Mia called his name again, trying to make sense of the cold stare he was giving her.
But his expression remained glacial, making her suddenly uneasy. When he spoke, his voice had lost all its warmth.
“Why did you do it?”
She blinked, genuinely confused.
“What are you talking about?”
The next second, he exploded.
“WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO IT? Why did you set Freya up like that?”
Though startled by his outburst, hearing the assistant’s name made Mia roll her eyes.
“She’s just some assistant. What’s the big deal? Why are you freaking out? Didn’t you literally say she was ‘just an assistant‘ yourself?”
Her dismissive tone deflated him instantly.
She was right. He’d tossed Freya aside himself. So why was he so pissed now?
Mia moved closer, reaching for his arm.
“Come on, let’s grab some food. You’re just hangry.”
But her syrupy voice only amplified his irritation. His mind flooded with flashbacks of Freya’s wounded face–how he’d repeatedly chosen to hurt her instead of believe her.
How must she have felt each time?
The more he thought about it, the harder it became to breathe. He didn’t even have the energy to fake politeness anymore, pushing Mia back.
“Go eat by yourself. I’m not in the mood.”
He hadn’t pushed hard, just enough to create space, but her face registered pure shock. After days of him jumping through hoops for her every whim, he was now pushing her away for someone else–for Freya, a nobody assistant. Mia’s temper exploded.
“What the actual fuck, Jasper? You’re treating me like this over some secretary? What’s next–dumping me to chase after your little office fling?”
Her words made his stomach turn. He didn’t understand his own reactions–why he felt so awful, why he was
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No More Lavovers for a Love That Won’t Land
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Chapter 11
hurting. Shouldn’t he be relieved Freya was gone? They should never have started anything in the first place.
But all he could do was clench his fists, fighting for control.
“I’m just beat. Go get lunch without me.”
Mia scoffed, no longer interested in playing nice, and stormed out.
Left with the aftermath in his office, Jasper’s head throbbed. He skipped lunch and buried himself in work, trying to forget everything else.
He worked straight through until evening, finally tackling the company’s dumpster fire of problems. Ironically, Mia had caused more than half of them. Cleaning up her messes had cost him nearly an entire year’s profits.
He leaned back in his chair and exhaled deeply.
The skyline outside had gone dark. He checked his phone–nothing.
An indescribable emptiness, exhaustion, and loneliness crashed over him.
Now alone in the office, he couldn’t help saying it out loud.
“Freya.”
It was the first time he’d said her name since she left.
Those two syllables seemed to break something open inside him, unleashing a flood of memories.
No matter how late he worked, she’d always stayed, keeping everything running perfectly.
They’d had sex against the floor–to–ceiling windows in his office, her face flushed pink like a sunset, impossibly cute Her eyes were innocent as a deer’s, filling with tears when he was too rough. She never realized those expressions only drove him crazier.
More and more memories poured in. Unable to stop himself, he grabbed his phone and called his sister.
The thirty seconds he waited felt like forever before Elena finally picked up, and he immediately blurted out:
“Elena! Do you know where Freya went?”
His sister laughed bitterly.
“Seriously? You’re playing house with Mia and still trying to track down Freya? What for?”
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he gripped the phone tighter.
“I know everything now. All that shit–Mia staged it all. I want to take Mia to apologize to Freya. She can have her jc back. I won’t let Mia mess with her anymore, I-”
Before he could finish his self–important speech, Elena cut him off with a cold laugh.
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Chapter 13
“Save it. Freya doesn’t need your bullshit apologies anymore. And you’ll never find her–not in this lifetime.”
With that, Elena hung up.
Listening to the dial tone, regret and helplessness crashed over him. He hurled his phone against the floor in fury. Then he heard his office door open.
He jumped to his feet, heart racing with sudden hope.
“Freya…!”
He looked toward the door expectantly.
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