Page 96 of Fairy Tale Lies
He offered her no comfort. “I’m not a dreamer, Greta. This is our reality. We’re too different. We’d never have lasted. I’ll never fit into your life. There is no fairy tale ending for us.”
“What do you mean?” Her words were a choked whisper. She reached for him. “You’re going to walk away. Leave me here?”
He stepped away from her outstretched arms. All though he was mere inches from her, it might as well be miles. “Once again, you’re worried what everyone will think,” he snarled. Her warm and loving boyfriend had been replaced with a cold and heartless man. “Tell them I went home sick. Tell them whatever you want. After today, I don’t give a fuck.”
He was wrong. Her wounded pride wasn’t what worried her, but her heart. If he left, he’d be taking it with him, tearing it from her chest.
Too late. He was already gone.
Without a backward glance, Jacob got in and drove away. She stood frozen, watching his taillights flicker and disappear around the corner.
How could something so right, so perfect, fall apart in an instant?
Greta took small, uneven breaths, focusing on the line of bare trees running along the parking lot. She tried to get air inside her hollow chest. Impossible.
A pair of hands gripped her shoulders, turning her. Greta stared into her sister’s worried eyes.
“What’s wrong?” she demanded. “Why are you out here? Where’s Jacob?”
Greta’s façade crumbled, and she fell into Cindy’s arms, a sob ripping from her soul. “He’s gone.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
“You need to get out of this funk. Either call her or move on,” Will said from his end of the couch.
Jacob turned from the TV, tossing a glare at his brother. “What? Something wrong with how I’m watching the show?”
“Yeah, kind of. It’s hilarious, and you haven’t laughed once. Haven’t even cracked a smile.”
Seriously? He’s giving me shit about how I watch TV?“What are you, the fucking laugh-track police?”
“I rest my case…”
“Whatever. Shut up. Let me watch it in ‘my mood.’” He made air quotes for the last words and focused back on the TV, hoping his brother was done.
Nope. He should’ve known better.
Will scoffed. “Uh huh, like you’re paying attention. I bet if I shut off the tube and asked what we were watching, you wouldn’t have a clue.”
Jacob shrugged. The show had two guys and a lady. They traveled back in time. Maybe. He couldn’t recall much.
“Come on, Jacob. Sulking around here isn’t accomplishing anything.”
“I’m not sulking.”
Okay, maybe he was a little sullen. And slow to pack and move everything to his new building. Nor could he muster much excitement with his upcoming grand opening.
Last year around this time, this was his dream. Now he had it, but ever since walking away from Greta, his professional success didn’t seem to matter much.
He didn’t plan on giving up on Rework. He had bills to pay and employees working for him, but his business was no longer the center of his life.
It hadn’t been for a while. He just hadn’t noticed. Greta made him understand there was more to life than work and making money.
She’d filled places of his heart he hadn’t known were empty. Now she was gone, and those pockets were vacant again. He had no idea what to do about it.
Hell, he couldn’t breathe past the heaviness of regret that had taken root in his soul, let alone fill the hollow edges of his lethargy.
Will had gone quiet. Jacob sighed, silently relieved the topic of Greta was over. It hurt even to hear her name, let alone talk about her.
