Chapter 359

Teresa pushed him away. “Seriously? With all these people around, you have to say this to me?”

Jonathan looked at her intently. “Have you ever loved me? Even just a little? I mean, after I came back, after everything I did for you. Was there ever any love at all?”

A faint, unreadable smile played on Teresa’s lips, one Jonathan couldn’t decipher. She had already turned away, her eyes stinging, but her voice was steady. “Jonathan, I want to move forward. We both should.”

The afternoon sunlight spilled across her shoulders. Jonathan swallowed hard, twice. “I get it,” he said quietly.

He turned and walked away, the two of them heading in opposite directions. Not even the passion they shared last night could keep them from parting ways today. If she hadn’t come yesterday, he probably would have spent the night alone in bed.

Teresa leaned her head against the airplane window, her eyes fixed on her two rings. “Jonathan, marrying you was my biggest regret,” she had claimed. Memories flooded back. She could still feel the icy water soaking her ankles as she fished for the ring. That night, she truly thought marrying him was her biggest mistake. If only she hadn’t gone through with it.

At the same time, Jonathan sat in his office, staring at the engagement ring he’d chosen for Teresa long ago. Back in March, before she left Nareigh, he’d just returned from a business trip. If nothing had gone wrong, he’d planned to propose—maybe even at the airport, with this very ring. But now, there was no point.

An hour and a half later, Teresa was back in Nareigh. She was about to head to the office when someone called her name at the airport entrance. She turned and saw Donald, which left her a bit confused.

Donald said, “Hey, Teresa. Jonathan gave me your flight info and asked me to pick you up. He was worried you might not be able to get a cab. Don’t worry; I didn’t tell Jennifer.”

Teresa got into Donald’s car and said calmly, “Just drop me off at the Teresouth Group parking lot. Tell Jonathan that from now on, there’s really nothing left between us.”

“Alright,” Donald said, dropping Teresa’s surname. He took the chance to apologize. “Sorry about how I called you the other day, I—”

“It’s fine,” Teresa rubbed her forehead. “I’m not your cousin-in-law anymore. You can just call me by my name. I don’t mind.”

Donald gave a small smile. “I still have to call you my cousin-in-law. Even if I don’t, I can’t just use your first name. Otherwise, it feels like I’m disrespecting Jonathan. We almost had a falling out over this, you know.”

Teresa didn’t say anything else. When they got to Teresouth Group, Donald brought it up again. “There’s a Lynn family dinner tonight. Jennifer’s going too. Why don’t you come with us?”

“I’m not going,” Teresa said as she got out of the car. “I’ve already told my sister I won’t be at any Lynn family dinners. You two go ahead. Don’t worry about me.”

Teresa was wrapping up at work when she suddenly received a call from the police station.

“Hello, is this Ms. Teresa Johnston? Are you Jennifer’s sister?” asked a police officer.

“I’m not her sister. You’ve got the wrong person,” Teresa replied, her irritation obvious. But then she could faintly hear Irene’s voice in the background. “Teresa, don’t you dare try to deny it! Get over here right now and see how I deal with you and your sister!”

With a sigh, Teresa hurried to the police station. When she arrived, Jennifer immediately pulled Teresa behind her, her face expressionless. She knew Teresa was pregnant and didn’t want Irene to suddenly lose control and hurt Teresa. Teresa was completely confused, wondering, ‘What on earth is going on?’

Irene, fired up, snapped, “You said you’d stop seeing Jonathan, but then you went to that party with him! And you two were hugging at the airport!” She flung a stack of photos in Teresa’s face—shots of Teresa clinging to Jonathan’s arm at the party, playing along with his act, and another of him hugging her at the airport, looking like he couldn’t bear to let go.

Teresa had no idea where these photos came from, so she told the truth. “Your son said some woman was pestering him and asked me to help him out. At the airport, he was the one who hugged me. That was our final goodbye.”

“Yeah, right,” Irene said with a mocking sneer. “Jonathan didn’t come back to Nareigh, but you did. Then you two just happened to meet up in Everport, and now you’re telling me my son was the one who made the first move?”

“Believe it or not, that’s how it is. It’s really over between me and your son.” Still, Teresa couldn’t help but wonder why Jennifer was at the police station with Irene in the first place.

Jennifer finally explained. After work, she’d wandered around near Rosary Estates, wanting to check in on Teresa, and just so happened to run into Irene, who was clearly spoiling for a fight. Things escalated fast. The two of them clashed, and Jennifer lost her cool. She slapped Irene, and Irene called the cops on the spot.

“I’m calling Donald right now. Just you wait,” Irene said with a cold laugh. “Let’s see what he thinks of his girlfriend’s sister after this. See if he still wants to be with you.”

Jennifer had been calmly talking to Teresa, but the second she saw Irene pull out her phone, she snapped. She lunged, snatched the phone from Irene, and smashed it to the ground. She hissed, “Go ahead, try calling him. I swear, I won’t let you off the hook.”

Teresa was stunned for a moment. She could clearly see the panic and desperation in Jennifer’s eyes. Jennifer quickly tried to fix her messy hair. She’d always kept up a good image in front of Donald, and there was no way she was going to let him see her looking like a wreck at the police station.