My Ex Walked Into My Flowershop After I Faked My Death Chaptre 04
Rain poured outside. Jax slept soundly in my arms.
I’d just laid him in his little bed in the back room when my phone rang.
It was the landlord, Dale Hale.
“I’m not renewing the lease. I’ll refund your deposit. You have to be out tonight.
I froze.
“We signed a contract! You can’t just back out. It’s pouring rain. Where am I supposed to go with a five–year–old?”
“Someone bought the place for ten times the price and told me to kick you out immediately. I don’t have a choice!”
He hung up right after.
I went cold, leaning against the counter.
Lila moved faster and crueler than I’d imagined.
“Jax, wake up. Mommy’s taking you somewhere to stay tonight…”
I stepped into the back room- and my blood turned to ice.
The bed was empty. The window stood wide open, cold wind rushing in.
Jax was gone.
I sprinted for the door, ready to search the streets, when Lila walked in with two bodyguards.
She tossed one of Jax’s Spider–Man sneakers on the floor, wiping mud from her hands in disgust.
My eyes turned red. I lunged at her, but the bodyguards pinned me down.
“Where is Jax?! He’s just a little boy! Hurt me instead!”
Lila chuckled and tapped play on her phone.
The video showed Jax locked in the backseat of a car, screaming for mommy at the top of his lungs.
My heart shattered. Tears streamed down my face.
He was the baby I’d risked my life to bring into this world.
I’d given birth alone in an unlicensed medical clinic, biting my lip until it bled, just to hear his first cry.
I named him Jax Thorne.
I’d lied to myself, telling myself it meant peace always.
But in the quiet of the night, I knew the “Thorne” was the last piece of longing I held for his father.
Once, in the heat of our love, Kael had kissed my stomach and whispered sweet things, excited to start a family together after we married.
Now my baby was suffering, locked in a car by La I stopped fighting. I knelt at her feet like a dog.
“I’ll leave tonight! I swear I’ll never step foot in Westbrook Heights again!”
My voice was raw and ragged. I begged.
I knew what she cared about most. I said everything she wanted to hear.
“Mrs. Thorne, I’m already dead. I’m plain, I’m out of shape. Even if you stripped me naked and threw me at Kael, he wouldn’t recognize me.”
“I promise I’ll never disturb your life…”
I banged my head on the floor over and over. Blood trickled down my cheek.
I’d give her my dignity, my life–anything to save Jax.
Lila watched me grovel with pure satisfaction, laughing softly.
“Good. That’s where you belong, Elara. You owe me more than this.”
She dialed Kael’s number and put it on speaker.
“Lila? Did you get home? I’m still wrapping things up. I’ll be right back, baby.”
Lila looked down at me, voice sweet and soft.
“Nothing. The baby just kicked me. We both miss you so much.”
I listened to their sweet exchange and smiled hollowly.
Good thing my heart no longer ached for Kael Thorne.
But neither of us noticed the storm roaring in the background, or Kael’s distracted tone.
After she hung up, Lila lifted her pretty high heel and slammed it down on my right hand.
Agony shot through me. I clamped my jaw shut, not making a sound.
Lila’s voice dropped,
The next second, the door crashed open.
Kael stood there, soaked to the bone, holding an umbrella, staring at me in disbelief.
He’d heard everything.