hapter 10
Jasper was towel drying his hair when the message came through. He heard his phone buzz and reached for it, but Mia snagged it first.
“I’ll check it,” she said with a honeyed smile, dangling the phone playfully.
Jasper couldn’t resist her. “Sure, go ahead,” he smiled back.
His phone had been set up with Mia’s fingerprint access months ago. She casually opened Freya’s conversation, saw the message, and a flicker of disdain crossed her face before she quickly deleted it.
Since day one of her return, she’d known about Jasper and Freya’s arrangement. In her mind, it was just Freya’s pathetic fantasy. Everyone knew Jasper was obsessed with her–how could he possibly care about someone else?
After erasing Freya’s goodbye, she noticed several emails from business partners and deleted those too. By then, Jasper had finished with his hair and came over, still smelling of expensive shower gel, wrapping his arms around her waist.
“Anything important?”
Mia turned to embrace him, casually setting the phone aside.
“Just spam. Forget about it. Should we pick up where we left off?” she teased, her silk nightgown strategically revealing glimpses that made Jasper’s eyes darken.
He swallowed hard and nodded, forgetting all about his phone as he carried her to bed.
After a night of passion, Jasper was still dead to the world when his phone started blaring. He tried ignoring it, but
the persistent ringing drove him crazy–he wasn’t supposed to have any work commitments today.
Glancing at Mia still curled up beside him, he grabbed his phone and answered in a low, irritated voice.
“What’s the problem? It’s Saturday. I shouldn’t have anything scheduled.”
His other assistant responded frantically:
“The Aurex partners emailed you yesterday about an emergency meeting! They’re already in the conference room, sir–everyone’s been waiting for forty minutes!”
“What? When did this happen? I never got any email!”
Jasper’s drowsiness vanished instantly. He bolted upright and rushed to change, his brow furrowed deep.
“Why didn’t Freya notify me about something this critical? What the hell is she doing? If we lose this deal because of her negligence, she’s done. Tell her to come pick me up now.”
His voice carried unmistakable fury. He assumed Freya was still upset and deliberately sabotaging things. To his
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No More Layovers for a Love That Won’t Land
39.1%
Chapter 10
shock, the assistant hesitated before carefully responding:
“Sir, Ms. Kingsley quit yesterday,”
The news hit him like a bucket of ice water, Jasper’s grip tightened on his phone.
“Since when? Did I sign off on that? Tell her to get her ass back here immediately! She doesn’t get to walk out without my approval!”
He was shouting now, completely forgetting about Mia nearby.
How dare Freya quit? Over some minor incidents? He’d made it crystal clear that Mia was everything to him, but he’d also promised to make things right with Freya eventually. Yet she’d just ghosted without a word.
His eyes went cold with anger, terrifying the assistant on the other end into silence.
Just as his patience snapped, a slender arm wrapped around his waist.
“What’s with all the yelling, babe?” Mia’s voice was deliberately soft and sleepy.
Seeing her like this, Jasper immediately lowered his volume.
“Just work stuff. Go back to sleep. I need to handle this.”
He planned to head to the office–they couldn’t afford to lose this partnership. But Mia clung to him, pouting:
“Stay with me instead. It’s barely morning. Don’t leave me all alone, okay?”
Her pleading tone made his resolve crumble as memories of the previous night flooded back. He couldn’t resist pulling her close and lying back down. By the time he’d coaxed her back to sleep, another half hour had passed, and his phone was blowing up with messages.
His eyes darkened as he texted his assistant:
“Push the meeting to 2pm.”
The response came immediately:
“Sir, they left 20 minutes ago… The deal’s off the table.”
His stomach dropped, but then he looked at Mia’s peaceful face beside him and decided maybe it was worth it.
As his momentary contentment faded, something nagged at him. Jasper opened his email app–nothing new in the inbox. Then he remembered Mia checking his phone last night.
With growing dread, he opened his trash folder–and his face went ashen as the truth hit him.
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