Disclaimer: SM owns all recognizable characters. No copyright infringement is intended. The plot herein is mine. No plagiarism!
This story contains mature themes and is suitable for those eighteen and over.
Beanothercullen, how do you handle my madness? Thnx! Because Edward rendered me speechless with this chapter.
EPOV
I look myself over in the mirror one last time before heaving a shaky breath and walking out of my room. I meet Jake and Jasper in the living room. Tanya isn't done yet and her last minute preparation is giving me the time I need to psych myself up for this.
Jasper and I will be coming out as a couple tonight. He will be coming out of the closet his parents had forced him into, and I will be letting everyone in my former world of high society know that my parents were nothing but selfish, despicable liars.
"Are you ready?" Jasper asks, coming to sit beside me on the couch. He looks so handsome in his tailored suit; it makes my mouth water.
"No," I chuckle, "But I'm not backing out of this. I want to do this…for us."
"I love you," he says, kissing my lips. "And I'm here. I'll be by your side through it all."
At least he's prepared. I keep going back and forth between wanting to go and wanting to stay. The brave side is saying go, and let your parents look you in the eye and feel the shame you've had to endure for their selfishness. While the scared side is saying, run and hide under your covers. Lock the doors so Jasper can't get in and convince you to go. Your father will rip you apart with his mere words.
But I choose to be brave. "I love you too," I mumble against his lips.
It's my time. It's my time to live and to love. So if I already faced my mother. Then I better puff out my chest and brave the fuck up for my father. He's going come at me with all he's got and by the end of the night, who knows?
But I have to do this.
"Oh, get a room," Jake scoffs and Jasper and I pull away, laughing while I try to ignore this sickening feeling I have. It's been there since I opened my eyes this morning. At first, I thought it was because Jasper wasn't beside me, but it persisted even after he arrived earlier, decked out in his Armani suit that continues to make me drool.
So I now think it's because Jasper and I have to talk after the gala about the secrets my parents have been keeping from me. What the hell was it? Jonathan was solemn as he went through the sketchy clues. He'd only lighten up when he told me that Jasper wouldn't disobey him. Jonathan asked me to trust him and I was. I will be.
"Oh shut up," Jasper chuckles. "You're only pissed off and anxious because Tanya isn't out here yet."
"Yeah," Jake pouts. "What's taking so long?"
"It hasn't been that long, asshole," Tanya says, walking out in a gorgeous form fitting gown. It's low cut in the back and a bit in the front, and it's in her favorite color, blue. "Okay, how do I look?"
We are all stunned too silent for Tanya's liking. "Well, speak up, boneheads!"
"You look great," I enthuse.
"Absolutely gorgeous, darlin'," Jasper adds.
"I want to rip that dress off of you with my teeth," Jake says, making Jasper and me sigh and then laugh; at least I have Jake's jokes to take the edge off.
Tanya blushes and says jokingly, "That is the sweetest thing I ever heard." She turns to Jasper and I, batting her eyelashes. "Isn't he the sweetest thing?"
We all laugh while Jake continues to gawk at Tanya.
We're all sharing a limo; which is good, since my nerves are getting the best of me again once it starts moving. I grab Jasper's hand, keeping a vise grip on it.
"It's alright, darlin'," He leans in and whispers with a kiss.
Tanya looks at me sadly, and quickly grabs a bottle of water from the mini bar. She snaps it open and offers it to me. I take and whisper my thanks before gulping it down, while that nagging feeling makes itself known again.
"Turn around and go home." It's like a voice in my head. "Get the fuck out of this, Edward!"
Alright, I'm hearing things now. What happened to the brave side? Where is the strength I mustered up earlier? Who gives a shit?
I take deep breaths, trying to keep the negative thoughts at bay, but something in me is still telling me to turn around and go home. I don't know what it is, but I'm not listening to it.
I'm doing this.
