Chapter 41-The truth
Johnathan's POV...
"My ex-girlfriend?" I furrowed my brows and scratched the back of my head, trying to understand what she meant. "What do you mean?"
She pressed her lips together and made to walk away again but I held her wrist firmly, pulling her closer.
"You can't just accuse me like that and try to get away with it without any explanation," I said.
"I mean your high school crush. She's your ex-girlfriend," she said and rolled her eyes as she looked away.
Clarity dawned on me. I finally understood what was going on. I peered into her space and smiled. "Are you by any chance... jealous?"
Her eyes widened in surprise and she released her hand from my hold.
"Of course I'm not jealous," she said. "I don't do jealous," she added and started walking.
I jogged and stood in front of her. "You're jealous. If you say that you're not, then how do you explain the fact that your face is red and give me a reasonable explanation as to why you're acting this way?" I asked.
She sighed and looked away.
"It was just a high school crush. Nothing serious. It's not like something happened between us. Besides, you know how things ended between us," I said and shoved my hands into my pocket.
"How then will you explain Maya's case?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
I rubbed my temple. "What about Maya?"
"She's had a crush on you since you were a child. You can't tell me that she crushed on you and you didn't reciprocate her feelings,"
"How did you know this?"
"She told me," she said with a glint in her eyes.
I looked at her skeptically, raising a brow at the process.
"Of course she told me. She wanted to spite me so she did"
"Maya has just been nothing but a friend to me.
We were close while we were younger, but not anymore.
And I clearly didn't know she had feelings for me then.
When she gave up her engagement, I thought it was for the sake of our friendship.
It was later, when I was grown, that I realized why she did it,"
"What changed?" She asked, leaning by the wall. I pulled her gently away from the wall.
"Something could bite you there," I said and led her towards the bench, our fingers intertwined.
"Why isn't she your friend anymore?" She asked.
"I don't know exactly when it changed," I admitted quietly. "But somewhere along the line, she stopped seeing me as a person... and started seeing me as something she wanted to own"
Audrey nodded and opened her mouth to say something but shut it again.
"Is that related to why you changed your last name? Because your father did the same?" She asked.
I had a feeling that wasn't what she wanted to say initially.
"Yeah," I nodded. "You're right. My father only saw me as a tool that would take after his empire, the world he's built. He didn't care about me, he was only interested in the idea of me being his heir and following his tracks,"
She tightened her hold and rubbed my hands.
"I'm so sorry,"
"My friends in school called me Ryder," I chuckled. "I was good at racing, so I decided to take on it as my last name,"
"He must have been very mad when you did that," she said.
"He was, but he had no choice. I was an adult and could make decisions for myself," I let out a sigh.
I turned her around so that I was looking directly at her.
"Honestly, it sounds strange but... I may be some billionaire with global companies and industries, but there's nothing I value more than people seeing me for me and not what I have achieved,"
She blinked as she stared at me.
"The noise that comes from the media, your life seeming to be out of your own control. Basically everything goes public, I never wanted that. But since I met you... that noise seems quieter,"
She swallowed.
"I feel this inner peace... like you quietened the outer noise and saw me just as I am," she bit her lips and looked down.
My hand reached you to her face and I lifted her head with my index finger.
"I've never felt this way before towards anyone, Audrey," I was lost staring into her eyes.
"But I can tell for sure that... " I paused as I watched her. "I love you,"
She didn't say anything to that. I needed to help her think.
I closed the distance between us and took her lips in a kiss. Her lips were stiff against mine. I released her hands and my hands reached up to her face and cupped her cheeks. Tilting my head slowly to one side, I deepened the kiss and then she responded. Her lips moved in sync with mine.
We stayed in that position. I didn't want the moment to end. Slowly, she broke from the kiss and rested her forehead against mine.
She exhaled softly and opened her eyes. Her lips parted but no words came out. She hesitated before looking intently at me. "I love you too,"
A smile tugged at my lips, before I eventually smiled widely.
I threw my arms around her and embraced her. The softness of her hair was soothing and felt like cotton, the scent drowning me in its lovely fragrance.
"Let's go home," I whispered near her ear and she nodded. This was love and there was no way I was going to lose what I had with Audrey, not after seeing how it felt and how it changed us.
Third person's POV...
In a dimly lit room in a bar, two men sat, facing each other, separated by the round table at the center.
"I finally met your daughter," one of the men said. "She has the same fierce energy as you and oh... the resemblance," he added as he picked up his glass from the table and drank from it, and placed it back down on the table, the ice clinking in the glass.
"You met sunshine?" The other man asked, his voice breaking.
"She's not sunshine to you anymore," the other man raised his hand as he cut the other off, the gold ring on his finger shining in the room. "She's Audrey Willows to you now,"
"She must really hate me,"
"She does,"he affirmed. "You needed to see her reaction when I asked about you," he reclined on the chair. "She doesn't think of you as family anymore,"