Chapter 1047
“So, what’s going on?” Teresa asked, hating herself for how badly she wanted to know everything about Jonathan. She told herself every day to let it go, to not care. But it was useless.
Miriam let out a low whistle before saying, “Irene’s desperate to come home, but Jonathan won’t let her. He’s keeping her there until she finally caves.”
Teresa looked puzzled. “Caves? Caves to what?”
Miriam took a big swig of beer and grinned like she had some juicy secret. “You have to understand, I had to get Benny completely hammered to get this story.
“From what Benny said, Jonathan’s basically playing the waiting game with Irene. He wants her to figure out for herself that she needs to back off and stop messing with his life.
“But come on, you know Irene. She’s never gonna stop controlling Jonathan. She wants her fingers in every single thing he does.”
Miriam let out a long sigh. “So yeah, Jonathan just works and spends time with Irene. He’s waiting for her to admit she’s got a problem.
“Because if he doesn’t, it’s just a temporary fix. The second his back is turned, she’ll cook up some new nightmare. You know she will.”
Teresa just stared off into space. She thought, ‘So that’s what’s really happening. All this time, Jonathan’s been stuck dealing with Irene.’
“But… He’s getting married, isn’t he?” Teresa heard herself say again, but her voice sounded so unsure now.
Miriam blinked. “Seriously? Who told you that? No way that’s true. Even if he wanted to get married, it’s way too soon.”
Teresa went dead silent. It all clicked. The new fiancée, the other baby–Irene had made the whole thing up.
She squeezed her beer can so tight her knuckles went white and took a long drink. She felt like she’d been caught in a downpour. Everything was just heavy and suffocating. She could barely catch her breath.
Miriam, now clearly drunk, leaned over and grabbed Teresa’s arm. “Oh, and get this. I got Benny talking over lunch today. Turns out, like half those big shots at your product launch? Jonathan hooked you up with them.
“And those fancy guys from Jarisburg who brought all those gifts for your kids? Yeah, they only showed up because of Jonathan.”
“Oh,” was all Teresa could manage, reaching for another beer. “I… I asked Benny. He swore it wasn’t Jonathan.”
“Well, Jonathan told him to keep it quiet,” Miriam mumbled. “Think about it. You’re the mother of his children. He’s not gonna let your company go under, right? If you’re struggling, the kids struggle. That reflects badly on him, you know?”
Teresa didn’t say anything back. She just felt even more torn up inside. Her throat burned like she might cry.
She started downing her beer way faster, trying to catch up to Miriam’s drunk level. Miriam had already face-planted on the couch, completely out cold.
Teresa collapsed onto the bed, totally wasted. Her head was splitting, but the ache in her chest was a thousand times worse. The pain was sharp, unbearable.
All of a sudden, she was dying to hear Jonathan’s voice. Her hands, clumsy and shaking, fumbled for her phone. She found his name and dragged it out of the blacklist.
Jonathan was still stuck in Hakton right now. He knew it was New Year’s Day back home.
He knew Michael had called him. His own phone had been dead. By the time he’d plugged it in and tried to call back, Michael’s phone was off. He then dialed Teresa’s number, but the call wouldn’t go through. She still had him blocked.
Jonathan leaned against the apartment balcony railing, sipping whiskey from his glass. He couldn’t stand being alone like this.
The memories were so vivid they felt like yesterday–years spent building his empire from nothing, and everything that unfolded when he returned to Nareigh last year.
Chapter 1048