The limo pulls to a stop, a bit too prematurely for my liking, and it's time. My heart jumps in my throat. This is it. "I can do this." I tell myself, while Jasper's keeps a firm grip on my hand. He's my strength.
Someone approaches the door and I suck in a breath, holding it until Tanya mutters for me to relax and I let it out, feeling lightheaded. Maybe I shouldn't have eaten. When the person on the outside of the car reaches for the door to open it, I feel like I'm about to throw up.
"It'll be okay," Jasper says encouragingly.
Tanya squeezes my knee in reassurance while Jake nods in encouragement and lets me know the game plan. "We'll go first," Jake directs. "Just follow Tanya and me."
"Okay," I answer nervously; my own usually deep voice sounds foreign to me. It sounds weak and timid.
Jake and Tanya move forward prepared to do exactly what he said he would. The doorman opens the door to the flashing lights and deafening noise, and Jake and Tanya climb out first. I watch through the tinted window of the limo as a barrage of cameras turn their way and start flashing away. My heart pounds so loudly, I can hear it in my ears. My eyes are fixed on Jake and Tanya. She's a pro. She hangs on to Jake's arm like she's always been there and this is just another event they're attending together. She flips the back of her ponytail and looks intensely at the limo.
"Thanks, Tanya," I whisper to myself. She's letting me know what to do. Hang on to Jasper and don't let him go. It's the only way to get through this.
"Don't let go of my hand," Jasper says in the same instance, jarring me from my Tanya induced tutorial.
I tremble when Jasper moves to the door and knocks and it opens for him. He looks at me, holding his hand out and smiles, "I love you," he gives me a soft kiss and moves forward.
Jasper climbs out and I follow. My breath catches when the cameras turn our way and it's like a collective gasp leaves everyone and then a sea of whispers started, about Jasper's hand being clasped in mine. It's not my suit. I had gone with a relaxed look in my opinion. My unruly hair is sleeked back and the black suit with the white dress shirt and skinny black tie looks like it was made for me.
It's the fact that the Whitlocks are well known in this world. And if they don't recognize me yet, by the end of the night, they'll realize that they were staring at Edward Masen Jr. from Masen Corporation, and the only son to one of the richest and most powerful couple in the country.
When the shock wears off, a barrage of questions are shot our way as Jasper leads me to the entrance of the building. He smiles and walks briskly with me trailing behind him. His hand is securely in mine and I have never felt safer. He stops us for a few pictures and then moves on again. He'll protect me.
The questions are inquisitive and persistent as the entrance looms closer with each step Jasper and I take.
"Who are you with?"
"Are you gay?"
"It's this your boyfriend?"
"Hey! What's your name, guy?" That one is directed at me.
Jasper doesn't stop anymore until we are inside and Jonathan comes to greet me with a tight hug. "You did great, Edward."
When he pulls back and slams my shoulders, I nod and try to smile back. Tanya is next while Jonathan moves over to his grandson as the attendees in the lobby begin to whisper while all eyes are on our small group.
"Are you okay?" Tanya whispers, while Jasper greets other friends but his eyes hardly leave mine.
"I'm fine now." And I was. I have my friends with me. I could do this.
~~sjfm~~
These types of events haven't changed since the last time I've been to one. The same pompous people are here. The same gossip is being ushered around along with the same mundane questions about who is with whom. But a few new additions have been added to that ring of gossip; namely Tanya and where Jake met her? Not to mention everyone being stunned that Jasper is here…with a man.
I can't tell you how many people blatantly stare our way, or begin to keep track of the amount of whispers I can hear. I'm seated at Jonathan's reserved table, but we haven't taken it yet. It's meet and greet time and I've already met a few of Jasper's friends who support his decision to come out, such as Marcus Volturi and his wife.
Marcus tells me, once he gets over the initial shock that I'm the son my parents are claiming is overseas, that his father Aro was a good friend of my grandfather's. We talk about them for a while. Marcus tells me and Jasper that my grandfather, Easton, was a mentor for business and money to his dad, Aro. He says that his father valued my granddad's opinion above all else. But he states something else that surprises me. He says my granddad was always talking about me and how he plans to groom me for the family business when I'm old enough.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes," Marcus says. "Your grandfather, according to my father, thought that you'd make a fine CEO of your family's company."
