He sat motionless in the coffee shop until the baristas finally kicked him out at closing time.
He wandered through the unfamiliar city streets, completely lost in every sense of the word. The pain crystallized his feelings with brutal darity–Freya mattered more to him than anything, and he’d thrown it all away.
If Mia had never reappeared….
If he’d admitted his feelings to himself even a week earlier…
If he’d just once chosen Freya when it actually mattered….
A thousand “what ifs” tortured him, but he couldn’t rewrite a single moment.
The sky cracked open with thunder, then unleashed a vicious downpour. Everyone around him scattered for shelter, but Jasper had nowhere to go.
He trudged through the rain, soaked to the bone, muttering Freya’s name like a mantra.
His phone vibrated. He grabbed it desperately, only to see Elena’s message:
“It’s over. Come home.”
Reading those words, something inside him crumpled. How had everything gone so horribly wrong?
He dropped to his knees right there on the sidewalk, his sobs drowned by the storm.
Eventually, he found himself outside an apartment building. Without the courage to knock, he simply collapsed by the entrance. Just being near Freya’s home offered the smallest comfort to his shattered heart.
After days without proper sleep and now drenched to the skin, he slipped into unconsciousness on her doorstep.
In his dreams, Freya forgave him. They returned to New York together–except this time, he didn’t hesitate. He announced their relationship to the world and proposed immediately.
Dream Freya fell into his arms with tears of joy, whispering that she’d waited years for this moment.
A faint smile crossed his face before hypothermia pulled him deeper into darkness.
When consciousness returned, his head throbbed and his limbs felt like concrete. He struggled to open his eyes, blinking at an unfamiliar ceiling. As he tried to sit up, a voice froze him in place.
“Stay down.”
Freya.
Hearing her voice, Jasper forgot everything else. He surged forward and pulled her into a crushing embrace, holding on like a drowning man.
Amott and
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Chapter 20
“Freya, you forgave me! 1 know I fucked up–I’ll spend forever making it up to you. Please, I swear I can’t do this without you, 1-“His words tumbled out between ragged breaths as remorse consumed him. He clutched her tighter,
terrified of letting go.
“Get off me, Jasper. I only did this because of Elena. If you died on my doorstep, she’d be devastated.” She pulled away, her expression cold.
That’s when Jasper truly saw her face–her eyes held nothing for him anymore. No warmth, no love, not even anger. Just detachment.
The look gutted him. His face drained of color, his hands suspended awkwardly in the air. He stared at her like a man watching his last chance slip away. Grief flooded every cell as he whispered her name.
“Freya…”
She didn’t acknowledge it, her gaze fixed somewhere beyond him.
“I called Elena. She’s flying in to get you. Stop looking for me. I’m better off without you.”
“Freya…”
“We’re done. From the second you chose Mia, it was over.”
“Freya…” Each repetition grew more desperate. He stared at her–close enough to touch but separated by an unbridgeable chasm.
“Is there anything I can do? Anything at all?” He pleaded, voicing his final hope.
Freya finally met his eyes directly.
“No. There isn’t.”
The finality hit like a physical blow. For a moment, Jasper actually couldn’t breathe. He reached out instinctively, just wanting to touch her face one last time, but she stepped back, denying him even that small comfort.
Jasper’s vision blurred with tears.
“Okay. Okay…” he whispered, something vital breaking inside him.
Wan’t I and
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Chapter 21
