Divorced Heiress
I am Not A Contract Chapter 17

Jane's words hit Bastian like a punch; he was frozen, looking at her with a furrowed brow, unable to believe what he had just heard

Bastian was left speechless; on his way to Jane's apartment, he had thought about everything, but he never imagined that Jane would ask him to get back together.

If she had said such a thing months ago, he wouldn't have hesitated for a second to accept and blindly go back to Jane. After all, that's what he had been wishing for ever since he found out about her engagement to Jacob. He even asked Abby to pretend to be his girlfriend to make her jealous, hoping that she would want to get back with him.

And sure enough, it worked.

However, in that moment, it wasn't what he wanted.

Despite still feeling affection for Jane, deep down he knew it was a terrible idea.

"But what are you saying, Jane?" Bastian snapped out of his daze, processing what Jane had said, still looking at her with a furrowed brow.

"Are you going crazy? You're engaged! Where did you come up with such nonsense? Don't you feel any remorse for your future husband?"

Bastian fired one question after another, but he fell silent when he realized that he wasn't choosing his words carefully and that he could offend her if he continued asking questions.

Jane felt a pang in her chest upon hearing Bastian's words; things weren't going as she had hoped from the start, and that only meant that Abby and his relationship were more serious than she thought.

It will be difficult, but not impossible.

"Bastian," Jane insisted, standing up from her seat, letting her silk robe reveal the lace lingerie covering her body.

She never doubted for a moment that this weapon would work on him, until she saw that Bastian wasn't even slightly moved, his gaze never wavered from her eyes.

"I know I made a mistake. Leaving you was the dumbest thing I've done in my life."

Bastian interrupted her before more words could leave her mouth, words that now had no effect on him.

"I think the opposite. It's been the best thing you could've done in your life, and I thank you for it."

Bastian also stood up from his seat, but he didn't take a single step; he simply looked at her with an expressionless face.

He couldn't deny that he felt nervous about the direction this visit was taking. Now he knew that Jane was hoping to reignite their relationship, and he knew what she was trying to achieve by wearing that silk robe that covered the lace lingerie. But it was too late; his heart belonged to someone else.

Jane couldn't believe what she was hearing. Had he forgotten her? Had he already moved on? That was impossible for her.

In her heart, she had held onto the hope that she could revive their past love and start anew. She knew she had failed, but she also believed she could make him forget the bad times. However, upon hearing Bastian's words, that hope began to fade, and reality settled in.

Jane took a couple of steps toward him, but Bastian moved four steps away. That's when she knew she had to continue from a distance.

"Don't say that, I admit that I made a mistake. I let myself be carried away by Jacob, I admit it, but I thought it was what I wanted. I was wrong, Bastian, I was wrong, and I lost you."

Jane saw Bastian swallow but say nothing. He only let out a bitter laugh, thinking about how cynical Jane was being.

"I want you to know that I deeply regret what happened.

And truly, I want us to try again. I'm willing to give up everything for you. I miss you, Bastian."

Bastian looked directly into her eyes, maintaining his expressionless face and his hands on his hips.

Jane couldn't guess what was going through his mind, but she had a feeling that those words had reached his heart.

"Jane, I appreciate your honesty. But I'm sorry, it's not my problem. And to be honest, you don't even know what you want. You think one day you can be with one person, then another, and then go back to the first as if they didn't have the right to rebuild their life." Bastian finally spoke in a cold voice, not holding back anything, shattering Jane's confidence like a stack of dominoes.

"I'm in love with Abby, she's the one I love. And I thank you for ruining everything we had because I would be missing out on a wonderful woman. Thanks for nothing." He added, looking up at her, noticing how her expression immediately changed.

In her mind, all she could see was Abby.

Abby with her contagious laughter.

Abby with her lively eyes.

Abby with her antics.

Abby with her problems and sorrows.

Just Abby.

The silence that followed seemed to last an eternity. Jane looked at him, feeling the pang of his rejection, also feeling a sense of disbelief as she never imagined Bastian could fall in love with someone else

A whirlwind of regret began to invade her, and she realized that perhaps she had taken Bastian for granted in the past, and now she had lost her chance to be with him.

Suddenly, Jane felt a pang of anger, which she tried to disguise behind the tears welling up in her eyes.

How dared he reject her?

How dared he say all those things to her? To her?

Despite all the mixed feelings, Jane maintained a slight smile. Of course, she wanted to yell a lot of things at him and insult that Abby person, but that would only make things worse.

Jane let out a heavy sigh and wiped the tear that had escaped from her eye before speaking.

"I understand, Bastian," she said after a long silence in which Jane made her best effort to control her emotions.

"I... I just wanted you to know how I feel."

Jane stopped insisting, knowing that there was nothing to be done with Bastian's response, just waiting and persuading.

She knew she had to be careful. She couldn't just rush in and expect Bastian to come back to her. She had to be smarter than that.

Bastian had rejected her and hurt her pride. He had chosen Abby over her, as if so many years of a relationship meant nothing to him. But Jane was not a woman who accepted a no for an answer.

After all, if she had learned anything from her relationship with Bastian, it was that she should never underestimate her own cleverness.

Bastian felt a sense of relief. His intention was not to hurt Jane, but he had taken her by surprise, and he also knew he had to be honest with his feelings. He no longer felt anything but affection for his ex-girlfriend. In that tense moment, in which Bastian did his best to handle the situation with care and consideration.

"If you have nothing else to say, I'll leave. This has been a waste of time," Bastian said as he took his phone out of his pocket and headed back to the elevator.

It was then that he remembered Julian had been calling him insistently. Seeing a couple more missed calls and realizing he hadn't heard them due to having his phone on silent mode.

"Alright, Bastian, anyway, thanks for taking the time to come. At least I know you still care about me," Jane replied with a choked voice before turning her gaze to the window behind her.

Bastian didn't bother to respond, as at that very moment, another call from Julian came in.

Bastian pressed the elevator button and, while waiting, answered the call.

"Jul..."

"Bastian, thank God! You have to listen to me," Julian didn't even let Bastian say a single word.

Finally, someone answered his call.

He couldn't waste any more time, especially now that Sarah and Alexander were in danger and Abby was driving like crazy looking for them.

Julian was truly terrified, driving at high speed, trying not to lose sight of Abbys car. He didn't even know where they could be heading, he had never been in that situation in his life, let alone with a pregnant woman as the leader.

His whole body trembled with fear.

Bastian immediately became worried upon hearing the concern in Julian's voice, and he pressed the elevator button once again.

"Has something happened at L&J?" Bastian asked, thinking that there really was an emergency at the company, but he wasn't expecting at all what he was about to hear.

Julian took a deep breath by successfully dodging a car and fianlly spoke.

"Paul has escaped from prison, he has kidnapped Sarah and Alexander, and now I am following Abby, who managed to find out their exact location. I have already informed the police, but damn... I don't want to be pessimistic, but Abby seems very determined to confront Paul, and if everything goes wrong, we might all be in danger."