Jasper and I exchange looks. "I wasn't aware."
"I suppose your father took pleasure in not telling you that since your granddad died when you were young." This is true. Easton Masen died from a heart attack after barely surviving two strokes. I was only ten at the time.
"I think he did," I comment and Marcus chuckles darkly, looking out at the crowd at someone. I follow his gaze and see my father, who in turn, sees me. His eyes widen and practically see the fire in them from all the across the room. He whispers something to the people he and my mother are talking to and starts to move my way.
But before he makes it, she stalks up. Her eyes are angry and Tanya immediately takes her place by my other side, shooting daggers at Alice as she eyes Jasper.
"What the hell are you doing, Jasper?" Alice sneers.
"Jasper, what is going on here?" Heidi asks, appearing out of nowhere with Jasper's father, who stands quietly by her side eyeing me with an unrecognizable look in his eye. I can best describe it as solemn as he looks down at mine and his son's clasped hands. Jonathan brings up the rear. He's on his phone and smiles at something the person on the other end says before he bids them goodbye and hangs up.
"I'm not going to explain myself again, Mom," Jasper says defiantly.
My eyes are on Jonathan who keeps checking his watch. I didn't hear all he'd said on the phone, but the finale had held my attention. "Hope you get here soon," he had said.
He catches me watching him and winks at me.
What does that mean? Who's coming? Is it Esme? He did say he was going to contact her. Is she coming here? Is she coming to help me? I know she knows everything. I have already figured out that she's a part of the secret. I just don't know which part.
I tune myself back into the argument developing between Alice, Jasper and his mom, Heidi. "I told you," Jasper defends in a fiery tone, his brows knitted together. "I'm through with the secrets. Edward is my boyfriend and my date."
"Do you have a problem with that, Heidi?" Jonathan asks in a defensive tone. He promised me that he'd be here for Jasper and me. He'd never leave his grandson to the mercy of his parents and whoever else might try to attack us tonight.
Heidi huffs but says nothing as my parents, who look like a mixture of shock, anger, and disbelief at my presence at Jasper's side, joins us.
My world stops when my father's eyes meet mine and I can hear my own breath in my ears. I can feel every beat of my heart. But mostly, I can feel Jasper's strong hold on my hand.
"I'm here," his sweet, gentle voice whispers and he kisses my cheek, much to my father's dismay and scowl.
"What are you doing here?" My father says to me. The accusatory, disdain tone in his voice is enough to make me want to tremble, but some reason, I don't. He's still the same. Not a damn thing about him has changed. Why should I fear him? Nothing has changed but me. I have evolved. I'm a man now. Through my experience, and what I have had to do to survive, I am a man now.
"I'm here with Jasper," I say to my father. The strength returning to my voice surprised me, but I go with it.
Dad steps closer, hoping to intimidate me. "I don't care. I want you gone."
"Excuse me," Jasper interjects. "He will leave when I leave and I don't appreciate you speaking to Edward that way." The scowl my father gives Jasper is deadly. You can cut the tension in our small group with a knife. My father is about to say something, but my boyfriend cuts him off with a menacing, "Don't do it again," the statement comes out of Jasper's mouth with an almost growl.
"I'll speak to my s…to him, whichever way I want," he grounds out, taking on Jasper while my mother hid behind Heidi, trying not to look my way.
"No, you won't," I says, taking control of the situation. Jasper squeezes my hand both in an effort to control his temper and in support of me. "Don't speak to Jasper that way. He's not a child and neither am I."
Dad looks at me and I square my shoulders, ready for war. We're almost the same height now, and looking at him is like staring at an older version of myself. The only thing is, I will not be the despicable human being he is. Fuck no!
