Web Fic
Chapter 130
Jason strolled into the house after an evening of obligatory socializing, only to be greeted by Marie, who swiftly wiped her hands on her apron before rushing over to update him. “Mr. Jason, you’re back! Ms. Estrella’s home, too. She looked a bit under the weather and didn’t come down for dinner.”
“I’ll go check on her,” Jason said, ascending the stairs.
As he pushed open the bedroom door, Estrella was just finishing a call by the bay window. Turning to see Jason, her previously impassive face clouded over with a dark scowl.
After noticing her mood, Jason asked, “Why didn’t you have dinner?”
Estrella tossed her phone onto the desk with a clatter, ignoring his question.
Dinner? She was so infuriated by him that the thought of eating was the last thing on her mind.
Seeing that Estrella was giving him the cold shoulder, Jason edged closer to the desk, tapping on its surface to subtly inquire what was wrong. He hadn’t done anything to provoke her recently.
Estrella glanced at him and, without warning, flung the lab report on the desk at him. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked up at Jason with a composed challenge. “Jason, what are you trying to do?”
Silence lingered as Jason perused the report. His relaxed demeanor vanished. Secrets never stayed hidden forever, and Jason was startled to realize that Estrella had discovered his interference so soon. It seemed she was quite eager to get pregnant.
After a moment of silence, he tossed the report back on the desk and said, “You’re too young to rush into having kids.”
His condescending remark about her age made Estrella laugh bitterly. “Too young, huh? Then don’t bother getting into bed with me. Have the guts to keep your distance!” Her sarcasm cut through the tension. To Jason, she was too young to bear children but not too young to share his bed.
Estrella’s simmering anger met with Jason’s calm reply, “Let’s put off the kid conversation for a couple of years.”
Put it off?
Estrella stared back at him before standing up with an icy retort, “Fine. We can wait two years.”
She went to the closet, pulled out a set of clothes for going out, and began to change. Did he want to wait two years? Fine, they’d wait two years before seeing each other again-to save her the constant aggravation.
11:33
As Estrella started to change, Jason closed in and grabbed her arm, yanking her back. “Estrella, a little drama is okay, but let’s not blow this out of proportion.”
His forceful pull inflamed her further, and she threw the clothes in his face. “Jason, don’t push me too far. If you don’t want this life, just tell me. But secretly taking preventative measures behind my back- what am I to you?”
They could have discussed it. He could have explained that he felt she was too young, and they could’ve decided together to wait. But his secretive actions spoke volumes. Even if their marriage was just a formality, he had crossed a line by not trusting her..
Estrella’s anger was palpable, yet Jason remained defiant. “So you married me just to have a child?”
She shot back, “What else? Am I after your money or your charming personality?”
Her words left him speechless. Money was not an issue for her. The Dorvold family was well-off. As for him, deep down, he wished she was after his affection, but he knew the state of their relationship all too well.
The room fell into a tense silence as they faced each other.
Turning away, Jason fell quiet. Estrella did the same.
After a tense pause, Jason broke the silence with a cold statement. “Estrella, if all you want is a child, then I’m telling you now. Give up on that idea.” He wouldn’t be used as a mere sperm donor.
Estrella turned to face him. “Fine, I won’t have kids. Men are the least of what the world lacks. Why should I be hung up on you?”
As she turned to leave, Jason grabbed her arm again. She faced him, about to retort when he cut her off, “Estrella, if you mess around outside…”
Her laughter was bitter. “Are you threatening me?”
She shrugged off his grip and stepped close, her voice low and fierce. “Jason, I ow nothing. Let’s be clear. I married you because I believed those fortune-tellers. I want child. If you can’t give me what I want, what are you to me?”
She hadn’t wanted to argue, to say all this, but Jason had underestimated her for too lon She was increasingly finding this marriage meaningless.
They had started with different expectations. She hadn’t been solely focused on having children. She had hoped that time might heal the wounds Holly left behind. But she had overvalued her place in his heart. His agreement to marry her was just a means to torture themselves, to appease his parents.
She no longer cared to mince words.
With Estrella’s candidness, Jason scoffed. “In that case, you might as well forget about
17.93
having children at all.”
He couldn’t understand her sudden change of heart, marrying him despite her hatred. It seemed he had overestimated his importance to her.
Estrella met his gaze defiantly. “We’ll see who can last.”
With her words hanging in the air, Jason pocketed his hands and, without another word,
left the house.
After he departed, Estrella didn’t follow. She remained alone with her thoughts. A medical report had reset their lives back to square one. Jason had stopped coming home, and Estrella had thrown herself into her work with abandon.
At the moment, she was solely focused on wrapping up the Lexi case, after which she planned to tackle her personal turmoil.
However, the three-year deadline Landon had given them was fast approaching, with just a little over four months left. Estrella was bracing for the worst.
Deep down, she knew agreeing to marry Jason was a mistake. How could two people, so rife with conflicts, possibly bury the hatchet and carry on with their lives as if nothing had happened? How could they ever truly open their hearts to each other? After all, in this world, anything that had been broken would show its cracks, especially the human heart.
Jason had been gone for a solid ten days without a word, leaving Estrella to keep a grueling schedule, coming and going in the early and late hours. Marie and the others wanted to ask, to inquire, yet they didn’t dare.
Estrella had also taken a decisive step by formally initiating a murder charge against Nick. That evening, Estrella, Logan and Arden had attended a dinner with some district leaders, After, one of them insisted on driving her home after she had indulged in a couple of
drinks. Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g
Stepping out of the car, she thanked her colleague and made her way inside. Marie hurri over with a bit of news that was as surprising as it was unexpected. “Ms. Estrella,” she said, a note of caution in her voice. “Mr. Jason has come back.”