Chapter 413
Could she really be here just to mess with me? Nah, Tanya had to have some other reason for showing up like this. I was about to say something when Hayden and Ron appeared. Hayden stepped right next to me, his expression ice-cold as he locked eyes with Tanya. “What’s your child got to do with us?”
Tanya flinched, clearly not ready to face Hayden’s intensity. She pointed a shaky finger at me. “If she hadn’t gone after Jace, none of this would’ve happened.”
“They’ve known each other for ten years—where were you then?” Hayden’s comeback was so sharp, even I blinked. “Who cares who’s chasing who?”
Tanya’s shock was written all over her face. Clearly, she didn’t expect Hayden to go in so hard or to care so little about her drama.
I started piecing it together—Tanya wasn’t here just to cause chaos. She was trying to stir things up between me and Hayden. But what was her endgame? If she broke us up, did she seriously think I’d run back to Jace? That would just make things worse for her.
“She’s always trying to get between me and Jace,” Tanya kept whining, trying to make me the bad guy. Hayden’s smirk was almost cruel. “If your relationship was so solid, no one could mess with it. Just like how your little stunt right now isn’t going to make me doubt Keira.”
He totally saw through her. Tanya’s mouth opened like she wanted to argue, but Hayden wasn’t giving her the chance. He grabbed my hand and said, cool as ever, “Ms. Twain, you stole Keira’s boyfriend, and now you think you can show up and blame her? Who gave you that kind of ‘courage’?”
“Celine Dion!” someone yelled from the crowd. Everyone started laughing, joining in on the joke. I had to fight to keep from cracking up. Tanya’s face went beet red, like she’d just been slapped in front of everyone. Then someone actually started singing the song. I mean, seriously?
Tanya looked like she wanted the ground to swallow her whole. It would’ve been the perfect moment to twist the knife a little more, make sure she’d never try something like this again.
But I didn’t. Because with Hayden by my side, I’d already won. Tanya had no one left—Jace wasn’t here to back her up, and all her noise meant nothing.
I leaned into Hayden a little, the move so easy, so natural. “Let’s go.”
As we left the building and headed for the parking lot, I wrapped my arms around him. “Thanks.”
“It’s my job as your boyfriend. No one’s messing with you on my watch,” Hayden said, sounding all confident like he always did.
Chapter 413 +25 BONUS
“Even though you handled it perfectly, people are still gonna talk,” I said quietly. “Some might dig into my past.” I trailed off, but Hayden just shook his head.
“I don’t live my life worried about what people say.”
Those words hit me deep. He was right. It reminded me of the teachings Abbot Levinsky once shared, wisdom I had heard so many times but never really took to heart.
“Hey, how about we go listen to a sermon sometime? We could pray for Yuna and the girl who donated her heart,” I suggested out of nowhere.
Hayden smiled, running his fingers through my hair. “Yeah, let’s do it.”
Two weeks flew by, and Yuna was finally discharged from the hospital. Funny enough, Matthew, who’d barely survived his own close call, was released at the same time. I handled Matthew’s paperwork first and got him settled in the car. Then I picked up Yuna and brought her home.
Hayden had rented a separate place for Yuna so she wouldn’t disturb me. He told me it was my own private space, somewhere I could go whenever I needed a break.
Jace used to understand me like that too—he even bought me a house. But Hayden didn’t just understand me. He respected me.
Three days after Matthew got home, I got an invite to the opening of the amusement park. I stared at it, lost in thought, when my phone rang.
It was Jace.
“Rea, are you coming tomorrow?”
Chapter 11