He takes another step forward, evading my space and I step back. I almost don't want him to touch me; like he's contagious or something. He chuckles lightly while Marcus and his wife grimace in the presence of my parents and Jasper's. Jonathan is smirking as it all unfolds before his eyes.
The way my father is looking at me with hate and shame, I wonder if he remembers he's in a room filled with gossiping socialites within a earshot. Alice is stunned silent looking between all of us while Tanya continues to shoot daggers at her.
"What can I do to make you disappear?" Dad smirks sinisterly.
"Not a fucking thing, I'm not going anywhere."
"Oh really?" he says crossly.
"Yes, really," I fire back, not backing down. "My life is here now and that's the end of it. I'm through running and hiding because you can't deal with the fact that I'm gay!"
I may have said that a little louder than I intended, but I don't care and I don't stop for anything; not my mother's widened, frightened eyes as guests seem to draw closer to us. And the funny thing is, neither does Dad. "I got rid of your selfish ass before, and I'll do it again!"
"And how'd you do that?" I yell back while Jasper pulls me back. I'm not even aware I'm moving forward until Marcus's hand finds my shoulder too. Jake is behind Tanya ready to hold her back. "By letting everybody think I went away to school? Who are you calling selfish, you bastard?"
"Edward…" my mother hisses.
Turning my attention to her, I hiss right back, "Don't speak to me."
"It's alright, Edward," Jonathan says softly. "We're here."
Dad looks at Jonathan. "Whitlock, you're in on this embarrassing charade?"
"I think you should control yourself, Mr. Masen," Marcus jumps in, as I glance at Tanya, who's still eyeing Alice with a cold stare. I know that look all too well. If Alice says one word, it'll be all over for her. Tanya will jump her.
Marcus goes on, "I think these gentlemen are very happy together. I have known Jasper for years, and I personally didn't understand why he chose to live a lie. But I must say, I'm extremely happy for him tonight. What confuses me now is why lie about your son, Edward, just because he's gay? Sir, that is despicable." A gasp leaves a couple of women standing within earshot of us and they quickly scamper off; no doubt to tell others who are out of earshot.
After Marcus growls that last bit, he and his wife, who smiles kindly at me and kisses Jasper's cheek, leave my speechless father and us.
Others are now drawing closer while Heidi and my mother are shaking in their heels. Both hate unwanted attention, and my father and I are about to garner a lot of it.
"Look what you caused?" he says to me; his face reddened with anger. "Is this what you wanted? To embarrass us?"
"You embarrass yourselves!" I shout. "You acted like being true to myself was a sin, and being gay was a disease."
Dad scoffs and rolls his eyes. "Get out of my sight."
"Not before you." He stares me down with all the hatred he could muster and then storms off with all eyes and ears focused on our exchange.
~~sjfm~~
The rest of the night is spent listening to the gala's reasons for the event. Marcus is honored for his humanitarian work and I proudly applaud even if I've just met him tonight. I try to take my mind off of my parents who aren't seated that far away at Jasper's parents' table, but the curious looks from other patrons or their courtesy nods at my bravery earlier on tonight forces me not to forget about them.
I stay with Jasper and Tanya with Jake. She isn't faring well either. She's had the displeasure of meeting Jake's father, who I watched and scowled at while he glared at Tanya like she's something to eat. And she's had the utter unfortunate of meeting his womanizing, chauvinist cousin, Sam, who again, placed her under a distasteful microscope.
Jasper and I are the ones who save her and Jake before Tanya could go off on his family. The battles lines are drawn, but I won't let it ruin my night. Things have been going significantly better for Jasper and me. Even though there are a few whispers and even others who have been brave enough to confirm with me that I haven't been out of the country this entire time, I'm still having a shockingly good time being Jasper's date. I especially love it when he walks off to speak with someone and leaves me at one corner of the room, his eyes are always on me. He even winks at me teasingly with that breathtaking smirk of his that stirs pleasurable things in me.
