoon after she was discharged from the hospital, she moved into a spacious high-rise apartment in the city center.
The complex had excellent security, and she didn’t have to worry about that lunatic John suddenly breaking in to hurt her.
Not that he could, for now.
She’d heard Ashton had sent him to the police station-fifteen days of detention.
Lily thought it was a pity. Fifteen days, not fifteen years.
The four-bedroom, two-living-room apartment was beautifully decorated, and she had already hired cleaners to scrub it down. She could move in immediately.
She had barely stepped through the door when her brand-new phone rang urgently.
Seeing Ashton’s name on the caller ID, she hesitated, then answered.
“Ashton, you’re looking for me-“
She didn’t get to finish before his anxious voice spilled through the line.
“Ms. Lily, you have to come see the boss! It poured all night yesterday-he stood out there almost the whole time, completely lost. When I found him, he was still standing in the rain like a ghost. He’s burning up with fever, and tonight he’s been drinking a lot… The doctor prescribed medicine, but he won’t take it. He won’t let anyone near him for an IV. He just keeps calling your name… Please, I’m begging you, come talk him into taking his medicine!”
James had a fever…
Her heart jumped instantly.
But remembering that he had another woman now, she told herself it wouldn’t make a difference if she went. “Ashton, I’m not coming. Even if I did, he wouldn’t listen to me. Yesterday morning, I saw a woman on top of him… I even asked if he was about to marry her, and it seemed like he was. You should find her- instead-maybe she can talk him into treatment.”
“A woman?”
What woman?
Ashton was stunned for a second-then it clicked.
The woman Lily was talking about had to be Marilyn.
James’s constant “Lily, Lily” made it obvious he couldn’t let her go. Ashton wasn’t about to let her keep believing otherwise.
“Ms. Lily, I think you mean Marilyn, the new secretary I just hired. The old man thought the boss liked women and told me to keep him away from any male… distractions. So when we hired in the secretary department, I didn’t dare hire a man. Who knew Marilyn would dare set her sights on him! After you left yesterday, I saw her in his study. She was the one who threw herself at him-he shoved her away and even threw up from disgust. I’ve already fired her, per his orders. Marry her? Ms. Lily, I swear on my honor, aside from one date with some ugly guy with a mole on his face, he’s never been involved with any man or woman. Now he’s cut ties with that guy, and his heart’s only got room for you. You can’t just leave him like this!”
Ugly guy with a mole…
Lily: “…”
What a coincidence. That “ugly guy” was her.
When she’d walked in on that scene yesterday morning, her heart had felt like it was being torn apart.
She had thought that was the woman James liked-but it turned out she’d been wrong.
“I’m begging you, please come see the boss. If you don’t, he really might drink himself to death!”
“I…”
Lily’s thoughts were tangled.
Knowing there was nothing between James and Marilyn sparked a secret, guilty joy inside her.
But remembering how, after they’d been so close, James had still said he didn’t want to see her again left her aching.
She didn’t want to break their agreement or shamelessly show up only to be pushed away.
Yet she couldn’t smother the worry twisting in her chest. After wrestling with herself for a long moment, she finally said, “I’ll come.”
“Good, I’ll wait for you at the gate!”
The relief in Ashton’s voice was palpable.
He didn’t dare waste time-he drove straight from the main house to the villa’s front gate to meet her.
The estate was so large that from the front gate to the main house was a long drive.
When Lily stepped out of the taxi, Ashton jumped out, opened the passenger door for her like an eager attendant, and hurried her into the car so they could head to the main house at once.
Sliding into the driver’s seat, he still found time to plead his boss’s case.
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.