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Chapter_38
The tension in the air was thick enough to cut with a knife. Landon, standing there in stunned disbelief, watched as Alyssa struggled to regain control. Her pain was palpable, but it wasn’t just her dislocated arm that hurt—it was the weight of everything that had led to this moment. She had endured so much, yet now, when she was finally starting to stand on her own, it felt like everything was falling apart again.
“Damn it, Jasper!” Landon snapped, his voice laced with fury. “What the hell is wrong with you? You’re treating her like she’s some kind of property!”
Alyssa’s face was pale, but her eyes burned with a fire that Landon had never seen in her before. Her pain was evident, but so was her defiance. “It’s none of your business,” she shot back at him, the anger in her voice sharp enough to silence any further attempts from Landon to intervene. She wasn’t just angry at Jasper anymore—she was angry at herself for letting things go this far, for allowing him to continuously invade her life.
Jasper stood frozen, caught between his past actions and the consequences that followed. He had never fully understood Alyssa. During their marriage, he had been so consumed by his own bitterness, his resentment of the forced union, that he never truly saw her for who she was. The woman standing before him now, angry, hurt, and fiercely independent, was someone he felt like he had never known.
His mind raced, but no words came out. Alyssa’s words hit him like a ton of bricks. “Didn’t you move on with someone else after we ended things?” Her voice trembled with the pain she refused to show. “I’m just trying to find my own way, my own future. Why can’t you just let me go?”
Jasper’s heart clenched as he heard her speak, but his silence was suffocating. He wanted to say something—anything—to make it right. But he couldn’t. The weight of the past, of everything they had been through, felt like a burden he wasn’t sure how to lift.
Alyssa continued, her voice turning bitter and almost resigned. “I’m done being stuck in this. You don’t want me, but you don’t want to see me move on either. I’m not going back to that sad life anymore. This is a release, not a tragedy.”
Jasper’s grip on his emotions loosened, but it wasn’t the way he expected. Instead of pulling away, he found himself moving toward her. He knew he was crossing a line, but in that moment, his desperation to fix something—anything—overpowered his better judgment.
Before Alyssa could react, he slipped behind her, his arms wrapping around her in a move that was both unexpected and far too familiar. Her body went rigid in his hold as she struggled against him, but he didn’t let go. The more she fought, the tighter his grip became. His heart hammered in his chest as he felt her stiffen against him, her resistance making his own emotions flare. She was angry, humiliated, and hurt, but her pain cut through him like a blade.
“Let me go, Jasper!” she demanded, her voice hoarse, but he ignored her pleas. He didn’t care about anything except getting her to safety, getting her to a hospital.
She didn’t understand it—she didn’t want to understand it. He couldn’t say it aloud, but she was the reason his heart had never truly healed. Maybe that was why his grip tightened, why he couldn’t bring himself to let go.
Alyssa’s heart twisted painfully. She had spent so many nights trying to forget him, trying to rebuild herself. But in this moment, as she was pressed against him, her emotions betrayed her. The scent of his cologne, the warmth of his chest, it all brought back memories of a time when she had believed in him—when she had believed in them. But those days were gone. And this? This wasn’t love.
Tears threatened to spill, but Alyssa held them back. She didn’t want to cry for him anymore. Not after everything.
“Put me down,” she repeated, her voice shaking, but her words held more weight than before. “You have no right to touch me.”
Jasper’s jaw clenched, his face unreadable. “I’m taking you to the hospital. This isn’t negotiable.”
Alyssa felt her resolve harden again. She couldn’t let him control her anymore. No matter what, she had to break free. But in that moment, she realized—he had never really let her go either.