I avoid looking my parents' way at all cost. It's not that I fear their dirty looks while others avoid them like the plague; it's that I'm determined not to let them ruin the remainder of my night. Edward Masen is a part of the world again and he's happily in love Jasper Whitlock. My life can go on; I've gotten my shame off of my back and placed it on the ones who forced me to carry it around. My parents.
The air is thick with gossip and comments about my parents' deceit. It's unbelievable and while Jasper and I take a few walks around the room, I'm apologized to a thousand times. Jasper too, because of what has now been surmised that Alice Brandon was only on his arm those years before as a part of a ruse cooked up by his mother.
I pull Jasper aside. "What's going to happen to our parents?"
"They have to live through the scrutiny they brought down on themselves," he says simply. "We're not the cause, Edward. They did this to themselves. Do you actually care about your father?" I can hear Jasper's disdain for my father as he says this.
"No," I answer honestly. "I just want to know what will happen. So are we free now?"
Jasper smiles and looks around. When he spots what he wants, he ushers me into a small conference room and crashes his lips to mine. When he pulls away I'm dizzy with want. "Yes, we can do what we want. Go where we want."
"What about school?" Will this affect his job?
"The dean knows already, and he has insisted that you can't take my class," I pout while Jasper laughs with his arms securely wrapped around my waist.
"But I was looking forward to history." I kiss his neck.
"Really now?"
"Yes, Becky told me about this really hot teacher there who everyone wants." Jasper blushes and ducks his head in my shoulder.
"When can we leave?" I ask.
"Soon," Jasper sighs. He looks at his watch.
"What?"
"It's Grandpa, he keeps checking his watch," Jasper says curiously.
"I was wondering about that too." I don't share my theory with Jasper. I want to see if it's true.
"Maybe it's nothing," Jasper breathes, kissing me again. "I think we're past the worst."
I'm about to respond when the door swings open and I jump. My parents are staring at us along with Jasper's. Apparently, they are looking for somewhere to talk, and look what they stumbled on.
Jasper and I move apart but hold hands when they enter with dutiful Alice behind them.
"What the hell is this?" My father speaks first. Always the control freak.
Alice looks disgusted and Jasper's parents, aghast, but no disgust. Again, Mr. Whitlock is wearing the same solemn expression.
"What the hell do you all want? Can't you see we want some privacy?" Jasper says in an demanding tone.
"To do what?" Alice inquires. "Act like…" she looks like she's about to throw up. "…that?"
Heidi steps forward. "Jasper, you will stop this. If we…" she points to herself and Jasper's father. "…are going to accept this, then it's on one condition, you have to break up with Edward. The fact of what has happened with his family means there is too much scandal there."
"You expect me to break up with my boyfriend because of a scandal?" Jasper asks incredulously. "Have you lost your mind?" Jonathan walks in; he must have seen them walk in and Tanya and Jake follow him in.
Here we go again. All soldiers are here and ready for war.
But Alice's gasp brings all attention to her as she screeches, "What do you mean 'accept it'? What about what we talked about?" she screams at Heidi, who's trying to stay cool and collected but failing miserably as she scowls at a ranting Alice. "Jasper is supposed to be mine and that piece of shit is supposed to disappear!" She expresses, pointing in my direction.
Tanya is being held back by Jake, who's whispering something to her while an oblivious Alice continues on with her rant like she's a five year old. "You promised, Heidi!"
Heidi eyes Tanya and moves closer to her husband, making me smirk. She's afraid of Tanya. "Yes, Alice, I know what I said, but I was…wrong and things…" she glares at my mother who squirms when she does that, and then goes on, "changed."
Heidi is doing damage control. She feels if she accepts Jasper it will ease the animosity they're facing at the moment.
The fake smile plastered on Heidi's face doesn't give her the desired effect she's hoping for, and she continues to remind me of a witch. "Well, Alice, I have to accept my son." What a hypocrite! "And be happy with his decisions. As long as he gives us this." She's still trying to bargain.
