Page 10 of Selfless

He nods. “She overheard me and your mom talking, and your mom brought up Talia’s.”

“That’s how Becca found out ….” I wonder out loud.

He nods again. “I didn’t know she had overheard me until Jaycent came and saw me and filled me in.”

It all makes sense now. Why Kelly called my father earlier and told him she

showed up crying. She’s upset about my parents divorcing. Of course, she is. Becca takes everything to heart. She cares too much.

“Did Ashlyn know you are buying Talia’s?” he asks.

“No.” I never had the balls to tell her.

“Well, she probably does now. If your mother didn’t tell her, I bet Becca did.”

“Not like it matters,” I say truthfully.

“It should,” he says.

“And why is that? Her knowing isn’t going to change the plan,” I growl. I would have lost her anyway. If she hadn’t pushed me away from the beginning, she would have hated me the moment she found out I was buying it.

He frowns. “I thought you loved her.”

I shrug. “You taught me never to mix business with my personal life.”

He looks away from me and sighs as if my words disappoint him, and I snort. “Now what?” I ask. He looks back at me but says nothing. “Please tell me what I can do to make you happy,” I say sarcastically. “God knows I can’t make anyone else happy these days,” I snap.

He frowns. “What about you?”

“What about me?” I demand, getting irritated at how my life has taken a turn that I never saw coming.

“Are you happy?” he asks as his eyes look into mine.

I stare back, unable to answer that question. He’s never asked me that before, but we both know I’m not. I look back out the window and lean my head against the seat as his phone rings. He answers, and the subject is dropped for now. Because I have a feeling he’s gonna come back to that question someday soon, and the answer is gonna be the same. I’ll never be happy because I lost the only woman I’ve ever loved.

My phone dings, and I look down to see I have a message from my mother.

Mom: We need to talk.

I ignore it like the last.

ASHLYN

Sitting on my bed, I’m talking to my mother and telling her about my day when I hear the front door open and slam shut. Then I hear Becca walk past my room and into hers.

“Hey Mom, I gotta call you back,” I say and hang up, not waiting for her to say goodbye.

I make my way to her room and knock on her door before I open it. “Becca?”

She’s lying on her bed but rolls over and wipes her wet cheeks. She doesn’t say anything, so I go in and sit beside her. “Do you want to talk?”

She sits up and sighs. “I ran into Conner today, and he told me to tell my dad to stay away from him. So I went up to his work, but he is out of town. Ryder’s assistant called my dad, and then he called me, and he told me that Jaycent had told him last week that Conner was being paid to date me.”

My eyes widen, hoping I heard her wrong. “He was what?” I snap. “Your dad was paying him?” I demand.

She shakes her head. “I forgot you didn’t know.”

“Who the fuck was paying him?”

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