Page 48 of Breaking
His mother, watching from across the room, seemed pleased. His sister looked away, discomfort written in the rigid set of her shoulders.
And his children-
Max's expression was thunderous, his jaw tight with barely concealed fury. Lilly stood beside him, stunned, then resigned.
This wasn't an accident. Lila had orchestrated this moment, and now, she had what she wanted.
But Troy wasn't going to let it stand.
Without another word, he turned and walked away, pushing through the crowd, his pulse hammering in his ears. He reached for his phone, his fingers trembling slightly as he scrolled through his contacts.
Jenna.
She hadn't answered his calls in weeks. But now-
He hesitated, staring at her name on the screen. The truth settled over him like a heavy weight. She was going to see this. The whole world was going to see this.
And that was exactly what Lila had intended.
Troy swallowed hard, his grip tightening around the phone.
He had been blind for too long. Had let things slide for too long. He had let Jenna walk away without fighting for her.
He wasn't going to let this be the end.
He didn't know how, but he was going to fix this. He would make things right, no matter what it took.
And with a desperate hope, he prayed that Jenna hadn't already seen the news.
But then, the weight of the night, the noise, the pressure-it all became too much. His breath shortened, his pulse pounded in his ears like a relentless drum. His fingers clenched around his phone, but it felt too heavy. The world around him dulled, as if he were sinking into a silent void. He needed control, but it was slipping through his fingers like sand.
Mack was the first to notice. Troy's closest friend had seen this before-the blank stare, the way his jaw tensed unnaturally, how his shoulders locked as if he were bracing against a storm only, he could see.
"Troy." Mack's voice was firm but steady. "Come on, mate. Let's get out of here."
Max and Lilly were at his side in an instant. Max's hand hovered near his father's arm, uncertain but ready. "Dad?"
Lilly's brows furrowed in worry. "Is he okay?"
Mack didn't answer. Instead, he guided Troy gently but firmly out of the ballroom, through the cool night air that barely registered against Troy's burning skin. He barely registered the drive home, Mack's steady presence beside him, the familiar voices of his children nearby. He just knew that he needed silence, space-anything to keep from unravelling completely.
Mack got him inside, settling him onto the couch. "You're all right," he murmured, not expecting a response, just grounding him with the words. "You're home now."
Troy closed his eyes and let the world fade, just for a moment.
Chapter 39
Jenna
Jenna had seen the news.
She had woken up to a flood of notifications, her inbox filled with sympathetic messages and a few not-so-subtle jabs. The images from the gala were everywhere-Troy Bradshaw and Lila Whitmore locked in what looked like a romantic embrace, the perfectly captured moment fuelling endless speculation. It reminded her of the time when she had just gotten married to Troy.
But Jenna didn't cry. She didn't scream. Instead, she buried herself in work.
She spent the next few days in a haze of commissions, pouring every ounce of her focus into her illustrations. Her tablet became her refuge, each stroke of her stylus a distraction from the ache in her chest. Dylan and Dani noticed, of course. They hovered, silently offering comfort in their own way.
Then the phone rang.