Jasper laughs, and then acts like he's really pondering the idea. "If I break up with Edward, then you'll accept me."
"Well…" Heidi starts with that fake smile while my parents sneer at Jasper and me.
But it's Alice who takes the spotlight again. "No!" she yells. "You promised me Jasper, Heidi. I will not stand around and watch him parade around with…with…with THAT!"
I'm about to give her a piece of my mind when Tanya comes into play. "You bitch! How dare talk about my best friend like that!"
She turns and makes a face at Tanya which sends Tanya in a frenzy to get out of Jake's arms.
Heidi looks at Tanya fearfully and goes on calmly, "Alice, I don't see a future for you and my son. I think my son has made it clear that you're not his type."
"But you told me…" Alice starts as Heidi cuts her off.
"Yes, Alice! I know what I said! But Jasper isn't interested in you!" Heidi tries to compose herself while Alice turns her hatred to me.
"You!" she shouts like a mad person. "This is all your fault. Why don't you crawl back into the hole you came out of?"
"You first," I say snidely and Jasper chuckles.
Alice screams and shakes her head side to side, even hitting it. Fuck! She is crazy. She looks wild and I prepare myself for whatever comes next. I used to work on the streets. You come in contact with all kinds of people. The good, the bad and the crazy. I'm always ready for anything. And if she makes one wrong move toward me or Jasper, the whole 'I don't hit women' thing is going right out the window.
But Tanya takes control. She saves me the trouble when Alice says, "You fucking son of a bitch! Get out of Jasper's life, he's mine!"
"That's it!" Tanya shouts and stomps on Jake's foot, which causes him to let go of her. An unfortunate mistake for Alice, because Tanya is on her before she can blink.
"Jasper, speak to your friend," Heidi pleads while Alice screams from the floor, while Jake and I try to pull Tanya off of Alice.
Alice hollers out when Tanya punches her right in the nose before Jake and I manage to get Tanya off of her. She scrambles to her feet and slaps Tanya across the face.
Tanya trembles with fury in my arms, but I hold tight. Jake is pleading with her, but I know my best friend; her mind is locked off. She only sees Alice and knows she wants to rip her to shreds.
Alice is gripping her bloody nose and sounds nasally when she bellows, "You bitch! You broke my nose!"
"Next I'm gonna break your face, you little slut!" Tanya screams, kicking off her shoes. Jake tries again and she hits him and wrestles out of my hold while Alice eyes widen and she screams and runs out of the room with Tanya on her tail.
"I'm gonna marry that girl," Jake laughs and runs after Tanya.
I turn back to a smiling Jasper, a petrified Heidi, a smirking Jonathan and my scowling parents. "See what you caused," my father says. "Once you're around, every bad thing that can happen, does."
"Why do you hate me so much?" I ask. I really wanted to know. I could never think of treating my children the way he treated me. "Over the years, all I did was fight to get you to love me. The way granddad did it so easily. The way our helper loved me and asked about my day when I came from school. Something you and Mom never did! You two only cared about the awards I garnered. Never about me."
"And look how right we were," My mother says, letting her voice be heard. "Look what you turned into. Nothing more than a disappointment. No amount of training could have prevented it."
"Training?" I say, the tears close. "You were training me?" And then the dam I held on to earlier broke. It was too much. They were nothing but bastards. Even Heidi is looking like a model citizen to me right now.
Actually, she looks baffled by what my mother just said. The entire Whitlock clan is staring at my mother while tears spill over in my eyes. I let them flow. I don't wipe them away.
This was the warning. It's what I would've learned. That's why I shouldn't have come here tonight. I was nothing but a project to them; a thing.
"I'm some sort of disease to you, aren't I?" I ask them both.
My father scoffs. "You said it, not me." Jasper takes a step forward and I stop him.
The tears are clouding my vision and I wipe them away. "Sometimes I think you would've been happier if I were dead. That would have made the lie more believable." I don't wait for anyone to answer me. I go on, "After everything, everything I tried to do for you both, how I held myself back; hid in the shadows, not tell myself the truth until Seth, I'm a fucking disease?!"
My mother and Heidi jump at the sound of my raised voice. It thunders through the small conference room and I can hear the chaos and screams coming from outside the door, making me assume that Tanya has caught up with Alice. But I don't care.
"Edward, you have to understand," Mother pathetically tries to explain when her 'friend' starts to shoot daggers at her. "You've embarrassed the Masen family to the core. You've destroyed us. You're nothing like we expected. Look at all the time we wasted on you, you are nothing to us. You are dead to us!"
I crumble at those words. I'm dead to them. I fall apart at the seams because of her words. I can hear Jonathan's voice trying to convince me not to believe her, but it's like he's talking to me from underwater. Jasper is desperate. He's calling to me too. Someone touches my shoulder and I shrug them off. I hear Jasper's voice again, and I ignore it.
"Do you know I used to think that?" I say to everyone and no one in particular. "Before I met Jasper, I thought I was nothing. I knew for a fact that I was dead to you both." I look at my parents and laugh maniacally. "Nothing made me feel alive until Jasper. Tanya, she's my friend, and she tried her best, but nothing worked."
"I'm sure when you met Jasper, that all changed," Jonathan says, giving me the boost I needed.
I snap my eyes to his. "Yes! It did. Jasper was like a breath of fresh air. He was the calm after the storm." I look at Jasper. "You're everything I know I don't deserve, but I'm too selfish to let you go."
"Get out of our lives, Edward," My father sneers and I return my full attention to him.
This is it. I've come this far. I've walked over the threshold and I've jumped the line. There is no turning back from here. All I have to do, is say it. Maybe I was wrong in coming here tonight, but this needs to be done.
"Oh, I tried, Dad," I say softly, speaking solely to him and my mother. "I tried to forget you. With every guy I fucked for money because I felt like nothing, so why not be nothing, I wasn't like the other hookers…" A collective gasp leaves everyone but Jasper and Jonathan and Jasper's father. "…and with every guy I let fuck me, I tried to forget you. I didn't want to be a Masen, and on the nights I sold myself, I wasn't. I was just the prostitute they wanted me to be."
Heidi looks like she's about to have a heart attack. She spins around to my parents so fast, I hardly see it in my mental haze. "He was a WHAT?"
My mother is stumbling over her words, explaining that she didn't know. And my father is staring at me dead on.
I laughed at them, without humor. "I was raised right, wasn't I? I was taught to get the money, no matter what." More tears come but who gives a shit?
"How did you meet my son?" Mr. Whitlock asks. Speaking up for the first time, and I finally recognize the solemn look on his face and what it stands for.
He already knew. Jonathan must have had a long talk with his son.
"He saved me," I say simply.
Heidi is going berserk. She's screaming at my mother and father about why they didn't tell her the full truth and the fool they have now made her out to be.
"Why?" Jasper asks me.
I caress his cheek while his eyes plead with me, trying to understand my reason for telling my parents and his in this moment that I was a prostitute. "I had to. I can't keep it in anymore." And then I prepare myself to let him go. I was dead to my parents, right? I was wrong. I'm not alive for the first time in my life. I'm dead.
I feel confused. I need to think. I need air. I need to go. Alone. "Do what you want with that."
"Jasper," Jasper's father calls him and he glances at him, giving me the opportunity I need. And I walk out.
I stalk out of the conference room. I walk past everyone in the ballroom. I can hear Tanya calling to me. I can hear Jake. But when I hear Jasper, I run.
I can't look at him right now. I'm so confused. I love him, but what will I see there? So I run faster. I slam through the doors, and I'm hit with questions and flashes of light from the cameras, but I run pass them. I hear Jasper screaming after me. But I keep running.
I run and run. And I don't stop until all the sounds fade away.
Next: Jasper's search..
